Jane McDonald is a much-loved TV presenter and singer, who has sold out tours and won a Bafta – but she has also faced some incredibly tough times during her career

Upon arrival at a plush London hotel, we’re instantly swept up in the whirlwind that is Jane McDonald. Radiant, audacious, and brimming with life, it’s not hard to fathom why this award-winning singer and telly host is often dubbed a national treasure. Jane couples modesty with a self-deprecating wit and remains truly anchored to her working-class origins.

“I’m definitely not posh,” she chuckles, her Yorkshire twang shining through. Today’s purpose? To delve into the life and times of Jane, 61, as reflected in her fresh-off-the-press memoir ‘Let The Light In’, laying bare for the first time the agonising loss of her fiance Eddie Rothe to lung cancer last year.

Jane opened on the tragic loss of her partner Eddie ( 
Image:
Pal Hansen)

Her latest book sharing its name with her 2021 album sees Jane disarming us with the kind of truthful reflection on what she calls her “life failures” she tells OK! “There have been many,” she admits. “And that’s exactly what they are failures and mistakes.”

The conversation navigates to a particularly grim chapter back in 2002. Despite being at the peak of her early stardom and setting up home in Florida with then-husband and manager Henrik Brixen, she hit rock bottom and “lost absolutely everything”. After years of performing sellout tours, including a stint in Las Vegas, and with the promise of a new album and a BBC documentary on the horizon, Jane “felt sick” when she discovered she had no money to show for any of it. Blaming the inexperience of her husband as her manager, but also herself for not having an eye on the books, Jane fired Henrik. It spelled the end of their five-year marriage and she found herself back home in Wakefield living with her mother at the age of 40.

She’s lived quite a life ( 
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Getty Images)

“I’ve had a few sticky moments and I’ve taken a lot of risks in my life, but I don’t do fear any more,” she declares. “I’ve been there, I’ve seen it, I’ve done it. I’ve got the T-shirt, I’ve washed it, I’ve dried it and then I’ve got another. [Back then] I thought, ‘I’ve had a chance at this [career] and it’s gone, but I’ll get it back.'”

True to her word, Jane bounced back with remarkable resilience. She joined Loose Women as a panellist in 2004, returned to music, and by 2010 was performing at the London Palladium again. The following year saw her headlining her own tour. Her travel shows, including the Bafta-winning ‘Cruising With Jane McDonald’ and ‘Jane McDonald And Friends’, further cemented her comeback.

She wants a house by the sea ( 
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Viacom Studios UK All Rights Reserved)
Despite the odds, Jane climbed another peak in her career and was gearing up for a serene retirement with her partner Eddie when tragedy struck. The loss of her mother Jean in 2018 and the “sudden and shocking” death of Eddie shortly thereafter marked profound moments of grief in her life.

Jane described the period of loss as “the lowest point in my life,” sharing, “The two guiding lights in my life were Ed and my mother and I suppose losing both of them so quickly together was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. But I’ve joined a club of so many people who were in my position. I say to anybody now, ‘Don’t wallow for too long.’ [Grief] takes a while and it will creep up on you when you least expect it, but if you can chase joy as much as you can, it’s allowed. You don’t have to feel guilt if you’re laughing. Because we do. We think, ‘I can’t possibly feel happy because I’ve lost them,’ but we have to live the life that they wanted for us. Otherwise, what was the point? “.

“So I’ve taken every bit of wisdom from my mother and she had lots of it and all the love and all that fantastic relationship I had with Ed and I celebrate it now, I take them with me. It’s a way of accepting that you cannot change what’s happened, but taking all that with you and moving forward. Not moving on, because that means you’re leaving them behind, but moving forward with them in your heart.”

After experiencing numerous ups and downs including seeking help from a PTSD specialist when she found herself unable to leave the house and face the day Jane didn’t find writing a book about her past errors and recent sorrows therapeutic at all. In fact, it was quite the contrary.

“I didn’t find it cathartic at all,” she confesses. “I thought it was awful. I hated every minute of it because I’m not good at going back. I’m really not good at going back. I’m really not good at saying, ‘Oh, I failed at that and I failed at this.’ But I suppose what is good is that I can say I did fail massively at this, but this is what I did to get out of it. My world fell apart so many times, but this is what I did instead. I really hope it’s going to help others, especially those coming into the industry.”

She acknowledges that grief has profoundly affected her, although it has offered a new perspective on life as well.

“It changes who you are,” she declares. “It changes your life. It changes your plans. It robs you of every future you planned. But now I’ve got a different future and I intend to make it the best I possibly can.”

Reflecting on the fast pace of her li

ife, she notes: “I’m at that pace now where I’m 110 miles an hour, but I intend to slow down because life’s gone like that [clicks her fingers]. You know, it’s a big shock, losing Ed as quickly as I did, and it made me think, ‘How many summers have I got left?”

Eddie passed away after a battle with lung cancer ( 
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Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
She has lots of career plans in the pipeline ( 
Image:
Pal Hansen)
Discussing her desires for the future, she says: “I want a house by the sea, I want to sit on a deck and watch the waves, or go for a walk on a beach, or sit with a scarf around me and drink a cup of tea. I want all of that. I’ve now got this chance to have an amazing life with Ed in [my heart] and I intend to do that.”

Jane isn’t hitting the brakes anytime soon, boasting a schedule that’s jam-packed with excitement. She is gearing up for a 25-date UK arena tour followed by a dazzling role in the London Palladium’s December panto.

Next year, the beloved “Queen of Cruise” will set sail yet again on her Cruise With Jane McDonald tour, this time exploring the scenic waterways of the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. But there’s even more in store.

“I do have something in the pipeline, which I can’t talk about right now, but it is hugely exciting,” she says with a grin. “Put it this way, I don’t think my travel days are over!”

She’s detailed her life story in new autobiography Let The Light In ( 
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No credit)
However, fans hoping to see her back on the Loose Women panel might want to temper their expectations.

“There’s nothing I like better than going and visiting the girls when I get a chance, it’s like a comfort blanket, but my life is just packed,” explains Jane, who pops up on Celebrity Gogglebox too. “A bit like writing this book, I’m not very good at going back, I’m always looking for the next thing.”

So, does that mean we can count her out from hosting next year’s British Soap Awards? [She stepped into the role last year amid the Phillip Schofield scandal, while the awards take a break this year. ].

“Oh, I’d be absolutely thrilled to bits to do that,” she says. “I mean, if I get asked again, yes, I would love to. It’s just such a fancy night and I get to see all my mates from the soaps. They work so hard. People don’t understand how busy their schedules are, they are completely off the scale. So for me, to be able to say ‘Come and get your award,’ it’s really special. It’s a night for them and they all truly deserve celebrating.”