Brian Nolan: Brother of Linda Nolan says he has prostate cancer

Loose Women and Celebrity Big Brother star Linda, who long campaigned for awareness of breast cancer, died aged 65 in January with “her loving siblings by her bedside” after being admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital with double pneumonia.

With her sisters Denise, Coleen, Bernie, Maureen and Anne, she was part of the pop group The Nolans, recording hits like Gotta Pull Myself Together and I’m In The Mood For Dancing in the late 70s and early 80s.

Brian told the Mirror that having cancer is like “being hit by a train” and “you start plunging into the the abyss”. His doctor told him that “we’re going to treat this and we’re going to cure this”, and Brian said he will have a prostatectomy, which removes part or all of the prostate gland.

“I’m devastated, but I believe I’m hoping that we can do it,” he added.

When asked by the newspaper about it being difficult to tell his siblings the news after it was confirmed days following Linda’s funeral, Brian said they have “been through enough” so he told them individually of his condition.

“I’m focusing on the hope, they can treat it and they can cure it,” he added. “The way my sisters handled their cancers, I hope to God that I can have the courage that they had.”

Linda was first diagnosed in 2005, given the all-clear in 2011, but in 2017 was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer. In 2020 it spread and by 2023 was in her brain.

Anne, who Linda joined on the TV series The Nolans Go Cruising, was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in 2020 and previously said she is now cancer-free.

Loose Women star Coleen was diagnosed with skin cancer last year and said she was using a chemotherapy cream to remove it. Their sister Bernie died of breast cancer in 2013 aged 52.

Brian said that he was referred to a genetic department in Manchester, and it was “amazing how many people had actually had cancer as some part of the reason they died” in his family.

He said the doctors are “even thinking that there may be a genetic mutation or something between the four cancers that our families” have, which includes breast, prostate, liver and pancreatic cancers.

Brian said his father “died of systemic cirrhosis (liver damage) but he also had liver cancer, my uncle died of pancreatic cancer”.

He also said he wants to raise awareness of prostate cancer as his friends did not known anything about the illness.

“We should know more about this, and I’m going to definitely push for a campaign to to send guys a letter once a year, like we do for women and bowel cancer,” Brian said.

Other famous faces such as comedian Sir Stephen Fry, the late broadcaster Bill Turnbull – and more recently Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, who revealed his prostate cancer was terminal in 2024, have been outspoken about the condition.