EXCLUSIVE
Jane McDonald reflects on love after loss, and tells Yours about her ‘exhilarating’ new challenge
It is surely impossible to come away from a chat with Jane McDonald without smiling. The singer and presenter has been a fixture on our screens and stages for more than 25 years, and her contagious positivity is a big factor in her success. “I do work at it,” she explains. “I give a good talking to myself. I think that’s my mother coming out and saying: ‘You’ve got everything going for you. Why are you feeling so down?’ And once you find out you can deal with it.”
It’s perhaps no wonder that her mother’s voice is so prevalent in her mind, when the pair lived together for much of Jane’s adult life, until Jean’s death in 2018. Still reeling from this loss, Jane was dealt another tragic blow in 2021, with the death of beloved fiancé Ed Rothe, from cancer. The couple, who had originally dated in the Eighties, rekindled their romance in 2008, and remained together until he passed away at the age of 67.
Ed, a fellow musician, and Jane, now 60, had been planning to escape the limelight and spend their retirement travelling, so she has been forced to revaluate what life will look like entering her next decade.
She’s previously admitted: “When he died, he took our future. So I’ve got to have a different life now. And that’s taken a bit of adjusting to.”
One unexpected bright spot, as far as she’s concerned – not to mention her fans – is that she’s hitting the road again for another tour this autumn. “I’m grateful for this tour because if Ed was still here I would have retired. I feel like this is a gift for me from him, to say: That plan’s gone. Get on that track now, which is what you love, what you live for’.”
After such a difficult time, it’s even more impressive that she’s determined to remain upbeat. And her secret weapon? It’s love. “When you lose your partner, the last thing you want usually is another one, because nobody can replace that. But you’ve got all this love, and all this affection that you need to give back to yourself,” she says, her voice choked with emotion.
In the wake of loss she has noticed an outpouring of love from other areas of her life: friends (she now lives with her ‘bestie’ Sue and has a regular gang for nights out), family, and fans. “Love can be a dog, it can be a cat. It can be grandkids, it can be children. Love comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. And it’s there. Just take it, because we deserve love. All of us.”
With this attitude, it’s no wonder
