Coleen Nolan "didn't want to get out of bed" after the death of her sister Linda Nolan

She told OK! magazine: "Linda had cancer for 20 years and was so positive. I got to a point where I thought she'd outlive us all.

"Then when it happened, it happened so quickly. Afterwards, I didn't want to get out of bed. It was overwhelming.

"My kids literally didn't leave my side and when I needed to be alone, they would be in the next room. [Daughter] Ciara took control of everything and everyone that came round. I'd be asked to do something and say 'yes', and she'd jump in and tell them no, I wasn't ready."

The tragedy overshadowed Coleen's 60th birthday in March, but she's revealed having therapy helped her see the positives in life despite the loss of her elder sister.

Coleen added: "You start questioning your own mortality. I was asking myself, 'What's all this for?' I didn't want to work, I wanted to stay home with the animals. I'd really lost my mojo for everything, and that's when I realised I needed professional help.

"Therapy has been the best thing I've ever done. I've had it on and off over the years and I'm always pushing people to have it, it's still a bit of a taboo in this country, but it's amazing.

"I really needed it this year because I didn't know how to push forward and had an incredible sadness, and when it wasn't sadness it was numbness.

"Therapy has absolutely saved me, my therapist can't give me a pill or an operation to fix me, it ultimately has to come from me, but it gives me the belief and the courage that I'm strong enough to do it."

Linda was laid to rest in a pink, sparkly coffin following a service in Blackpool, England and Coleen recently revealed the Nolans ignored their sister's request for a sombre memorial.

She told The Mirror newspaper: "She [Linda] wanted everyone in black, wearing mantillas, those little lace veils that cover your face. I remember saying, 'You are joking, Linda! If I see all my sisters in mantillas, I'm going to laugh the whole way through the funeral!'

"We've decided not to do that, but we are wearing black. Her coffin is pure showbiz - bright pink and sparkly, just as she wanted.

"The one thing my sister loved was bling - her trainers had bling on them, her handbags, her tops, her walking stick - so it feels right that she has a glittery pink coffin."