Alzheimer's 'my biggest fear' says Coleen Nolan

Singer and television presenter Coleen Nolan says she has told her children to leave her in a care home and "walk away" if she is diagnosed with dementia, and to not feel guilty about it.

Ms Nolan, who moved from Cheshire to a farm in north Staffordshire last year, spoke to BBC local radio on Wednesday about her own experience of caring for her mother who lived with dementia for the last five years of her life.

Her mum, Maureen, would "have tantrums like a two-year-old," Ms Nolan said, as she also revealed she could not bear to help bathe her mum after her condition deteriorated.

Maureen died with Alzheimer's in 2007, aged 81, and Ms Nolan said being diagnosed with the disease was her own biggest fear.

She has previously supported fundraising initiatives for dementia research, in particular the development of drugs to slow down the effects of the disease.

Ms Nolan said her mum, who was a trained opera singer, began forgetting song lyrics but would get "really angry" when questioned about it.

She described spending the final years of her mum's life grieving her loss while she was still alive.

"Having had many family members now with cancer, and losing them to that, my mum's condition was the most traumatic for me - and for us as a family.

"When my sisters had cancer they were still aware. You could talk about things and say your goodbyes and hear their wishes."

Ms Nolan said that despite all the sadness associated with that period, there were still some funny moments - such as a time when they went to a coffee shop and she found her mum having a conversation with her own reflection in a mirror.

She said she believed watching musicals and family home videos had also helped her mum.

"We did try music and talking to her. I know there would be times when she'd be very quiet and just watching a video or a musical and she seemed at peace doing that."

Ms Nolan said in the end her mum went peacefully, which had brought her some comfort.

"I got so much relief from that because she was out of her trauma," she said.

She added that it had taken about a year to grieve her mum because whenever she thought of her she would remember her with Alzheimer's.

"I remember one day, thinking about her, and I thought about her young again like when I was a kid," she said.

"Then all of a sudden the memories were lovely and I really grieved."

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