Jane McDonald's life off-screen from painful divorces to gorgeous home

10 February 2024 , 08:00

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Jane McDonald with second husband Henrik Brixen in 1999 (Image: Julian Makey/REX/Shutterstock)

Jane McDonald has achieved huge success on screen - but away from cameras, the TV star has experienced a lot of heartbreak.

The Loose Women panellist, 60, spent her early days performing in local pubs before landing work as a singer on cruise ships, and experienced a full-circle moment when she debuted her Channel 5 show in 2017, Cruising with Jane McDonald.

Along the way, the BAFTA award-winning presenter has had a whirlwind love life, including two marriages and a reunion with her 'destiny'. Sadly, iIn March 2021, Jane was left devastated after her teenage sweetheart and partner of 13 years, Walter 'Eddie' Rothe, tragically passed away at the age of 67 from lung cancer.

Jane and Eddie in 1981 after meeting in the local pub where she worked part-time (Collect Unknown)

Romances and heartbreak

The couple first met in 1980 when Jane worked part-time in a pub in West Yorkshire, and Ed's pop band Liquid Gold played a gig there. Of their early romance, Jane told the Mirror back in 2012: "I couldn't believe it when the owner said the drummer had taken a fancy to me. I was startled. He was a gorgeous pop star and I was a naïve teenager from Yorkshire. But we went out for about 18 months."

However, Jane said that she was too young, "shy" and "prim and proper" to enjoy the rock 'n' roll lifestyle of Ed at the time, who she said was much desired by other girls. "One day, I just got in my car and left. We never finished, never fell out. I drove away never expecting to see him again," she revealed.

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Jane then married a man named Paul from 1986 to 1987, though little is known about the short-lived relationship. During the filming of BBC's The Cruise, Jane met her second husband, Henrick Brixen, who was working as a plumbing engineer on the same boat. The couple married in 1998 and she later hired him as her manager, only for the couple to divorce and professionally part ways in 2003.

The loved-up couple found each other again after 27 years apart (Joanne Davidson/REX/Shutterstock)

Sadly they never got married before Eddie passed away in March 2021

Speaking about the break-up in 2018, Jane explained that she wasn't the one who ended the relationship, and Henrick 'walked out of the marriage to save her career'. "Henrik tried his very very best and he was brilliant at what he did, but he didn't know the industry," McDonald told the Mirror. "We'd come to a point where Henrik had made quite a few enemies and he said, 'If I don't leave you, you are never going to have a career'."

Then in May 2008, Jane met her childhood sweetheart Ed again by chance, while she was working on Loose Women and he was doing an appearance nearby with The Searchers on This Morning. On her nerves at seeing him after 27 years apart, she said: "I almost had to be dragged to see him. But then it was, Oh my God! Big smiles and he lifted me off the floor and said, 'Where have you been?'

"It felt right but it was difficult to find time with each other - The Searchers had 250 dates a year and I was doing 100 concerts. But we didn't want to miss out again, so Eddie quit the group. My life has been a lot of being in the right place at the right time, so being back with Eddie has something of destiny about it."

The pair got engaged on Christmas Eve in 2008 after Ed proposed to the singer. "We are not rushing to get married," she told the Mirror in 2011, after joking she'd set a record with the "longest courtship and engagement in history". Jane went on to praise her fiancé for being "so patient", before adding, "He's fantastic, adorable and we're having such a great time together".

Jane's glamorous house in Wakefield has a stunning patio with fairy lights and plants (Channel 4)

In another interview with My Weekly, she admitted that she may need to double-check with Ed that he hadn't changed his mind about their marriage. "It's been so long that I'll have to ask him and see whether he still wants to do it!" she said. They remained together for more than 12 years, but their wedding never ended up happening as Eddie tragically died on March 26, 2021.

Jane opened up about the loss on Loose Women, crediting her work as her "'saviour" throughout her "devastating" grief. She then expressed thanks for her loved ones, adding: "It is the support and the network that I have around me that has helped me through. I couldn't have done it without the people around me."

In December, Jane revealed she had no plans to "settle down" though wouldn't rule out going on a date in the future. Speaking to ED!, she said: "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.

"That's one thing that I've learned with grief, when you're on your own, you don't have to worry about compromising." The former Loose Women star went on to add: "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."

Glamorous home

Jane lives in a bungalow in West Yorkshire, in the same area she grew up (Channel 4)

Jane gave fans a glimpse into her glamorous home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, on Celebrity Gogglebox last year. The singer owns a beautiful property, with palm trees strung with fairy lights, perfectly tendered plants and white buddhas on her paved patio. Inside the double doors, Jane has a stunning dining table and chairs.

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In the living room, Jane's white grand piano sits on display, next to a cream two-seat sofa, a white coffee table and a white giraffe vase. Jane was filmed playing her piano for her close friend and PA, Sue Ravey, 71, during one of the episodes of the Channel 4 show.

In an interview with Yorkshire Live last year, Jane revealed that Sue had moved in with her following the death of her other half in 2021. Sue said at the time: "My house sale is still going through but I'm at Jane's most of the time as the tour only finished recently and now we are away filming so no retirement at the moment but I'm enjoying myself.

"I was invited by Jane, we both live on our own. She's got a rather large bungalow in 'Shakey Wakey' and I spend most of my time travelling between Wakefield and Doncaster. We do spend a lot of time together anyway and she invited me to move into a part of the house."

Nia Dalton