Denise Nolan is married! Exclusive wedding as the 72-year-old star marries surrounded by his famous siblings: “We have been together for 47 years – we love each other”

Newlyweds Denise Nolan and Tom Anderson waited almost half a century to officially become husband and wife.

Now, in the shadow of the iconic Blackpool Tower and in the presence of their nearest and dearest – including Denise’s sisters Coleen, Linda, Anne and Maureen – the couple have written the final chapter of their decades-long love story.

When OK! As he speaks to Denise the day after the ceremony and she recalls the poignant moments that made it so special, it’s clear that she’s still on an emotional – albeit exhausted – high.

“I had a fantastic day,” she smiles. “But everyone was exhausted, we didn’t get home until midnight. We danced the whole night away!”

The couple, who married on Monday June 17, met when Denise, now 72, was singing with The Nolans and Tom, 77, was the house drummer at the London Rooms above the New London Theatre in London’s West End.

“We’ve been together for 47 years now and we love each other. We got engaged about 30 years ago but we didn’t think we needed the piece of paper to signify it,” she says. “He’s proposed to me a few times but usually when he’s had a drink and is feeling sentimental! Then I mention it to him the next day and he runs off!”

A major factor in the couple finally making it official was Tom’s heartbreaking Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2018. Denise accepts, especially given the losses she herself has suffered in the family, that there is no guarantee of tomorrow and they “didn’t want to wait until he might be much worse later and it could be hard work”.

When the couple decided it was finally time to make it official, it took a while before they knew exactly how and when they wanted to do it. At first, laughs Denise, they “didn’t want to make a big deal out of it” and planned an intimate ceremony where only she, Tom and two witnesses would sign the papers. But once Linda got wind of the idea, things went ahead.

“When we told Linda, she said, ‘You have to tell the family’ and reminded me how sad I was when Coleen ran off and married (Shane Richie). That’s when I realised I had to tell them. Then there were no longer four of us, there were about 55 of us!”

As every Nolan fan knows, Denise comes from a large family. She includes her brothers Tommy (74) and Brian (69), who gave her away last week, as well as her sisters Anne (73), Maureen (70), Linda (65), Coleen (59) and Bernadette, who tragically passed away in 2013 at the age of just 52.

The family moved from Dublin to Blackpool in the early 1960s and Denise still lives there with Tom and her sister Linda, who learned last year that her cancer had spread to her brain. Maureen and Anne also live nearby.

The couple spent their first years together in California – where Tom’s son Tom Jr. still lives with his family – and in the north-west of Great Britain. But when it came time to finally say “I do”, only one place came into question – Blackpool Promenade. They booked the Wedding Chapel (Festival House), which is located right on the famous promenade and offers a view of Blackpool Tower.

The guest list, which was longer than initially planned, included all of Denise’s sisters and their partners, including Coleen and her boyfriend Michael Jones, as well as a special group of friends from her and Tom’s “Thursday Club” (the group meets every Thursday at a club near Blackpool), who surprised her with a wedding cake.

“When you get married at Festival House you can see Blackpool Tower and the beach, it’s just lovely. We didn’t want a big service so it was perfect for us. Plus we could choose our own music and have the celebrant who was a gem.”

Having waited so long to get married, Denise and Tom wanted to make sure their special day was full of memories with their loved ones. Their flowers, including yellow roses and freesias, were gifted by Linda, who also insisted on contributing towards the cost of the day in gratitude for supporting the couple during their illness and cancer treatments.

“The whole family is very generous but Linda is especially generous. God bless her for not leaving us so quickly but I think she feels that with her terminal illness she wants to help if she can. When we got to Festival House I realised we had forgotten the flowers that Linda had paid a fortune for and I thought she would be so hurt if I didn’t carry them to the altar – so my poor brother had to rush back and get them!”

Not only does Denise not like being the centre of attention – “unless I’m on stage,” she says – she’s also a no-nonsense woman when it comes to organising. She tells us with a laugh that Tom’s snazzy light blue three-piece suit and her own wedding outfit – a yellow sequined maxi dress and a navy sequined blazer with matching fascinator – were all bought online because she didn’t want to spend hours browsing Blackpool shops.

“Linda was so keen to come with me and said, ‘We’re going to this and that shop,’ but I said, ‘Let’s just see what they have online.’ Linda wasn’t sure about anything I had chosen, but every time something arrived she would say, ‘Oh, that’s beautiful!'”

The couple’s rings – both simple rings engraved with the words “I love you” – were also purchased online and match perfectly with the engagement ring Denise has worn for years.

Denise wanted to not only fill this day with love, but also think of those who could not be there, including her younger sister Bernie, who lost her battle with breast cancer 11 years ago.

“When our late sister Bernie got married, the whole family got up and sang Frank Sinatra’s You, My Love mixed with a song from West Side Story called One Hand, One Heart. It was really beautiful, with beautiful harmonies. I filmed it from the back of the room and my friend was able to get a good sound recording, so we played it on our big day.”

Denise walked down the aisle to one of her own Sinatra covers from her 2022 Top 20 album, co-produced by Tom, and left the room in tears.

Sister Linda later told us, “It was such an emotional experience for all of us, it felt like a fairy tale come true. As I watched Denise walk down the aisle and thought of all the years of love, trials and triumphs she and Tom had shared, I was brought to tears. We have been through so much together and as I was there with my sisters celebrating such a beautiful union, I felt deeply grateful for the bond that we share.”

“Everyone was crying, even Tom was sobbing,” says Denise. “I also chose Frank Sinatra’s Love And Marriage because I thought ‘there’s got to be a funny song in there’ and we’re all Sinatra addicts in our family. As we walked back down the aisle, Tom sang Love Will Keep Us Together. Being able to choose all our own music was really special for us.”

After the ceremony and photos, the group headed to the nearby Park House Hotel where speeches and dancing took place. Denise gave a reading that summed up her love for Tom. It was called “To My Man” and included the lines: “When you feel overwhelmed, remember whose king you are and adjust your crown. The day I met you, I found my missing piece. Meeting you was destiny, becoming your partner was a choice, but falling in love with you was beyond my control.”

The wedding party were then treated to a DJ set by a family friend, including many songs by Nolan and a healthy dose of Sinatra. The couple’s first dance was to Sunshine Of My Life by Stevie Wonder, which Denise admits may not have been her first choice. “I love Michael Bublé, but my sister had him as her first dance and her marriage was falling apart, so I didn’t think I could put her through that!”

“Stevie Wonder was a great choice for us because Tom sang his songs and that’s what attracted me to him, his beautiful voice. He introduced me to the legendary Stevie and the first song I ever heard him sing was Sunshine Of My Life.”

“We all really love dancing. After Maureen’s birthday on Friday I thought she would be so tired but she had danced the whole night away and Coleen changed her nice fancy shoes for her trainers because she wanted to dance and I ended up dancing barefoot because my shoes were killing me. The DJ had a full set of the girls’ songs so he played them and the girls performed all the numbers which everyone enjoyed.”

Although their day was full of love and laughter, there were of course also some quiet moments of reflection, not least for those who were no longer able to experience this happy moment.

Denise says she thought of her mother Maureen, her sister Bernie and also her late Aunt Teresa, who she was very close to, several times throughout the day and they played a special recording of Bernie’s “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder.

“Of course, not a day goes by that we don’t think about her,” she says. “But you can’t talk about it too often because then it gets very sad. She was such a presence in our lives. She was a real extrovert and so funny. So we know she should be at every one of our parties. And my aunt would have loved it, and she loved Tom. Actually, everyone loves Tom, he’s just the kind of person that everyone loves.”

Later, Sister Linda summed up her memories of that special day, telling us, “After everything that has happened in my own life, moments like this become even more precious. We have always supported each other, but on that day, the joy and love in the air were palpable.”

“It was a day filled with laughter, tears and memories that I will cherish forever. It was a reminder of the power of family, love and the incredible journey we have all taken together. Life is unpredictable and often hard, but moments like this, surrounded by those we love, make it all worthwhile.”

Denise and Tom are planning their honeymoon in Scarborough and, in true Nolan style, it will be a sisterly affair. “It’s one of our favourite places in the world and Linda, Maureen and Anne are coming with us!” laughs Denise.