Coleen Nolan has recently responded to harsh criticism after being trolled for smiling at her late sister Linda’s funeral. 

The incident occurred during Monday’s episode of Loose Women, 

where Coleen, Ruth Langsford, Judi Love, and Mariella Frostup discussed the complex and often unpredictable process of grieving the loss of a loved one.

Linda Nolan, Coleen’s sister, passed away on January 15, 2025,

after a lengthy battle with breast cancer, which was further complicated by double pneumonia. 

Her death marked the end of a 20-year struggle with illness. 

During the Loose Women segment, the conversation focused on the emotional turmoil of losing someone and when it’s considered appropriate to begin finding moments of levity again. In a candid moment, Coleen revealed how she had been targeted on social media after appearing upbeat and even smiling as she stepped out of the funeral car during Linda’s memorial service.

“I got out of the funeral car smiling because there were about 2,000 people looking and smiling,” Coleen explained. “And I’m getting slated on social media… ‘What’s she smiling about?’ I’m like, I don’t know what you want me to do!” Coleen acknowledged that, initially, the criticism affected her deeply. “It bothered me at first,” she admitted, “and I thought, I’ve got to stop caring what people think. We all deal with it differently.”

Reflecting on the situation, Coleen shared how the sheer turnout of people at Linda’s funeral brought an unexpected sense of gratitude. “When we turned the corner and saw all these people, it made us cry because Linda would have loved it! I was so glad they turned out for her. So it was a gratitude thing,” Coleen said. Ruth Langsford, who was also part of the discussion, admitted that she, too, would have smiled at the sight of so many people paying their respects.

The conversation turned to how different people process grief. Coleen explained that grief is an emotional rollercoaster, and there’s no right or wrong way to handle it. “It’s every emotion, and it can happen 10 different times a day,” Coleen said. “Sometimes when I laugh, it hits me, and I think, I shouldn’t be laughing. Then there are other days when I cry and think she wouldn’t want me to cry.”

One of the most poignant parts of the conversation was Coleen’s admission that humor had always played an essential role in her family’s ability to cope with grief. “Me and my family, actually, and Linda and Bernie included, we always made sure that humor was involved,” Coleen said. “Sometimes that’s the only way I can move on because if I carried on crying all the time, I wouldn’t get out of bed. I wouldn’t stop crying.”

Coleen also revealed the intense emotional strain she’s been under since Linda’s passing. “I was getting to a point where I was so low inwardly, I didn’t want to go back. I just didn’t see joy. I lost feeling. It was really numbing,” she confessed. Humor, she said, became a vital way to break through that numbness and find some sense of relief.

Earlier this month, Coleen tearfully opened up on Loose Women about Linda’s final moments, offering a glimpse into the profound bond the sisters shared. She spoke of Linda’s courageous fight against cancer, noting that even in the final days, Linda continued to defy expectations. “Linda battled it for 20 years and she never gave up,” Coleen shared. “She hated it, hated losing her hair, and she did that four times.” Despite the dire prognosis, Linda remained strong until the very end, surprising everyone with her resilience.

Linda’s death marked the end of a long, painful journey, but for Coleen, the memories of her sister’s strength and humor continue to shape her grieving process. As the conversation on Loose Women showed, grief is personal, and there is no set timeline or expected behavior for how one should navigate it. For Coleen, humor, gratitude, and a sense of resilience are what have helped her cope with the unimaginable loss of her beloved sister.

As Linda Nolan’s family and friends continue to mourn, Coleen’s openness about her grief has sparked a wider discussion about how society judges others’ responses to loss. Rather than facing harsh criticism, perhaps we should embrace the reality that everyone grieves in their own way, and it’s important to support others through their personal journey, no matter how it may look on the outside.

Follow us to see more useful information, as well as to give us more motivation to update more useful information for you.