Coleen Nolan has admitted she could see herself walking down the aisle again after falling deeply in love with Ryan Brockbank, despite previously insisting that two marriages were enough. The 61-year-old Loose Women star says her relationship with the 41-year-old fashion lecturer has transformed her outlook on love — although her children have been far less restrained in their reaction to the couple’s whirlwind romance.

Nolan, who only recently made her relationship with Brockbank public, has suggested that marriage is no longer off the table after years of believing she would never become a bride for a third time.

Speaking about her new partner during conversations with her family, the former Nolans singer indicated that she feels she has finally found the type of relationship she had spent decades hoping for. Her feelings have developed remarkably quickly considering the couple have been together for only a matter of months.

The romance has already produced matching tattoos, romantic trips and a string of affectionate photographs — prompting her daughter Ciara to joke that watching her mother behave like a lovestruck teenager is almost too much to bear.

Coleen no longer ruling out a third wedding

Nolan’s change of heart is particularly striking because she has previously spoken candidly about marriage and the lessons she took from her two divorces.

She was married to actor and television personality Shane Richie from 1990 until 1999. The former couple share two sons, Shane Nolan and Jake Roche.

She later married musician Ray Fensome, the father of her daughter Ciara. That marriage also eventually ended, with the couple divorcing in 2018.

For years afterward, Nolan appeared comfortable with the idea that marriage might be a chapter of her life she had already completed.

Ryan, however, seems to have changed that calculation.

Recent reports about a conversation on the Nolan family podcast suggest Coleen is now prepared to contemplate another wedding. She has spoken about Ryan as though he possesses many of the qualities she had been searching for throughout her adult life, while joking that any potential ceremony would have to avoid overshadowing her daughter’s own future wedding plans.

The admission marks a remarkable turnaround for someone whose recent dating life had been filled with uncertainty.

Twenty-year age gap no longer bothers her

Coleen is 61 while Ryan is 41, giving the couple an age difference of approximately 20 years.

Rather than treating that difference as an obstacle, Nolan has embraced it — something she may not have been prepared to do before appearing on E4’s Celebs Go Dating.

Her stint on the dating programme earlier this year did not produce a lasting partner. In fact, Coleen subsequently described the experience itself as something of a disaster.

But she has acknowledged that the process changed the way she thought about relationships.

On the programme, Nolan was encouraged to date outside her usual comfort zone. She later admitted that being rejected by some of the men she met had been embarrassing and bruised her confidence, particularly when potential dates were asked to indicate whether they were interested in her.

At the same time, the therapy and advice she received during filming apparently forced her to reconsider assumptions she had developed about dating.

By the end of the experience, Nolan said she had changed significantly.

That appears to have prepared the ground for Ryan.

Who is Ryan Brockbank?

Unlike Coleen, Ryan has not built a career in television or celebrity entertainment.

He works in fashion education and has been described as a lecturer at London’s Fashion Retail Academy, the institution attended by Molly-Mae Hague before she became famous on Love Island. He is also involved in clothing design and is heavily tattooed.

Ryan is also a father from a previous relationship.

Friends of the couple have suggested that his experience as a parent and his creative interests helped establish common ground between them.

By the time their relationship became public, the pair had apparently already been seeing each other privately for several months and had enjoyed a romantic trip together. Ryan had also begun spending time around members of Coleen’s family.

He joined her when she attended An Afternoon With The Nolans, where he was seen walking arm-in-arm with Coleen and chatting with her son Shane.

It was another indication that the relationship had moved beyond casual dating even before the public was formally introduced to him.

Their understated Instagram ‘hard launch’

After weeks of hints from her children, Coleen finally confirmed the relationship on Instagram on August 11.

Instead of writing a long declaration, she posted a smiling photograph in which Ryan leaned affectionately toward her.

Her caption was remarkably simple: his initial, “R,” accompanied by a heart emoji.

The photograph nevertheless left little room for doubt.

Fans and celebrity friends quickly congratulated her, with many saying they were delighted to see the television presenter happy again.

Coleen subsequently shared further glimpses of their time together.

One later photograph showed the pair sitting outside beside a small green table on a summer evening. Some followers jokingly remarked that the grey-haired, bearded Ryan bore a resemblance to Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood.

But perhaps the clearest evidence of how seriously they are taking the relationship came not through Instagram photographs but through a tattoo parlour.

Matching tattoos leave Coleen’s children horrified

Despite dating for only a relatively short period, Coleen and Ryan have already had matching tattoos.

Her daughter Ciara Fensome, 25, exposed the secret during an episode of the family podcast Nolans Uncensored.

Ciara announced that her mother had been tattooed with Ryan and then gleefully embarrassed Coleen by discussing the designs in front of listeners.

According to the family conversation, Coleen has an “R” accompanied by a heart, as well as the words “Until the end” on her forearm.

Ciara said the revelation had caused disbelief in the family group chat, with Coleen’s children privately wondering whether their mother had completely lost her head.

Coleen’s response was characteristically sentimental: rather than losing her head, she suggested she had simply lost her heart.

The exchange was clearly playful, but Ciara has continued teasing her mother about just how intensely romantic she has become.

Her mock-disgust at the loved-up couple has become a running joke in the family, particularly as Coleen continues talking openly about Ryan and their future together.

Things are moving remarkably quickly

Even those close to Nolan have acknowledged that the relationship is progressing at considerable speed.

Within only a few months, Coleen and Ryan have taken a trip together, met one another’s family circles, appeared publicly as a couple, gone Instagram official and permanently marked their relationship with tattoos.

Now, marriage has entered the conversation.

Sources who spoke when the romance first emerged described Coleen as extremely taken with Ryan and said she talked about him frequently.

The pace may explain why her children have found so much material for jokes.

Ciara in particular has openly ribbed her mother on their podcast, but beneath the mock horror there appears to be acceptance that Coleen is happy.

Even Coleen has joked about the physical benefits

Nolan has not restricted her comments to the emotional side of her new romance.

In a characteristically candid interview, the Loose Women presenter joked that although her hips are not quite what they used to be, they may actually have improved since Ryan entered her life.

The cheeky remark inevitably attracted attention because of the couple’s age difference and reinforced the impression that Coleen is thoroughly enjoying the early stages of the relationship.

Her openness is consistent with the highly personal style she has developed over more than two decades on Loose Women, where relationships, divorce, ageing, health and family life frequently form part of the discussion.

This time, however, Coleen is sharing a notably happier romantic story.

A difficult road back to dating

Before Ryan, Nolan’s most recent publicly known serious relationship was with Michael Jones.

After that relationship ended, she returned to dating but admitted that finding the right person had not been straightforward.

Her experience on Celebs Go Dating highlighted those difficulties.

Coleen said that one practical problem was geography: many of the men arranged for her lived in Essex while she was based in Staffordshire. More importantly, she repeatedly found that the essential romantic spark simply was not there.

One date she thought had gone particularly well ultimately resulted in rejection.

She later acknowledged that the experience had been humiliating at times, but also credited the programme’s dating experts and therapy sessions with helping her better understand what she wanted.

Ironically, she did not meet the right partner through one of the show’s arranged dates.

Instead, the experience appears to have made her receptive to Ryan when he subsequently came into her life.

Two marriages she refuses to call failures

Coleen has long resisted describing her previous marriages simply as mistakes.

She has spoken warmly about the fact that those relationships gave her three children and has argued that a marriage ending does not erase the good things that came from it.

Her marriage to Shane Richie produced sons Shane Jr. and Jake, while her relationship with Ray Fensome brought daughter Ciara.

Family has remained central to Nolan’s life, with her children now appearing alongside her in Nolans Uncensored, where very little seems to remain private for long.

That dynamic means Ryan is entering not only a new relationship but a family in which teasing, oversharing and candid discussions are very much part of the territory.

So far, Coleen appears perfectly happy with that.

Love after a difficult period for the Nolan family

The romance also follows several deeply emotional years for Coleen.

She has experienced repeated bereavements within the Nolan family, including the death of her sister Bernie Nolan from breast cancer in 2013 and, more recently, the loss of her sister Linda Nolan.

Coleen has written and spoken extensively about grief, describing how losing loved ones changed her perspective on life and the importance of continuing to live fully after bereavement.

In a 2024 interview, she explained that grief never simply disappears; instead, people gradually learn how to carry it while life moves forward.

Against that background, her enthusiasm for a new relationship has an added significance.

Rather than approaching her sixties by narrowing her expectations, Coleen appears to have done the opposite.

From dating-show rejection to talking about marriage

Only months ago, Coleen was publicly discussing bruising rejection and the failure to find a partner on reality television.

Now she is getting matching tattoos, sharing romantic photographs and openly entertaining the possibility of becoming a bride again.

The speed of that transformation has amused her children, surprised some fans and even appears to have surprised Nolan herself.

Yet she seems determined not to allow concerns about age — either hers or Ryan’s — to dictate the relationship.

At 61, after two marriages and decades of experience in the public eye, Nolan has indicated that she finally understands more clearly what she wants from a partner.

And although no engagement has been announced and there is currently no wedding date, her previous insistence that she would never marry again appears to have disappeared.

For now, Coleen and Ryan remain in the intensely romantic early stage of their relationship — one involving holidays, affectionate social-media posts and permanent declarations inked onto their skin. Whether it eventually leads to a third walk down the aisle remains to be seen, but Nolan is no longer saying it never will.