'Cancer might have changed how I look - but it hasn’t changed me'

07 February 2024 , 20:27

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Linda Nolan being projected onto Piccadilly on Friday night (Image: Kelly Reeves Photography)

Well who’d have thought it of old sheepy head? Little Linda from Blackpool, a billboard star across Piccadilly Circus and Times Square.

Yes that was me last Friday, a global icon — for all of a few minutes. Incredibly, and I’m still pinching myself, my image beamed brightly from two big screens in two big cities ahead of World Cancer Day on Sunday.

It was alongside the photographs of 12 other women all living with hair loss, and taken for the BOLD exhibition in aid of the Pink Ribbon Foundation cancer charity.

I had the privilege of meeting them all as we stared up at our incredibly large heads in the capital, goggling with the tourists. We were all stunned into silence.

They’re fantastic women, completely inspiring. One’s hair has never grown back, but she owns it, it’s just part of her and of course makes not a jot of difference on the inside, just like my curly sheep chemo hair — growing back since the photo was taken, but like I’ve never seen it before!

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It makes no difference to the me I’ve always been. I looked at Linda up there and thought, goodness, I took control. This cancer might have changed how I look but it hasn’t changed me. It also helps I like the photo.

The day was wonderful. The charity sent a driver for me called Valentine — very happily married, by the way — and I slept the whole way to London. I even enjoyed a glass of champagne and stayed up until 5am chatting with a dear old friend from my musical days. I stayed at The Cumberland, a beautiful hotel, just a stone's throw from Marble Arch. They’d sprinkled paper love hearts on my hotel bed and I felt properly spoiled. (And hanging for the next few days).

Sometimes treats go a long way. If I’m honest, I’ve worried about my progress this week. My speech is getting worse and so is my mobility, I think. I had more scans on Monday and I’ll get the results this month, the day before my 65th birthday.

I know when I walk into that room my life could change in a second. So taking that time to really look at myself on Friday is a moment I’ll treasure. It was a moment to feel proud and celebrate, and we all have to grab them, whether we’re Linda from Blackpool or the King of England.

Linda Nolan