Jane McDonald almost didn’t collect her BAFTA, and it was only thanks to late partner Ed that she attended the awards ceremony.
In a 2019 interview, the queen of cruising revealed she was so sure she wasn’t going to win that she didn’t even want to go to the event in 2018.
It was only after Eddie, who sadly passed away in 2021 after being diagnosed with lung cancer aged 67, persuaded her.
Partner Ed’s role in Jane McDonald picking up a BAFTA
Jane, 59, told cruisecritic.com in 2019 that she didn’t think “in a million years” she stood a chance of winning.
And after seeing she was up against the likes of Antiques Roadshow, she thought she might as well not bother going – especially seeing as she had to be up at 8am the following day to film Jane and Friends.
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Jane said: “Then they got in touch with my fella Ed and said: ‘Look, would you come with her?’ and he said: ‘Yeah, I’ll come with her.’ And he said: ‘Oh, come on – it’s the BAFTAs,’ and I said: ‘No, what are we doing this for?'”
He said: ‘Oh, come on – it’s the BAFTAs!’
The star added: “Anyway, he managed to persuade me. I had nothing written, and it was my executive producer Mark Powell who said: ‘Look, I’ve just written something just in case, but you won’t need it, so just put it in your purse.'”
The singer said: “So that’s exactly what I did. Then we did win, I was scrambling around thinking, holy cow we’ve just won this thing!”
Jane said she was “speechless” and now keeps her award next to her telly.
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Reflecting on Ed’s death
During an episode of Holidaying with Jane McDonald recently, the former cruise ship singer was overcome with emotion after seeing a wedding in St Lucia.
Wiping away tears, she said: “A lot of you know that my life has changed now.
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“I’m single, and I chose this place because I didn’t want to be on a romantic island, on my own, looking at couples everywhere.
“So this place is very open to singles coming here as well as couples… it’s really up to you if you have a quiet holiday or a full active holiday.”
Jane McDonald: River Cruising is on today (June 25) at 3.05pm on Channel 5.
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