Loose Women’s Jane McDonald has revealed she lost everything despite numerous sell-out tours.
As Jane, 61, reflected in her fresh-off-the-press memoir ‘Let The Light In’, she opened up for the first time about the agonising loss of her fiance Eddie Rothe to lung cancer last year and dozens of career ups and downs.
Her latest book sharing its name with her 2021 album sees the Loose Woman pannelist opening up about her challenges which she explained to OK! “There have been many and that’s exactly what they are failures and mistakes.”
The conversation navigates to a particularly tough time in 2002 when espite being at the peak of fame 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 said: “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. 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.
Despite the odds, Jane climbed another peak in her career and was gearing up for a serene retirement with her partner Eddie when she was hit with heartbreaking events losing both her mother and partner in a short space of time.
She reflected: “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.”
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.”
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Reflecting on the fast pace of her life, 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?”
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.”
But the star isn’t slowing down anytime soon, boasting a schedule 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.
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.”
Let the Light In: Lessons learned through life, love and laughter by Jane McDonald is published by Ebury Spotlight (Hardback, £22.00)