coleen nolan
Coleen Nolan on ITV show Loose Women ITV

Loose Women star Coleen Nolan has confirmed that she and husband Ray Fensome have called it quits after a "hellish" year of trying to save their marriage.

Nolan broke the news in her daily agony aunt column, and admitted that "we can't go back," in the heart-breaking message. She wrote, "Me and my husband Ray are divorcing. I wanted to tell you first as I can hardly sit here and keep dishing out advice if I'm not being totally straight about what is going on in my own life."

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The Irish singer admitted she believed she would "grow old" with the 60-year-old guitarist. An emotional Coleen continued, "I've got tears pouring down my face as I write this. It's hard to imagine that so much could have changed from that day in 2008 when we married. On that day, I thought there was nothing that could split us up. I was convinced we'd grow old together, hobbling to the post office to collect our pensions."

"But a decade on and it's now clear I was wrong. There is too much dividing me and Ray. We can't go back. And my future is going to be very different to the one I'd imagined back then."

The couple, who share 16-year-old daughter Ciara Fensome together, celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in 2017. The TV presenter also revealed that her children are supportive of her decision after a "hellish year".

She wrote, "My beautiful kids, Shane Jnr, Jake and Ciara – my daughter with Ray – have all been unbelievably supportive and understanding."

"I want to show marriages can break down without families breaking down to – so long as you're honest. The last 12 months have been pretty hellish. I've been honest on Loose Women for a while that Ray and I have been having problems and it's all I thought about in the Big Brother house.

She concluded the emotional message on a positive note. "I have fought, with every fibre of my being. But I deserve to be happy. Everyone does. And once you know your marriage is truly dead you need to make your peace with that, bury the past and move on. After 17 years together that's what I'm about to do."

"Wish me luck in my new chapter," she asked her fans. Coleen will discuss the issue further on ITV show Loose Women on Wednesday (February 7).

Coleen first opened up about her marital issues in 2016. She said at the time, "We're going to do a lot of talking over the next couple of weeks, but if we can't fix it then I want us to have counselling. The next step is a trial separation."

Nolan also spoke of marriage troubles while in the Celebrity Big Brother house in 2017 January. She said in the show, "I came in here when my marriage wasn't great, really not great. I think we needed a break, we needed to be apart."