Jane McDonald's 'world fell apart' after shocking loss and 'failures'

Wales Online

05-06-2025

Jane McDonald's 'world fell apart' after shocking loss and 'failures'
TV star and singer Jane McDonald is a familiar face on our screens thanks to Loose Women and her travel show Cruising with Jane McDonald
62-year-old singer and TV personality Jane McDonald has spoken candidly about the losses and heartaches she's endured over the years
(Image: Getty )
Jane McDonald has returned to the stage as the presenter for the British Soap Awards for the second year.
The presenter and performer presented the 2023 edition of the biggest soap awards in the UK, taking over from Phillip Schofield. While the ceremony did not take place last year, it has returned for this year and will be aired on ITV on Thursday evening, June 5. Fans may recognise Jane McDonald from co-hosting ITV's Loose Women as well as her very own Channel 5 travel show, Cruising with Jane McDonald, which has won awards itself.
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But away from the spotlight, Jane has been through her fair share of challenges and heartache, having candidly spoken about her "failures and mistakes" in her recently published autobiography, Let the Light In. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter .
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In the book, the 62-year-old singer and TV personality also reflected on the painful loss of her fiancé, Eddie Rothe, to lung cancer in 2021.
As reported by OK!, the performer detailed a particularly tough period for Jane came in 2002, at a time when she was enjoying the height of her early fame and living in Florida with her second husband and manager Henrik Brixen.
Despite previous years of sell-out performances, including shows in Las Vegas, and the anticipation of a new album and a BBC documentary, Jane found herself penniless.
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This financial crisis led to the end of their five-year marriage and saw Jane returning to Wakefield at the age of 40 to start over, moving back in with her mother.
She reflected: "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 then added: "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.
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"[Back then] I thought, 'I've had a chance at this [career] and it's gone, but I'll get it back.'".
Jane faced her fair share of challenges but remained unaffected, reviving her presenting role on Loose Women from 2004 and rekindled her love for music.
By 2010 she was gracing the stage of the London Palladium once more, and the following year she was topping the bill on her own tour.
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Jane McDonald returns to host at The Hackney Empire in London for The British Soap Awards 2025
(Image: ITV )
Later branching out into television with her successful series, Cruising With Jane McDonald, which took home a Bafta in 2018, and Jane McDonald And Friends, Jane climbed to new professional peaks, and post a 45-date cruise tour, she was looking forward to a tranquil retirement alongside her partner Eddie.
Yet, the end of 2018 brought the devastating news of her mother Jean's death, closely followed by the "sudden and shocking" loss of Eddie, marking a time of sorrow.
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Jane spoke of this tough phase in her life, acknowledging: "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.
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"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.
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"Not moving on, because that means you're leaving them behind, but moving forward with them in your heart."
After experiencing numerous highs and lows, including seeking help from a PTSD specialist due to difficulties in facing daily life, Jane did not find solace in writing about her past errors and recent sorrows.
She confessed: "I didn't find it cathartic at all. 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.
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Jane with her late fiancé Eddie
(Image: Dave)
"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."
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Jane recognised that grief had deeply changed her, but it also provided her with a new perspective on life. "It changes who you are," she mused.
"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.
"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?'.
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"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."
You can watch The British Soap Awards 2025 on ITV1 and ITVX at 8pm on Thursday evening, June 5.