Jane McDonald was once forced to make a huge career decision after her former husband left her with ‘nothing’.
The TV star, 60, is back on our screens on Sunday (March 31) for repeats of her show, Holidaying with Jane McDonald.
She’s also a BAFTA-winning former Loose Woman panelist and a bonafide national treasure.
Jane McDonald and former husband Henrik
When her autobiography, Riding the Waves: My Story, was released in 2019 it was serialised by The Mirror.
Henrik and Jane met on a cruise ship where she was singing and he worked as a plumber. They married in 1998 in the Caribbean, and it was televised for BBC. Soon afterwards Jane handed the business side of her career over to her husband. But it didn’t help their marriage.
Henrik had loved me once but I could see in his eyes that he didn’t any more.
Jane explained: “Your manager is your boss and tells you what to do, what to wear and who to be, so our relationship changed.
“I loved him with all my heart, but felt he’d stopped looking at me as a wife. I became a product and I couldn’t flourish in a relationship like this. Arguments were not only between manager and artist, but also husband and wife. The lines were too blurred. I was a slightly overweight Northern woman in her 30s but the stylists wanted me to be classier. ‘Cut your hair, lose weight, stop talking, put your arms away’.”
Jane McDonald’s divorce
Things grew worse still when Jane was dropped from her record label. Despite her previous success in television, Jane realised she had barely any money left. Brave Jane soon made the decision to fire husband Henrik – and it was a decision that changed her life.
She said: “My work had dried up and it felt as if the whole industry had turned their backs on us. Henrik had loved me once but I could see in his eyes that he didn’t any more. He wanted to go back to America and live his life and I loved him enough to let him.”
It turned out to be a good decision for Jane. Today, Jane is reported to be worth £4.5 million.
Loss of partner Eddie
As well as boosting her bank balance, Jane’s love life was also on the rise following her split from Henrik.
After they dated in their twenties, Jane rekindled her romance with Eddie Rothe. However, sadly, he died following a lung cancer diagnosis in 2021.
Speaking about his death recently, Jane told Yours magazine: “When you lose your partner, the last thing you want usually is another one, because nobody can replace that. But you’ve got all this love, and all this affection that you need to give back to yourself.”
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Read more: Jane McDonald addresses her retirement following Ed’s death and why her tour is his ‘gift’ to her
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