On April 23, 2010, it was announced that Nolan was suffering from breast cancer. In October 2010, she stated that she was cancer-free after having undergone chemotherapy and a mastectomy, and was taking Herceptin.
In February 2012, she announced that she was no longer taking cancer treatment drugs and was completely free of cancer. At the end of 2012, she announced that cancer had returned and had metastasised to her brain, lungs, liver and bones.
Nolan died in her sleep, at home in Surrey, on July 4, 2013, aged 52. Nolan’s funeral service was held on July 17, 2013, at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool and she was later cremated at Carleton Crematorium. Her ashes were then buried alongside those of her stillborn daughter.