Steve Doneathy, Bernie Nolan's husband, has spoken in today's Sunday Mirror about how thieves ransacked their home whilst he was looking after his wife in a hospice.

Doneathy was planning to bring her back home from the hospice for her final days when he rang his friend to help organise their house to be adapted for her return, he said:

"I called my friend to see if he would pop round to the house. We needed to get things fitted to help Bernie get up and down the stairs. But he called me back and said, 'Steve, you've been broken into'.

"We have a little box in the front room that has a padlock on it. It's where we keep photographs of our first daughter Kate (who was stillborn in 1997)... They'd smashed the padlock off that and tipped it all over the floor, just in case it was full of jewellery."

"Getting Bernie back was brilliant. It's being alive, these tiny little things that make up your days and your life and you don't even realise. We didn't have any of that in the hospice.

"Now we're home it doesn't feel so much like we're just waiting. Obviously we know Bernie is going to be very poorly again. But in the meantime we want to lead as normal a life as we possibly can. We think we can cope. I can do everything she needs. I'm giving her her medication. Bernie can walk a little bit, sit up and eat. So for now, it's OK.

"The idea of curing it or treating it, or making it smaller isn't there now. She could have gone to hospice until the end, but she wanted to come home. We have no idea how long that might be. Bernie is a strong girl with a will of steel and a big heart. She's still got some fire in her belly. If anyone can keep on going, it's Bernie. She's amazing."

Nolan revealed that her breast cancer had returned last October (2012) and will be buried alongside their late daughter, Kate.

Watch The Nolans speak on The Alan Titchmarsh show, and vintage footage of them performing 'I'm In The Mood For Dancing' below: