When beloved singer and TV presenter Jane McDonald lost her mother and fiancé within three years of each other, she continued to live in the Wakefield bungalow she had called home for 20 years.
But last year, she made the difficult decision to sell the £1million five-bedroom detached property, Cleevethorpe House, that she’d poured her heart and soul into renovating.
Jane’s mum Jean died just days before Christmas in 2018. The singer described the loss as a ‘light in her heart’ going out.
Then, in March 2021, her fiancé Eddie Rothe tragically died aged 67 after a battle with lung cancer. The couple first dated in the 1980s when Jane was just 17, before reconnecting in 2008, and Eddie proposed to her later that year.
Today, in an exclusive interview, Jane, 62, explains that the home she had once loved simply held too many harrowing memories for her.
She tells me: ‘I found it difficult. There was too much history there.’
The Yorkshire-born Loose Women host has now bought a smaller house in the same area – as well as a bolt-hole by the sea – where she now spends a lot of her time. She says: ‘We all need peace in our lives and I’ve got that now.’
Jane enjoys a rather unique living situation with her close friend Sue Ravey. The pair met as singers in their twenties and have appeared as a double act on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox. After Eddie’s death, Sue moved into the Wakefield bungalow with Jane, and the pair have become inseparable.
Jane McDonald’s fiancé Eddie Rothe tragically died aged 67 after a battle with lung cancer in March 2021
‘She’s still my bezzie mate, we’re going to be on the coast together in January’, she says. ‘We still do everything together. It works out great.’
Even so, moving houses wasn’t easy when Jane had 20 years worth of memories – many of them deeply painful – to sift through.
Jane said: ‘You’d be surprised at how much stuff you have. Seven skips later! I was ashamed of myself. You’ve got to let it all go.
‘But Sue is great. She’ll ask me: “Why you holding onto this?” Take a picture of it and bin it.’
Jane often hosted Christmas for her family in her former home, but this year she spent the day with friends.
She says: ‘No cooking for any of us. Everyone always came to us for Christmas dinner mainly because we had the biggest table and enough room to fit everyone in. Times change and you have to change with it. I’m now making new traditions.
‘Let’s be honest, grief hits everyone eventually and if we could turn the clocks back to big family Christmasses, I’m sure we all would. But we can’t, so I’m moving forward.
‘There is a positive side to grief, which is freedom. I can now choose to do what I want, when I want. It was hard for me to adjust to that, but now I’m embracing it.’
Jane’s new six-part television show, Pole to Pole, which starts on Channel 5 tonight at 9pm, sees the singer travel from the Antarctic to the Arctic with Scenic cruises, in one of her most daring adventures yet.
In the first episode, viewers will see her exploring the Antarctic in freezing conditions. Cruise company Scenic have helicopters and submarines on board to take passengers as close to the action as possible.
Jane says: ‘Do you know the saying “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing?” I live by that. But it was freezing! Usually I’m not very good with the cold. But then I got myself together! And thank goodness I did, because it was unbelievable. I felt like an explorer, it’s totally different from any other holiday I’ve experienced.’
During one particular scary expedition, Jane was kayaking with her tour guide, and the pair had to be rescued by the ship.
She says: ‘What started out as a lovely beautiful day with blue skies, calm water and sunshine quickly turned in choppy waters, high winds and horizontal sleet. It was frightening. I thought what the heck? Have I walked into a James Bond film?’
Jane admits that her recent losses have changed her outlook on life: ‘Life is short. It’s not a dress rehearsal, so let’s just enjoy it. I do realise how lucky I am to be blessed with the best job on the planet and I’m extremely grateful every day for that.’
Neither does Jane care about what people think about her. She says: ‘The beauty of getting older is that you care less. Yes, I have love handles, a tummy and saggy bits but I don’t care. I’ve never had any cosmetic work, you just need good make-up! I’m the worst at keeping fit – I don’t like the gym. Now I walk in the fresh air as much as possible – it’s good for your head as well as keeping you fit.’
Jane is looking forward to 2026 where she’ll be embarking on a new tour called Living the Dream. Because, well, that’s exactly what she’s doing.
She says: ‘I’m travelling for as long as people want to see me. I can do as much travel as I want now, because I’m not thinking about someone at home all the time. That’s what I mean about freedom. Grief never leaves you, it’s awful. But what you have to do is bring as much joy into your life to sit alongside it so that it balances.’
As well as a show at the London Palladium later this year, Jane will be playing the LGBTQ Mighty Hoopla festival in London’s Brockwell Park in May, in the ‘Gay Icon’ slot.
Indeed, over the years she has gained a huge following among the gay community.
She says: ‘I’m deeply humbled and delighted. I can’t lie, I think icon is pushing it a bit.’
But there was no way she was going to turn it down. Jane said: ‘Age is only a number and as long as you’re fit and well, you’ve got to go for it. That’s my motto now.’
- Jane’s new travel show, Pole to Pole, starts tonight on Channel 5 at 9pm and her album Living The Dream is available to pre-order and tickets for her tour are on sale now. All details can be found on jane-mcdonald.com
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