Coleen Nolan, worries she’s ‘too OLD’ for new mystery boyfriend

Coleen Nolan has admitted that she is worried about the eight-year age gap with her mystery boyfriend.

The Loose Women star, 55, revealed in December that she had a ‘lovely’ new man, who she met online, after being single for more than three years.

And now Coleen has admitted that she is worried she might be ‘too old’ for her boyfriend who is 47-years-old.

The star also shared her concerns for keeping their budding relationship going during the third lockdown amid the pandemic as they can’t meet up.

Coleen revealed that they both have a ‘similar outlook’ and her mystery man is also divorced with children.

Writing in her weekly newsletter for the Mirror, Coleen penned: ‘I’ve had this discussion with the man I’m seeing. He’s 47 and I’m 55 and, although there are only eight years between us, I have moments of worrying I’m a bit too old for him.’

She added: ‘I suppose my insecurity with dating someone a lot younger would be that he’d get to a point where he thought I was too old for him or that I’d start to feel old because I was with someone so much younger.’

Coleen noted that some age-gap relationships are successful and she used the late Dame Barbara Windsor, who tragically died in December aged 83, and her widower Scott Mitchell, 58, as an example.

The star also shared her concerns for keeping their budding relationship going during the third lockdown amid the pandemic as they can’t meet up.

Coleen admitted that she is too ‘self-conscious’ for video calls, so the duo have been talking on the phone every day since September.

She noted: ‘I’m enjoying the flirtation and having something nice to look forward to during the endless hours of lockdown, but it is frustrating not being able to move things on.’

Coleen revealed in December that she has a ‘lovely’ new boyfriend, after being single for more than three years.

The TV personality made the revelation on ITV’s Loose Women as her fellow panellists teased her about her new romance.

Assuring her co-stars that they ‘don’t know him’, she coyly said: ‘I have met somebody lovely, I’ve met someone and he’s lovely and it’s been really, really lovely.’

And while she seemed to be besotted, Coleen went on to share that their relationship is too new for them to spending the Yuletide season together.

She explained: ‘It’s Christmas, but it’s all about family. We’re not at that stage yet. Gosh, I feel like a teenager who has been caught out with a boy!’

Back in September, a then-single Coleen admitted she was terrified of being catfished after joining four different dating apps in her search for love.

She had already signed up to one site, but upped the ante in her pursuit of romance by joining three more following advice from her co-presenters.

In a chat with Ruth Langsford, Saira Khan, and Janet Street Porter, Coleen also revealed that one of the pictures on her profile was a makeup-free shot because she wanted to present the real her.

She explained: ‘It’s really difficult, I put this picture on because I have put other pictures on where I’ve got full makeup on. But I thought, actually, they’d better know me from the start.’

Coleen went on to discuss her fears over catfishing, saying: ‘But here’s my issue – how do I know it’s the real them?’

Ruth replied: ‘This is the issue isn’t it, I think that’s why so many people are put off.’

Although Coleen seemed nervous about getting back out on the dating scene, Janet – who has been divorced twice – offered some words of advice, saying: ‘I don’t know why you are embarrassed.

‘Most of my friends met their partners online, that’s the modern way to do it. And since lockdown, people are even more nervous about meeting people, and it is the only way forward, you’ve just got to get your head around it Coleen.’

She added: ‘The option is be lonely and only see the dogs and the kids when they come round, or go out have a bit of fun and meet someone.

‘You’re not looking for a bloke you’re to marry, you’re just looking for someone to have fun with.’

Coleen revealed she ‘melted into a pool of embarrassment’ when a man she had been talking to on the app gave her his number and asked her to give him a ring.

‘That’s a bit too much. When it comes to going on a date and I fancy someone I turn into a 12-year-old schoolgirl, I forget my own name. I’m rubbish, I am the biggest cowardly flirt you’ll ever meet.’

She added that it was a worry if people know her from her singing fame or from Loose Women.

‘I had a message yesterday that said, “I bet you’re in the mood for dancing”, and I thought, “Oh for God’s sake,” and deleted him,’ she said.

In August, Coleen revealed on the show that she had been messaging a younger man on social media and confessed that it is ‘nice to have a flirt’.

The presenter said she was speaking to a 38-year-old suitor during a candid chat about age differences in relationships

However, she also questioned why someone much younger would be interested in an older woman as she mused whether it was because of her fame or money.

She said: ‘I would always question why would a 35-year-old want to be with a 55-year-old? Is it because I’m on telly or you think I’m rich?

‘Having said that, on social media, I have been speaking to a 38-year-old. He’s like a 38-year-old with an older soul.’

Her fellow panellist Michelle Ackerley then chipped in saying ‘you need to connect’, to which Coleen responded: ‘Yeah, the problem is you don’t really get that on dating websites.’

Coleen had been single for three years after splitting from her second husband Ray Fensome in 2017 after 11 years of marriage. They share daughter Ciara, 20.

Previously, she had tied the knot with Shane Richie in 1990, and they had two sons – Jake, 28, and Shane Roche Jr., 32, before separating in 1997. Their divorce was finalised in 1999.