Jane McDonald has exclusively revealed that, as she enters her 60th year, she plans to embrace a new lease of life as she continues to heal following the loss of her beloved fiancé, Eddie Rothe.
The singer told ED! that 2023 will be a year of celebrations, not only marking a landmark age, but also 25 years since she first came to prominence on the BBC show The Cruise.
And with any luck, she may even have something to celebrate when the results of the Entertainment Daily Awards are announced at the end of this month.
Jane is up for the National Treasure Award and she told us it’s news that made her feel “thrilled”.
Jane McDonald looks forward to 2023
“I’m going to celebrate a lot next year,” she told us joyfully. “It’s a big year and I’m embracing it. I feel like I’m getting younger, like Benjamin Button. I’m a lot braver than I ever used to be.”
She’s referring not only to the brave tasks she tackles on her Channel 5 travel show, Holidaying With Jane McDonald, such as jumping off buildings and swimming with sharks
But also overcoming the feelings of loss and grief she endured after Ed’s death in April 2021 .
“When my Ed died, he took my future with him, our future,” she confided.
“I went through a very dark and painful time losing both him and my mother just before hand but the sun is beginning to shine for me again. I’ve had to learn how to have a different life.
“And you can go two ways about it. You can either think, I’m going to enjoy my life and have a good time, or I’m not, and I’ve chosen to go the other way. But life is too short.”
Jane’s fans rallied in wake of Ed’s death
While family and friends rallied around Jane at the time, she said her devoted fans, who’ve been voting in their droves for her in the ED! Awards, were a great support for her.
“I went back on tour and the love I received was wonderful. However, when it came to singing the ballads I was like: ‘Oh God, how am I going to get through these?’”
Luckily, her legions of fans were on hand to help her out.
“They were incredible and they just sang them with me.
“And then the cheer they gave me at the end… well, that was just absolutely incredible. I owe them all a great deal. They really did get me through a very difficult time in my life.”
What bolstered her strength most of all to keep her focused on touring was knowing that many of her fans in the audience were living through similar issues themselves and that she had to be strong for them as they were for her.
“I’d say there was probably 25% of the people there going through exactly the same thing as I was,” she told us.
“So I was singing for them too. When I went out on stage, I’d say to myself, this isn’t about me tonight. This is about you. And that helped because I was singing the songs for them.
“I am the singer of their song and it helped me do it for them. I genuinely care about them. I genuinely love them and I think you have to love your fans to get that love back.”
Jane has a ‘good network of girlfriends’
Away from the spotlight, Jane has a “good network of girlfriends” who have encouraged her to lead a happy and active life.
“We’re like the Golden Girls,” she laughed.
“We have great girl nights out, we go away for weekends and I do things now that I couldn’t really do before. I had to find a different way to live.”
Future romance on the cards?
However, while she’s enjoying nights out with the girls, finding new love is certainly not on her agenda for now.
“The last thing that I want to do is settle down again, because the girls and I can go out and do things and go everywhere we want to,” she laughed.
“That’s one thing that I’ve learned with grief. When you’re on your own, you don’t have to worry about compromising.
“I’m not saying I’ll never go on a date again, but I’m quite happy with my life and it has turned out. I mean, I definitely had the best [with Ed] and I’m very grateful that I had the best.
“So men are very much down my list and always have been as I’ve always been married to my work.”
Jane McDonald on finding a way to ‘heal’
While she admits it’s been hard dealing with loss, Jane has “learned that love and affection is everywhere” but it’s something, she advises, we must all look out for in our times of need.
“You need to find it,” she said. “You have to get up off your sofa and go out even if it’s for a walk. I found walking was a great way to heal for me.
“You start to look up, because when you are feeling really low, you tend to look down. Then all of a sudden you look up and there’s a lovely blue sky out there.”
She added: “I’ve been very, very lucky. I’ve got a lot of love in my life – from my family and my friends and I’m very blessed to have that.”
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New year, new show
Working on her hugely successful Channel 5 shows has also kept Jane busy.
And despite rumours she is planning to take time out from showbiz, next year looks set to be jam-packed.
“I’m still doing a lot of the travel right up till probably July, August next year,” she told us. “So I’m not having this break everybody thinks I’m having.
“I’m still going to be working me little socks off until then. After that, that’s when I’ll probably take some time to myself because my brain gets frazzled and I like to give 100%.
“If I can’t, then I don’t enjoy it as much.
“So I’m just going to stick to doing TV for a bit and give that 100% and then maybe think about coming back touring again sometime later.”
Jane McDonald on why she’s ticking off her bucket list
And what might Jane get up when she’s got her feet up? Well, she’s not going to let the grass grow under her feet, that’s for sure.
“Life is very precious and you have to live it,” she declared.
“We’re meant to be happy. We’re meant to enjoy this wonderful place that we live in. My advice is don’t wait. If you have a bucket list, do it now.
“I have no intentions of leaving any money. I’m going to spend a lot and have a great time because, why not? I’ll look after everybody, but I’m going to have a blast.”
Jane is celebrating Christmas by hosting on Christmas Carols on ITV that airs on Christmas Eve.
Find out how Jane does in the ED! Awards when the results are announced on December 28.
Read more: Jane McDonald promises fans big news is coming as she shares update
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