COLEEN Nolan was left fighting back tears as she returned to Loose Women for the first time since the death of her sister Linda.
Linda Nolan, part of the famed Nolan Sisters, died from pneumonia at the age of 65 on January 15, after more than two decades fighting cancer.
She was laid to rest on Saturday in a sparkling pink coffin, which Coleen revealed Linda had picked out herself after spotting a similar one on Instagram.
Speaking to her friends on today’s episode, Christine Lampard asked how she and the family were doing in the wake of their loss.
“It's difficult to say, isn't it? It's so soon,” she said. “We're all doing great, but you know, you have great moments, and then you have absolute meltdown moments, and they come out the blue. So there's no rhyme or reason.”
Thanking viewers and fans for the outpouring of love they have received – including the public turnout for the funeral, flowers, cards and gifts sent to them – Coleen said she had been reading as many messages as she could.
“It's just hard, because there was a time where I thought... wait a minute,” she said, pausing to gather her breath and hold back tears. “I thought, Do I go back? Is it too soon?
“And then you have to, because life goes on.”
“Linda's had this for 20 years, and I think the one thing she would want to say is, is that she wouldn't want anybody that's still going through this horrendous disease to go, 'oh, well, I may as well give up, because it got her in the end',” Coleen added.
“Because, actually, it wasn't that that got her in the end, she got the flu and pneumonia, which actually was, you know, what she went from.”
“She was a massive force in our family, and it feels like such a hole,” she said, adding that she found herself struggling to accept that there was ‘only six’ siblings left in the family.
Members of the public applauded as the hearse carrying the star arrived at St Paul's Church in Blackpool on Saturday morning for the funeral.
Shane Nolan - the son of Coleen and Shane Richie - was one of the pallbearers.
Sister Denise Nolan spoke at the funeral, saying her cancer diagnosis, along with losing her husband Brian and sister Bernie, could have "destroyed" a lesser person: "Not Linda, instead she chose to help raise millions for cancer research."
She said her sister showed "courage in the face of adversity".
"It's time to rest now Linda,” Denise told the congregation. “The battle is over. You are free."
