TV star Jane McDonald has faced a few tragedies in recent years, including the death of fiancé Eddie Rothe, but she has now managed to share a touching new tribute in honour of those whom she has lost.
In 1993, Jane’s father, Peter, died while her mother, Jean, died in 2018. Just three years later in 2021, Jane faced another tragic loss when her partner of 13 years, Eddie Rothe, lost his life to lung cancer.
Jane McDonald on death of Eddie: ‘It was a tragedy’
Discussing the loss of Eddie to the Daily Mail in November 2023, Jane revealed that he had proposed to her. However, sadly, they never got around to getting married.
“It wasn’t slow, because we didn’t know. He had no symptoms. As daft as it sounds, I’m thankful it was during Covid because I was there with him. Nobody else was. But that was the hardest thing. I had no nurses or doctors come in. I had to learn how to do it all myself. I had him at home as long as I could. Then I took him to the Wakefield Hospice, which is a beautiful place. I’ll be forever grateful to them. I was with him all the time there.”
Jane described his funeral as “a tragedy” as “nobody could come to see him”.
‘Every part of my life now is due to Ed and my mum and my dad’
Jane credits her successful music career to her late mother.
“Mum saw something in me that I never saw. She took two jobs to send me to singing and piano lessons. I thank her every minute of every day for the gentle push she gave me,” she said.
Jane has since written and performed a song titled The Hand That Leads Me which she has been singing as a tribute to her.
“Every part of my life now is due to Ed and my mum and my dad,” Jane added. The former Loose Women panelist stated that “without them, I wouldn’t be in this position”.
Focusing on the positives, Jane revealed she “cannot feel anything but utter joy for the life I had with Ed, but also utter joy for the life I’m still going to have”.
Read more: Jane McDonald has found ‘some sort of serenity’ after death of her beloved Ed
Holidaying with Jane McDonald and friends airs Sunday March 3 from 11.10am on Channel 5.
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