Linda Nolan is confronting death for the first time (Picture: REX)
Linda Nolan has spoken about the heartbreaking task of planning her own funeral.
The singer, 64, shared last month that her cancer has spread to her brain and she is preparing ‘for the inevitable.’
Linda was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, before being diagnosed with incurable secondary breast cancer which had spread to her hip in 2017.
Three years later, she revealed that the cancer had spread to her liver, with more tumours being discovered.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain in March, the star said her diagnosis is ‘very frightening’ as there ‘isn’t much help for brain cancer’ apart from radiotherapy, which she is going to undergo.
In a new interview with The Mirror, she spoke about choosing her coffin, which will be pink and sparkly, and the treatment she’s currently having, using the drug Tucatinib, to ‘give me more time.’
She announced last month that her cancer has spread to her brain (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
Despite remaining hopeful, the Irish star, who had pink glitter polish on her toes and bright pink eyeshadow, admitted: ‘I think it’s a one-way trip now.’
She added that she doesn’t want to know how much longer she has, but she’s confronting death properly for the first time.
‘I am positive, but I have my moments when I slide down the wall in a heap.
‘What happens? Is it dark, are you on your own? I’m frightened of the unknown and being on my own, I have always been with people.’
‘I’m frightened to cry in case I don’t stop sometimes,’ she admitted.
Linda proceeded to detail the beginnings of her plans, after her husband Brian Hudson, who died in 2007, organised his own funeral, which was ‘amazing.’
Bernie Nolan (right) died 10 years ago from cancer, aged 52 (Picture: Jeremy Craine/REX/Shutterstock)
‘Bernie arranged hers. It’s easier for people left behind. I’ve gone into it a little bit. A Neil Sedaka song, Our Last Song Together. And I know the funeral people I’m going to use,’ she shared.
‘Brian’s coffin was like a flight case, with “this way up”, and “fragile” on it.
‘Our auntie had a beautiful coffin with pictures of us around it.
‘Then Maureen said, “Look at this coffin, it was made for you, it’s pink glitter”.’
‘Absolutely,’ she smiled, when asked if that coffin was the one for her.
‘I am the blingy Nolan.’
Linda has also considered making memory boxes for her family, joking about how many she’d need to do.
The Irish star is determined to make the most her the time she has left (Picture: Alex Cousins/SWNS)
‘It would become like a little production line,’ she laughed.
She went on to recall how she cried after leaving the consultant’s room.
‘I said, “How do you live with that?”‘
Her own cancer development comes 10 years after Linda’s sister Bernie had cancer which also spread to her brain. She was 52 when she died.
‘They keep telling me not to compare my illness with Bernie’s, everyone is different,’ Linda said.
Linda lives with her sister but is reluctant to have anyone be her ‘carer’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX_Shutterstock)
‘I remember with Bernie, she phoned me and said, “It’s gone to my brain, I’m f***ed.” At the time there was only radiotherapy, and then it didn’t work. But for me there is a new drug, and hope.’
Of her current situation, Linda said she’s always got a member of family on hand to help her, as she now walks with a stick and uses a wheelchair sometimes outside.
More: Trending
Linda has also moved in with sister Denise, while sister Maureen visits daily, but she’s keen to make the most of what ‘precious’ time she has left, hoping to buy a big house in the Lake District for all the family to be together.
‘Coleen said, “Can I just ask what the occasion is?” And I said, “I’m dying.” And she said, “Oh that old thing. Yeah, count me in”,’ Linda joked.
Macmillan cancer support
If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.
You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.
She’s making plans for her final days.
