Coleen Nolan, 61, hits back at critics of age gap romance with toyboy, 46, and declares she's 'very much in love'

Coleen Nolan defended her age-gap romance with her boyfriend Ryan Brockbank as she insisted they are 'they much in love' following a whirlwind romance.The Loose Women panellist, 61, and her toyboy Ryan, 46, met when he slid into her DMs after she appeared on Celebs Go Dating earlier this year.Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, Coleen detailed their 'instant connection' and brushed off claims her family are concerned about her.Coleen said: 'We are very, very, very much together, and very much in love. And I wasn't expecting it. I'd given up on it after Celebs Go Dating, I thought I'm not doing dating apps. If fate is out there and it's meant to be, it will be. And there he was. Host Ed Balls asked her: 'And has he got a thumbs up from the family?'To which Coleen replied: 'Yes, they all get on really well with him, which is massive for me that they like him, you know. But and he's 14 years younger, not 20. They're fixated on 20 years younger. 14's bad enough.' Coleen Nolan defended her age-gap romance with her boyfriend Ryan Brockbank as she insisted they are 'they much in love' following a whirlwind romance The Loose Women panellist, 61, and her toyboy Ryan, 46, met when he slid into her DMs after she appeared on Celebs Go Dating earlier this yearWhen asked if that makes Ryan her 'toyboy', she said: 'Yeah, I don't know what they're called, but I mean, I'm called a cougar apparently.'Sharing the story of how they met, Coleen said: 'I went on Celebs Go Dating. And then there was one episode, and Ryan watched it. 'He's never watched it in life, but it was on the telly. He watched it, and he thought, "Oh, she's nice". And he messaged me.Coleen said she normally doesn't exchange with strangers on social media past replying with a 'heart or kiss', but she and Ryan hit it off straight away.She said: 'It just carried on, and it was almost instant. I mean, and all this about oh, their friends are worried, and they're going off to Vegas is rubbish.'Last month Mail+ revealed that Coleen was selling her countryside farm to move to London to be closer to Ryan. Read the full report here.Coleen then revealed she's re-homing her farm animals as she prepares to downsize with Ryan from her six-acre farm in Dilhorne, Staffordshire Moorlands.She confessed there's no one she'd rather go on this 'adventure' with, saying: 'I met Ryan then it was like okay if I'm going to downsize, I've got someone wonderful to do that with and start a whole new adventure of life with someone new.' Appearing on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, Coleen detailed their 'instant connection' and brushed off claims her family are concerned about herIn a show of their commitment to each other, Coleen and Ryan both had matching tattoos inked onto themselves with the words 'until the end'.A month after teasing their shared inkings, Coleen unveiled the tattoo during an episode of Loose Women in September.A clearly smitten Coleen showed off the three-word inking on her right arm to her Loose Women co-stars – Kaye Adams, Janet Street-Porter and Katie Piper – revealing the small inking says 'UNTIL THE END'.'He's got lots of tattoos which are great and then he said "we should get a matching one" and I was like "ooh ok" and then I was literally "yeah let's do it", she explained.'He was kind of joking, like testing me, and I went "yeah, let's do it, let's do it" so we did.'On the reaction from her family, she added: 'My kids when I went home went "what is going on?" Do you know, I'm in my 60s now, there's more life behind me than in front and I'm going to do exactly [what I want].''I've spent my whole life working, bringing up kids like most people. All my kids are parents themselves and moving on. I'm going to live my life. 'Explaining the meaning of her ink, she gushed: 'I've met someone I want to do that with and it is for both of us, certainly for me, until the end.' Coleen first revealed she had got matching tattoos with Ryan during an episode of the podcast she presents with her daughter Ciara, who told listeners her mum 'had lost the plot'.Ciara said: 'Mum’s got tattoos. Matching with Ryan! Show them the R and the heart on your t**s.'Coleen told her: 'No Ciara.' Ciara then informed listeners: 'She's got two tattoos, she's got an R and a heart and 'Until the end' on her forearm. I want to kill myself.' 'She sent it in our group and we all wanted to kill ourselves. We were all texting each other privately going "mum's lost the plot". She's lost her head.' Coleen revealed her matching 'UNTIL THE END' tattoo with her toyboy boyfriend Ryan A clearly-smitten Coleen showed off the three-word inking on her right arm to her Loose Women co-stars - revealing the small inking says 'UNTIL THE END'Giggling sheepishly, Coleen replied: 'I haven't though, just lost my heart.'Speaking on a recent episode of Loose Women, Coleen shared that their romance almost didn't happen as she thought their age gap was too much, admitting that it was her own insecurities holding her back. After telling how Ryan had initially asked her out for a drink, Coleen 'didn't think anything of it' before he then continued to pursue her and make her laugh, something which the star said was 'a winner for me'.As she told how it was really nice having someone to chat to,' Coleen continued: 'Then it got around to, "Well, how old are you?" and he said, "I'm 46". I went, "Oh god no. Way too young. Straight away, I said you're too young".'Coleen went on to discuss her time on Celebs Go Dating earlier this year, telling how she didn't date anyone younger than 55 due to her own fears.She shared: 'My own insecurity, really, I thought they wouldn't fancy me anyway because I'm 61 and I'd wonder why they did.'So there was that insecurity, I didn’t want anyone with younger kids because I've been through the kid thing, and I didn't want anyone who lived miles away, and he's all three of them.'It made me realise that when it's the right one and the real one, all those things don't matter, you make them work.' Detailing her age gap romance with Ryan, Coleen added that when she informed him he was too young for her, he insisted that it didn't matter to him. She explained: 'The more we got to know each other, he said, "You might be that in years, but it's like going out with a kid because you're like an 18-year-old!"'Gushing over her love, she concluded: 'I think what's been lovely, I'm saying too much now, it's taking me 61 [years], and let's be honest, I've had a few relationships and a few relationships. I feel like I've gone through all of that to get where I am today, and they've sent me the person that I need!'