Cruising expert and singing sensation Jane McDonald made an emotional return to ITV’s Loose Women on Friday – leaving many fans wondering why she quit the show a decade before

Jane McDonald made her triumphant return to Loose Women on Friday – a full decade after she sensationally quit the show.

The 61-year-old performer and TV host was a fan favourite on ITV’s long-running lunchtime talk show. She was a regular panellist on Loose Women from 2004 until 2014 before making the decision to quit the show.

Jane endured a 10 behind the Loose Women desk – regularly appearing alongside the likes of Denise Welch, Coleen Nolan and Janet Street-Porter. And on Friday the team were thrilled to welcome her back to the show – which is currently celebrating it’s 25th year on air.

While fans were ecstatic to see Jane back on their screens, many questioned why she had quit the series in the first place. And it seems the Dance Yourself Dizzy singer had bigger ambitions than spending her week days chewing over general interest news topics at lunch time.

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Jane became emotional when she returned to Loose Women on Friday ( 
Image:
ITV)

The star announced her decision to quit Loose Women back in 2014 via social media. She wrote at the time: “It has been an incredible 10 years for me on Loose Women and I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve got a busy and exciting year coming up with a new album and national concert tour. So the time is right for me to step aside from Loose Women and concentrate on new opportunities.”

Jane continued: “I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again on tour and I thank you all for your continued support, loyalty and best wishes.” Indeed, her career has blossomed since turning her back on the lunchtime show as she has since unleashed five albums and thrilled fans on TV by hosting a range of Channel 5 shows including Jane & Friends, Holidaying with Jane McDonald and Jane McDonald: My Yorkshire.

Jane’s return to Loose Women was a one off and she hasn’t rejoined the panel on a permanent basis – but has also claimed she wouldn’t necessarily say no. She told Women Magazine in the past: “Never say never. But it was a period in time when everything was different. We could get away with things that we could never do now. And it was an era of girls who were not just colleagues – we were a force to be reckoned with. We were like Sex And The City when we hit the town. We’d have taken a bullet for each other. I don’t think I could go back without my friends on the same panel.”

During her appearance on the show on Friday, she became emotional as she reflected on the death of her long-term partner Eddie Roth who died in 2021 aged 61 – four years after the death of her mother. Fighting back tears, she said on the ITV show: “If I could get my mother and Ed back, I would in a heartbeat. But I can’t. You’ve got to realise that life goes on and I want to live. I love life. We don’t know how many days we’ve got and Ed died very young. I want to just do everything I want to do. I’m moving forward and taking them with me.”