‘My husband leaving was the best thing he ever did’: Jane McDonald reflects on rebuilding her life and career after marriage breakdown

Jane McDonald has made some very candid admissions about the breakdown of her marriage, and the challenges of rebuilding her life and career when both took unexpected directions.

Appearing on the Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware podcast, Jane shares that she'd been with ex-husband Henrik for eight years when she realised things didn't feel right.

The couple met met while working on cruise ships - Jane was performing and Henrik was a plumbing engineer. After they married in 1998, Henrik became Jane's manager, despite little knowledge of the job or the music industry.

"I really was in love and everyone could see it," Jane recalls. However, she had the realisation while working in Las Vegas that "it wasn't going to last."

However, it wasn't Jane who ended the marriage - it was Henrik who left Jane. The couple finalised their divorce in 2003.

Despite Jane's heartache when Henrik left, she does say it was "the best thing he ever did," explaining that she "doesn't blame him" for his decision to walk away.

When asked why Henrik leaving was a good thing, Jane shares that she entered a level of independence she'd never experienced before, and became her own self-taught manager after he'd gone.

"I managed music, production, tours, myself," she says, and built up her career again after it fell apart during her marriage - Jane offers dignified silence when asked whether or not Henrik had been a good manager.

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While she did manage to get her career back on track, there was an incredibly difficult period for Jane when it was floundering, coinciding with her marriage coming to an end.

The singer recalls reaching the point of being unemployable, sharing, "nobody would touch me, I got dropped from everything."

In 2004, she joined the Loose Women panel and began rebuilding her career while still getting over her divorce from Henrik.

"Loose Women was my saving grace, Jane explains, candidly, adding, "they saved my life on that show."

However, the star does share a particular Loose Women memory that doesn't hold quite so many positive connotations.

She appeared as a guest on the show before being offered the role of regular panellist. Her guest appearance was the first interview she'd done after splitting from Henrik.

"They showed my wedding and I went to pieces," Jane remembers. However, this wasn't enough to discourage her from joining the series, and it became a job she clearly adored.

However, while her career is once again flourishing, Jane's romantic life has continued to face challenges.

After rekindling a teenage romance with former love, musician Eddie Rothe, the couple became engaged. However, Eddie sadly died from lung cancer on March 26, 2021, at age the age of 67.

Jane has since said that she is open to finding love again, but isn't bothered should it not come her way.