Coleen Nolan reveals she spent £500,000 on cigarettes as she quits 40-year habit

13 March 2024, 13:10

Coleen Nolan revealed she quit smoking three months ago after a chest infection left her 'unable to breathe'. Picture: ITV / Channel 5

By Alice Dear

Coleen Nolan quit smoking three months ago after a chest infection left her unable to breathe.

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Coleen Nolan, 58, has revealed that she has spent over £500,000 on cigarettes over the 40-years she has smoked.

The Loose Women star revealed that she smoked on average 30 cigarettes a day for four decades, working out that each year of the habit cost her £14,000 - money she says could have gone towards a car or a holiday.

Now, the singer and TV star has revealed why she quit 12 weeks ago as she attempts to encourage others to give up the dangerous habit.

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Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, Coleen told viewers to not "give up giving up" as she describes "falling off the wagon" as "a blip" and not "a failure".

Coleen Nolan told people trying to give up smoking to not look at 'falling off the wagon' as 'failing' and rather 'just a blip'. Picture: ITV

Coleen opened up to hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls about why she decided to kick the habit for good, referencing a chest infection which left her unable to breathe.

"Everyone was getting the flu thing going around, I got it and being a smoker it went into acute severe chest infection," Coleen recalled: "I walked from the lift to the bedroom and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't get my breath. Then I had a panic attack and thought I was going to die on my own."

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She went on to explain that the illness scared her so much she started to question what she was doing by continuing to smoke: "I can't repair the damage I've done," she said: "But I can certainly stop it from getting worse."

Coleen Nolan encourages people to quit smoking

Coleen also spoke to The Sun on National No Smoking Day, where she revealed that she worked out just how much she had been spending on cigarettes when she attempted to quit during lockdown.

She revealed: "During Covid I tried to stop and I got an app that tells you how much money you have saved. At that point it was about £14,000 a year. Since then it's gone up by two or three pounds a pack so it's now probably about £18,000 a year."

The star reflected that for that money she could have taken her family on a first class holiday or even bought a car.

Coleen went on to explain that when she started smoking it was "classed as really cool" but that now she realises "it's actually really antisocial".

"Basically, you may as well take that £20 a day or whatever it is and just set fire to it, as that is effectively what you are doing and killing yourself at the same time," she said.