Big-hearted Jane McDonald was a Northern club singer turned cruise ship entertainer when a BBC documentary changed her life.
She went on to become a platinum-selling recording artist, Loose Woman and national treasure.
And now, millions of TV viewers love her BAFTA-winning Channel 5 show Cruising With Jane McDonald.
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the 56-year-old, as she reveals in her candid autobiography Riding The Waves: My Story.
I always had an answer when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up: “An entertainer.” So, when I was 30, I packed my bags and ran away to sea.
The job was fantastic and the ship – the Century – was party central.
Romances thrived and people were constantly getting together.
But I didn’t get that sort of attention…until Valentine’s Day 1996, when engineer Henrik Brixen came to fix the ship’s boiler.
I was ready for a bit of romance. I hadn’t had a serious relationship in years, it was time.
“I’m looking for the man of my dreams,” I confided in my friends. “He’s got to be tall, blond, handsome, strong and ambitious…”
Was there something in the stars that night? There was definitely some kind of magic, because the air seemed to glitter as I was introduced to Henrik.
We liked each other instantly, and met again at midnight, after my show.
Relationships on board ship were frowned upon so we had to sneak in and out of each other’s cabins and steal kisses in dark corners.
It added to the excitement of falling for someone after so long.
It was wonderful! I had butterflies in my stomach day and night.
He seemed to possess every single one of the qualities on my wish list.
We courted the old-fashioned way, which was lovely – but Henrik played quite hard to get.
(Image: BBC)
The Century returned to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he lived, every week and sometimes he was waiting for me, sometimes not.
I’d be on deck straining for a glimpse of my handsome engineer, my heart going like the clappers.
As I fell headlong in love, I tried to ignore the possibility that Henrik wasn’t so sure of his feelings for me.
When he took me on a trip to Las Vegas, I popped my birth certificate in my handbag and kept it close for the entire three days, in case he whisked me off to the chapel to get married – he didn’t, though.
I have two abiding memories of that trip. The first is of throwing a coin into the fountain outside Caesar’s Palace and making a wish that Henrik and I would stay together.
The second is of Henrik asking me how much I weighed and, when I told him, of him saying, ‘Jane, you’d be perfect if you lost half a stone.’
I was extremely hurt.
(Image: Redferns)
Still, when we got back, I went to the gym every day and soon shed the extra pounds. Six months later I got the call that changed my life. They were making a BBC documentary about life on board another ship, the Galaxy, and asked if I would appear.
It was a year before The Cruise aired and boom, that was it! Things went berserk.
Viewers liked me: a hardworking northern club singer with three chins, wearing her heart on her sleeve.
Viewing figures hit 13 million.
Before I’d left, Henrik had asked me to marry him. My dream wedding was on May 26, 1998 in the Virgin Islands.
But it became just another working day, with magazines joining the film crew.
I signed a record contract, which was amazing, but people started trying to erase working-class me.
I was told: “Stop talking on stage. Divas don’t tell jokes. You’re not a club singer any more.”
Soon, Henrik took over as my manager. “Thank God for that,” I thought.
(Image: REX)
My debut album went straight to No1, 13.5 million people watched my wedding, my shows were sold out and I was touring nationwide.
I never thought of myself as a star, and still don’t.
I just wanted to please Henrik.
He was so bright, but I was beginning to worry he might be out of his depth. I should have looked closer at the contracts I signed and the financial implications, but I was gullible and clueless.
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.
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…”
I lost confidence and became introverted. Henrik and I once talked about having children but there wasn’t room for babies in his plans for me.
(Image: Jane McDonald)
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I began to feel lonely in my marriage.
So I started to rebel, ever so slightly.
One evening I went with my friend Sue to An Audience With…recording. I ended up having quite a few drinks, chatting to Paul O’Grady and Graham Norton. We had the best night. When Sue said “Henrik is waiting outside” I said, “Sod it, let’s have another drink!”
Soon, the record company dropped me. I think it was almost worse for Henrik. I’m sure he must have been thinking: “She’s on her way out.” Our marriage was already on the rocks when I went to stay with friends.
They assumed we’d be looking for investment opportunities. “We haven’t got that type of money,” I said.
“Well, you should have that type of money,” they said softly.
I went into the office and scoured the accounts: there was no money anywhere. I couldn’t believe it. I’d never had a minute’s peace. I’d had albums out, books out, tours sold out, a top TV show… I should have been a multi-millionaire, but I didn’t have any money in the bank.
I had left everything on the business side to Henrik, but now I took over. Eventually, I came to the devastating conclusion that I really did have nothing left. I told Henrik “I’m firing you as my manager.” 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. In summer 2002 he left, briefcase in hand.
*Extracted from Riding The Waves By Jane McDonald published by Virgin Books, part of Penguin Random House. Extracted by Rachael Bletchly
