Coleen Nolan has cancelled her upcoming solo tour and quit Loose Women in the wake of a backlash from her fiery row with Kim Woodburn.
In a statement, the TV presenter and singer said: "Following the constant online bullying, trolling and misrepresentation of her words actions and reactions, it is with sad regret that Coleen is taking an immediate hiatus from all her current commitments including Loose Women and postponing her Never Too Late solo concert tour.
"Coleen has spent 50 years in showbusiness and 18 years as one of the most loved members of the Loose Women panel, and has never been subjected to such a horrifying torrent of online abuse of such a heart-breaking attack on her reputation."
The statement added: "Coleen is devastated to let her supporters and fans down, but is currently not strong enough to withstand this constant and unfounded online abuse, so she will be taking time out and spending it with her children and family where she feels loved and respected.
"She sends her love to everyone who has supported her and knows who she really is and plans to return when she feels stronger."
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In a televised interview on Tuesday, Coleen broke down in tears and sobbed about the "worst week of my life" as she was subjected to "revolting" messages on social media in the wake of her bust-up with Kim last week.
"Honestly I don’t know what to say. If I could go back in time I would change the whole thing. It wasn’t meant to be like that," she told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning.
"I genuinely, honestly thought she was coming on to make amends and we would have a laugh about it. It’s like put it to bed. It didn’t go that way obviously since the moment she came out.
"It was genuinely shocking for all of us. None of us wanted that. I never want to see anyone in that much distress as she was in the end.
"It’s been the worst week of my life actually."
Revealing what made her so upset, she said: "I don’t know what I did wrong. I didn’t say anything. I said about two things in that interview. I thought she needs help really and I felt sorry for her.
"It’s hard. I’ve never called her names. She called me every name under the sun.
"It’s fine I can deal with that. But to be called a bully. And to get messages saying ‘why can’t you die like your sister?’.
During their furious row, Coleen and Kim took potshots at each other over their respective behaviour inside the Celebrity Big Brother house, before Kim stormed off set while calling Coleen "’lying trash".
But while their joint appearance was billed as peace talks, Kim claimed afterwards that Loose Women producers had stitched her up for ratings.
Coleen confessed that the controversy surrounding the interview had hit her so hard she considered quitting her Loose Women role.
She continued: "In 15 odd years doing a job I really love, there’s a campaign to get me fired. And they talk about me being a horrible bully and send me these revolting messages.
"I phoned my management and my kids [and said] I can’t do it. I don’t want to do it anymore."
The level of vitriol from online trolls was too much to bear, she said.
"It’s not right. I think it’s wrong. I’ve been in it years, I’ve dealt with trolls and everything before. Then I thought if this had affected me this much what if I was 14 or 15? It’s revolting bullying and I would not wish it on anyone.
"I wouldn’t wish harm on Kim. I don’t hate Kim. We will never be friends but that’s fine. I don’t set out to bully her. It’s just been a really hard week."
It seems Coleen’s decision to cancel all upcoming Loose Women stints is a last-minute one, given that just last week she was talking excitedly about her upcoming singing tour.
"Obviously I’ll have to take a break from Loose Women," Coleen told Woman’s Own magazine, which hit newsstands on Tuesday.
"I can’t be as regular on it as I am now because I will be in Scotland, Wales, way down south; it will be impossible to be on the show two or three times a week."
She went on: "But hopefully I can pop back when I’m near enough, or we can do live link-ups when we need to. They’ll probably be delighted to get a break from me."
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