Jane McDonald..

Jane McDonald (born 4 April 1964) is an English singer, actress and media personality, who first became famous following her appearance on the BBC docusoap The Cruise. Known for her strong Yorkshire accent, she has since co-presented a number of daytime shows, including The Wright Stuff and Loose Women.

McDonald's parents are Peter and Jean. Her mother and grandmother ran a boarding house in Wakefield, and her Scottish father was a miner who did extra work as a chimney sweep. She is a Christian Spiritualist, as she announced on Loose Women. McDonald spent her early years listening to the radio, her favourite pastime. As a little girl her favourite place was sitting in the rainbow coloured spotlight cast through her front door's stained glass window.

McDonald toured many clubs in the north of England, with her father acting as her roadie. She provided all of her own equipment, which she had to replace after it was destroyed in a large bar-fight. McDonald's first position on a cruise ship was on the Black Prince, and following that, the Horizon. After her father's death, she returned to sea and began working on the Zenith. Later she was to work on the Century, where she met Henrik Brixen. Her time on the Century was not a happy one, due to pay delays, technical difficulties, and stressful working conditions.

After this she took some time off with Henrik, but was eventually tempted back to sea as a headliner on the Century's sister-ship, the Galaxy. Shortly after accepting the position, Jane was contacted by Chris Terril of the BBC, who asked her to be the star of his docusoap, The Cruise. The Cruise was watched regularly by 14 million viewers, and after years of hard work, she became a celebrity overnight. Her wedding to Henrik Brixen in 1998 was televised by the BBC and watched by a large audience, although the couple have since divorced. After signing a major-label recording contract, McDonald began to carve out a mainstream Showbiz career, first as a guest presenter on BBC's National Lottery and subsequently with her debut album Jane McDonald, which spent three weeks at Number 1 in the UK Album Chart.

In 2000, McDonald released her autobiography Follow Your Dreams published by Harper Collins. In 2002, McDonald appeared in a run of Romeo and Juliet - The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre in London's glittering West End. She has also performed in productions in Kirkby Lonsdale and Basingstoke. In November 2006 she began a UK tour, which featured a number of special guests including the massed voices of Sing Live UK. The tour ended on 2 November 2006. In 2007, McDonald commissioned Yorkshire fashion designer Haute Couture dress maker Kaye Heeley of Angel Couture to help with the Jane McDonald Collection. A new UK tour began in Blackpool on 1 August 2008 to showcase new songs from her Number 7 (UK album charts) album, Jane. For the past 4 years Jane has been a regular presenter on the ITV show Loose Women - a popular daytime TV show. As of May 2009, her accumulated wealth was £3.5 million.

As well as appearing on The Cruise, McDonald presented the television programme, Star For A Night, which helped launch the singer Joss Stone. She is also a regular panellist on the afternoon TV talk show, Loose Women and briefly Five's The Wright Stuff. She has also appeared on the reality shows, Have I Been Here Before and Drop the Celebrity. Jane also appeared in the Wicked Women concert and sang "This Is The Moment" from the Broadway musical Jekyll and Hyde. Jane appeared on one episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

McDonald joined Loose Women in 2004, and is now a regular favourite on the show. She frequently mentions her home town, Wakefield, on the show for various reasons, usually when talking about her childhood.

McDonald appeared on a celebrity special of Ready Steady Cook. She and her fellow chef won over the audience with their dish of 'half baked carp' with a cheesy sauce, and claimed the cash prize. She donated all the money to Wakefield Hospice, a local charity of her home town.

McDonald appeared in a documentary called "Return to the Cruise", which celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Cruise finding out how much Jane enjoyed her fame and success. This was shown over several nights of the week beginning 11 August 2008 on BBC2. She was a special guest on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on 22 March 2008, with Christopher Biggins in 'Grab the Ads' playing Tarzan and Jane. On 20 July 2008, she featured on The Sunday Night Project. She also appeared on the celebrity edition of Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old? in September 2008.

McDonald married Henrik Brixen in 1999, divorcing him in 2001. She had been married previously, but split from her first husband after only six months. Since 24 December 2008 Jane has been engaged to Eddie Rothe, the drummer with The Searchers. They were sweethearts when she was a 19-year-old working in a Wakefield bar and he was the drummer in Liquid Gold, whose best-known song was "Dance Yourself Dizzy".