Linda Nolan says cancer treatment with sister Anne was ‘double nightmare’
The famous pair lost their sister Bernie to cancer in 2013.
Linda Nolan has said learning that both she and her sister Anne needed cancer treatment during lockdown was a “double nightmare” as it meant they would be isolated from each other.
The pair, part of Irish family pop group The Nolans, revealed this week that they were both being treated for the disease at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Linda, 61, has liver cancer, her third recurrence of the disease, while Anne, 69, has stage three breast cancer.
Linda told Good Morning Britain: “During the lockdown it’s been a double nightmare.
“All we initially were able to do was phone her (Anne) to say we were here, or wave at her through the window. So that has made it more difficult.
“I think Anne has struggled with that, because she has two daughters and grandchildren.
“Not being able to have their support, as in hugging … and they’re all mad about their gran, so it has been difficult.”
Linda, who appeared on the programme via video call, was not joined by her sister as she was feeling too weak.
She said she had been “traumatised” by losing her hair to chemotherapy.
“I managed to keep my hair a little bit last time,” she said.
“I was traumatised by it. I feel vain saying that the worst thing at the moment is I have no hair, but it has been traumatising for me. It’s been a massive shock.”
Linda and Anne’s sister Bernie died of breast cancer in 2013 at the age of 52, and Linda said seeing herself without hair reminded her of that time.
She said: “We miss Bernie every single day. I don’t think we’ll ever get over it.
“The first time I looked in the mirror when I had my head shaved, I saw Bernie looking back at me.
“I cried, I saw her looking back as a sick person really, which saddened me again.”
The Nolan sisters recent starred together in the Quest Red show The Nolans Go Cruising.
– Good Morning Britain airs on ITV from 6am on weekdays.
