Jane McDonald's heartbreak - reunion with childhood sweetheart to tragic death

10 March 2024 , 11:00

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Television star Jane McDonald's life sadly changed forever when she tragically lost her beloved partner of 13 years

Loose Women's Jane McDonald has achieved huge successes in her career as a television star, but has sadly been much less fortunate in her love life away from the cameras.

In March 2021, Jane's teenage lover and partner of 13 years, Walter 'Eddie' Rothe, tragically passed away at the age of 67, after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

The former Loose Women star is one of the most famous faces on UK TV (Jonathan Hordle/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

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.

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

The BAFTA winner married Henrick in 1998 and later hired him as her manager, only for the couple to divorce and professionally part ways in 2003. 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?'

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

Sadly the pair never got married before Eddie passed away in March 2021

"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."

Despite such reunions usually resulting in the other being married or looking very different, it was not the same for Jane and Eddie. "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," noted Jane.

She added that they both felt so lucky to be reunited. 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". 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.

Jane feels grateful that she 'has the best' with her partner of 13 years (Getty Images)

She has no plans to settle down but hasn't ruled out dating entirely (PA)

"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."

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In December 2023, 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."

Nia Dalton