With a prestigious musical under her belt, former pop star Linda Nolan has her eye on a TV role - in the nation's favourite soap opera. She spoke to JENNY SCOTT. . .

SHE was known as the Naughty Nolan, thanks to her raunchy poses in magazines, but for the past four years she's been firmly entrenched as a mother of eight at the heart of a Liverpool family.

Linda Nolan has proved a hit in the West End staging of Willy Russell's musical Blood Brothers.

Now she's returning to familiar territory when the production arrives in Blackpool -- the seaside town where Linda and her famous sisters grew up.

And so attached has she grown to the Lancashire area she has plans to stick around permanently if she can -- ideally with a stint behind the bar in the Rovers Return.

So how has Linda adapted to life as Mrs Johnstone, a cash-starved Liverpool mum who's forced to give up one of her sons?

"I adore it," said Linda, 45. "People ask me: 'Don't you get bored?', but to me it's an honour to be involved in Blood Brothers. Just look at the calibre of people who have played Mrs Johnstone -- Barbara Dixon, Kiki Dee.

"Before I got offered this part, I'd only done panto and a tour with Lily Savage. This is the first serious stuff I've done."

Four years is a long time to appear in a high-profile musical though. Can Linda see herself exiting the show and moving on to another project?

"It would have to be something very big for me to say goodbye to it at the moment," she said.

One ambition Linda has is to follow her sister Bernadette -- currently in The Bill -- into soap opera.

"Obviously, I'd love to get on to TV," she said. "Something like Coronation Street would be perfect.

"I've got the blonde hair and the big boobs -- I'd make a great barmaid behind the Rovers Return!"

Once upon a time it would have been difficult for a face as famous as Linda's to find its way into Wetherfield. But times have changed and with celebrities as varied as Honor Blackman and Norman Wisdom making guest appearances in the Street, Linda thinks her fame would be no barrier to a TV career. Not that she has any regrets about her time as a chart-topper, together with her sisters Bernadette, Maureen and Coleen.

"I had a great time with The Nolans," she said. "We toured the world and sang with Frank Sinatra in 1975.

"When I left the act in 1983 my first solo performance was with Gene Pitney. I'm very proud of what we achieved. We went past this '80s club the other day and they were playing I'm In The Mood For Dancing. Twenty years on they're still playing our music -- that's some achievement."

Nor does Linda regret her decision to leave the group at the height of their success. And, as she insisted: "It was the act I left - not the family."

Indeed, The Nolans remain a close family today, with many of the siblings, including Linda, living in or around Blackpool -- the town to which they moved from Ireland in 1964.

"They're all coming to see me in the show," she laughed. "There's about 40 seats put by for The Nolans!"

So if the sisters are all still firm friends, what's stopping them staging a comeback like so many other '80s acts?

"We're all a bit busy at the moment," said Linda, before adding: "But, never say never!"

Catch Linda Nolan in Blood Brothers at the Blackpool Grand until November 13. For tickets call (01253) 290190.