Brian Nolan has revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer just three days after his sister Linda’s funeral, becoming the latest member of the family to be struck by the disease.
The 69-year-old kept his devastating news secret as he helped plan Linda’s memorial service in February, following her death from cancer in January.
“I just want cancer to leave us alone,” Brian Nolan told The Mirror, as he becomes the fifth Nolan sibling to face a cancer diagnosis.
Brian, who worked behind the scenes supporting the Nolan Sisters band, was told he had level 2 prostate cancer after noticing he was going to the loo more frequently in November.
Brian Nolan announced he is battling prostate cancer
ITV
Following PSA blood tests, an MRI scan and a biopsy, he received his diagnosis.
“You’re never ready for somebody to say: ‘Yes, you’ve got cancer’. It’s like being hit by a train,” he said.
Brian will soon undergo surgery to remove his prostate gland and has been told his cancer hasn’t spread.
The 69-year-old had made the difficult decision to keep his cancer fears to himself while Linda’s condition deteriorated.
He explained: “I thought I was doing the right thing and I still do. It would have meant more tears and we were already knee-deep in tears and knee-deep in grief.”
Linda tragically died earlier this year, making her the third Nolan to die from the disease
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“At the start of the whole process they ask you if there’s any history within the family. We said: ‘Have you got an hour? Both sides there were generations of cancer. We had to write them all out.” Nolan explained.
The family lost Bernie to breast cancer in 2013 when she was just 52, before Linda died in January this year at 65 after a 20-year battle.
Anne, now 74, faced breast cancer in 2000 and again in 2020, though she is now in remission. Coleen, 60, was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2023.
Their father, Tommy Nolan Sr, was the first to be struck by the disease, dying from cancer in 1998.
Brian and his siblings Tommy, 75, Denise, 72, Maureen, 70, and Coleen have now been referred to a genetic clinic in Manchester for testing to help understand why cancer has affected so many of them.
“They definitely think it’s hereditary. They can’t seem to find that magic bullet,” Brian added.
Brian chose to keep his diagnosis a secret initially while appearing at his sister’s funeral
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The news struck his sister, Loose Women panellist Coleen, profoundly.
“I couldn’t speak,” she recalled. “I went completely numb and about an hour later I wanted to punch walls and scream.”
Despite the shock, Coleen expressed pride in her brother’s positive attitude.
“In our family, cancer’s just there. But he was so positive and I’m just so proud of him,” she said.
“We’re a family that treat everything with as much humour as possible and we go ‘OK, we can face this together.’ That’s what we’ll do.”
Reflecting on his own attitude, Brian reflected: “I’d like to think I would have even half of Linda’s courage if this went haywire,.”
“I never heard her whinge, I never heard Bernie whinge either. They had extraordinary hope and positivity,” he added.
