LOOSE Women star Coleen Nolan has been hiding a major secret from fans.
It can finally be revealed that reality TV star Orlagh Hartnett moved into the Nolan family home in Cheshire a year ago – after becoming estranged from her own mum.
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Orlagh, 21, who has just won E4’s Fred’s Last Resort show, told how Coleen calls her “daughter”.
She joked: “Honestly, my birthday card is ‘Orlagh, the daughter I never wanted’!”
The pizza waitress this week walked off with the £10,000 prize on Fred Sirieix’s new show Last Resort, which saw 12 young people compete for a top hospitality contract during summer season at a five-star hotel on the French Riviera.
But Orlagh kept her friendship with Coleen under wraps because she didn’t want to be accused of taking advantage of their relationship.
Fellow contestants had no idea of the connection until they visited Orlagh at Coleen’s family home.
Orlagh said: “I didn’t tell anyone on the show who she was, or who I lived with. When the recruits came round to my house afterwards I was like ‘this is Coleen and I live with her.'”
Orlagh first met Coleen when she was aged seven, when she became friends with her daughter Ciara Fensome, 21.
She spent lots of time at Coleen’s home as she grew up.
After leaving home at 16, contact gradually dwindled with her own mum but she says Coleen, 58, stepped in to guide her – and is now the ‘mother’ she turns to for advice.
Orlagh says: “My mum had a lot of children so she couldn’t give me loads of attention so I would go round to Coleen’s house.
“I grew up a family of eight children – six girls, two boys, so as you can imagine – chaos!
“I lived with my mum and stepdad until the age of 16 then moved in with my dad.
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“My mum moved away in April last year and I haven’t had any contact with her since then.
“As awful and upsetting the situation is I have to pick myself up everyday and get on with life and go get what I want.
“The support that Coleen’s given me has been…honestly, I don’t know what I do without her.”
The budding hotelier says their closeness is like mother and daughter as the Loose Women star keeps a careful watch over Orlagh.
She says: “She’ll always tell me if I’m in the right or wrong.
“I don’t think I would’ve achieved what I’ve achieved without Coleen.
“She’s very like ‘just slow down, have a think do this, do that, think about this thing.’
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“We even go to each other about dating – we’re both single.”
Kept secret
Orlagh says she kept her relationship with Coleen under wraps before and during the show.
She said: “I didn’t want people to think I got on through Coleen because I didn’t and she’s not friends with Fred or anything like that.
“I was worried what the public would think.”
On their living arrangements, Orlagh said: “We all just hang out together. Coleen’s such an open person – her house is an open house with friends and family coming through the door.
“If Ciara is out I’ll sit and chill with her mum, but then if her mum’s out, me and Ciara will do stuff together.
“We all enjoyed a spa day the other day.”
Coleen poured praise on Orlagh after watching her win the show and said: “I couldn’t be more proud of the daughter I never asked for!
“I’ve known Orlagh since she was seven as Ciara’s little mate. Now here she is winning the top prize.
“I’m so proud of her, she’s such a driven girl with an amazing work ethic.
“She deserved to win because she was the best through the whole series and to top it off she’s the loveliest, kindest girl you could hope to meet.”
Hotel hopes
Orlagh, who holds down three jobs and works seven days a week, will now move to London to train in hospitality and one day hopes to own her own hotel.
She is proud of her strong work ethic, turning down the opportunity to go on Love Island in order to build a career.
“I never went for any of the interviews. I just think that I’m a bit better than that.
“I’m not just about my face and my body. I’ve got a heart, I’ve got a passion, I’ve got work ethic and I think going on TV and sitting around, it’s not for me.
“I know that I’d struggle a lot with that. TV was never really something that I ever contemplated.
“I was offered a few things a few years ago, but never really fully took to it.
“All those things that you want, the housing and all of that isn’t going to just come.
“You’ve got to put the effort in and it can be hard.
“I’m so pleased to be the winner of this amazing TV series. Fred as a mentor was brilliant and having the opportunity to work for Accor and begin my career in Hospitality is a dream come true.
“I would love to encourage other 16-20 somethings.”
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