EXCLUSIVE: Hollyoaks star Nicole Barber-Lane became emotional as she fondly remembered her late co-star Diane Langton who played her onscreen mother Nana McQueen16:36, 16 Jul 2026Updated 16:37, 16 Jul 2026More than a year on from Hollyoaks icon Diane Langton's death, her co-star Nicole Barber-Lane has revealed she's still "not ready" to say a final goodbye.‌The beloved actress dies aged 77 in January 2025. Hollyoaks has not killed off her beloved character Nana McQueen, with her very much talked about as if she is still alive.‌This is what her onscreen daughter Nicole, who plays Myra McQueen, wants to keep up. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, Nicole became emotional as she fondly remembered Diane, calling her a "beautiful" person.‌Nicole shared how all of Diane's Hollyoaks costumes were still on the set in her dressing room, which still had her name above the door. Nicole explained that she and her co-stars were still not ready to let go, and they hoped they could celebrate Nana and actress Diane without having her storyline end.Asked if they wanted to address a death onscreen for Nana, Nicole told us: "I don't know. The reason is once we do that, she's gone. If we don't do that she's still alive for us.‌"All her costume is still here. It's not been cleared out and her name is still on her dressing room. Her warm coat is till there with her name on. We can't. It's not healthy for everybody, but I don't think we're ready."Nicole says the cast celebrate Diane by talking about her all of the time. She said: "We talk about her, me and Jorgie Porter talked about her the other day. We get excited when people talk about Diane because we know what a star she was."She really was. For us she's in Alicante, probably abseiling down mountains, or she's taken up paragliding. That's what I want to think of with Nana. How would that end?‌"Maybe, yes, we could draw that to a close but it feels more celebratory to say she is living on, and doing this." Asked about having Diane in her life, Nicole went on: "It was an honour, more than you know."She was very beautiful and spiritual, she was a spiritual person. I'm trying not to get emotional." Moving on to happier times, we asked Nicole about the iconic McQueens, and why she believes there is no family like them.‌She told us: "At the time Bryan Kirkwood [former Hollyoaks producer] had this fabulous idea. He basically went, 'Spice Girls'. I'm not Sporty Spice but... he wanted a different flavour of character for each of the girls."Then Myra had to be a lioness protecting her whole family to keep them together. It was beautiful cos before that, the matriarchs weren't strong in that and Bryan gave me so many great opportunities and I loved it."Article continues belowHollyoaks is available to stream on Channel 4's streaming service now, while it also airs Mondays to Wednesdays on E4 at 7PM. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .