Coleen Nolan repeatedly recalls standing in front of a mirror during a photo session, surrounded by clothing that was pinned at the back due to its excessive size. It had been the other way around for the majority of her adult life. She would say that none of the clothes fit. She would pretend. Grin thru it and continue in silence.
More about her journey can be found in that brief, nearly private moment in the middle of a studio than in any before-and-after picture. Coleen has lost three and a half pounds at the age of sixty-one, following decades of diets that were only marginally effective enough to give her hope before they completely stopped working. Her size changed from 20 to 14. The change in her true self-perception is more difficult to measure and appears to be more important to her.
It wasn’t vanity that led her to decide to take her weight seriously this time. Maybe that’s exactly why it worked. A blood test in 2023 revealed that she had pre-diabetes. The way that word landed was unlike any dress size.
She stated at the time, “I want to live longer, happier, with my grandkids”. “I know my weight would hold me back” . That admission has an unwavering quality that is honest rather than dramatic. When you’re sixty years old and have run out of reasons to pretend, that’s the kind of honesty that usually emerges.
She collaborated with Voy, a clinical weight loss program that is regulated in the UK and provides medication-based support in addition to 24-hour clinical advice. The drug in question is most likely Mounjaro, a GLP-1 receptor agonist that has changed discussions about weight loss in the UK.
It functions by imitating natural hormones that control blood sugar and appetite. Practically speaking, this means that eating no longer feels like such a never-ending struggle. Portions get easier to handle. Cravings subside. Although it doesn’t sound revolutionary, it seemed to feel that way to someone who described her entire life as a series of restarts.
The notion that this was just about taking a jab and watching the numbers drop is what Coleen seems most eager to refute. She has discussed forming routines, receiving round-the-clock assistance at last having a structure that didn’t fall apart the instant she stopped paying attention.
She seems to be attempting to shift the discussion away from the shortcut narrative that frequently associates weight loss drugs with something more truly earned. Her insistence on that reframing feels genuine, tho it’s still unclear if it fully holds.
Her own wardrobe became somewhat of a measure due to the dramatic physical changes. She no longer tried on the old clothes she had saved. Dresses and jeans. Items from a version of herself that she had quietly abandoned.
Not only was it satisfying to try them on and discover they were too big, but she also stood there thinking, “you did that”. It’s a very particular kind of moment. It probably rings true because it’s the kind that doesn’t typically appear in press releases or promotional copy.
Her hip pain has subsided. The back and knee pain that accompanied her during her most difficult years was almost gone. She doesn’t have trouble breathing when climbing stairs. These are not glamorous details, but they are the ones that truly alter day-to-day existence. She speaks of them with the relief of someone who has quietly come to terms with them.
It’s difficult to ignore how much of this story coincides with other events in her life, such as her appearances on Loose Women, her farm in Staffordshire, her three young grandchildren her new podcast, Celebs Go Dating.
She states unequivocally that without the confidence this past year gave her, she would not have participated in the dating show. Sitting with that is worthwhile. Feeling at home in your own body after decades of not quite getting there changes something fundamental, not because a smaller dress size should determine anyone’s readiness for love. What you believe is permissible. what seems feasible.
It is impossible to predict whether the weight loss will continue, whether the habits will persist, or whether the show will deliver something she didn’t anticipate. When Coleen Nolan, at sixty-one, talks about her grandchildren, her horses the clothes that now need to be pinning at the seam, it’s difficult not to think that the events of the past year had less to do with losing weight and more to do with realizing that she had finally earned the right to feel well.