Jane McDonald: Who dreamed I’d be where I am now?’
I only spoke to my other half yesterday and he’s going, “Any chance we could get away for a few days?” I’m going to try to get time off next May and take him somewhere he wants to go to, because he puts up with an awful lot! The travel bug is something I’ll always have. Wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home, and that’s part of being a musician as well. So as long as I can travel, I will – but it would be nice to travel more with Ed.
Yorkshire will always be home. I’ve lived in different places, but Wakefield is my safe place. It’s somewhere I can just... exhale. I walk through the door and think I don’t have to do my hair and put make-up on now. Poor Ed! I feel sorry for him really, because he sees me at my worst. Bless his soul. He’s a very understanding man! I’m a natural chatterer. I have so many people come up to me in the supermarket and I’ll have a chat with them. Ed doesn’t take me shopping that often. He says, “I’d like to be home.”’ ‘My other half, Ed, was my childhood sweetheart. We had those sliding doors moments for years. We were in the same places, but we just never met. Ed was in the 60s band The Searchers. They were appearing on This Morning to promote their new album at the same time I was getting my make-up done for an appearance on Loose Women. I thought, “Blimey! I used to go out with him” [in the 80s]. I went to say hello, and it was like we’d never parted. He picked me up and swung me around. Thankfully, he was recently divorced, so the timing was perfect. I’m very blessed. I’ve had a few mishaps relationship-wise, but when you find the right one, you know it. I’ve been with Ed for 12 years. That’s a miracle for me!
He makes me feel like a teenager again. He’s still gorgeous, I can see what I went for all those years ago. He’s just lovely and kind, and those qualities are important to me. I’m lucky to have them all in such a good-looking package! I spend six months of the year away working, so it’s lovely when I come home. Ed says it’s so quiet when I’m not there. We do everything together, and have one of those kitchens where I can sit at the breakfast bar and watch him create gorgeous meals.
We love a catch-up TV series, such as Line Of Duty – we’ll be up till 3am watching that. When I’m away, I can watch all the stuff he wouldn’t really get, such as Grace And Frankie. He can watch what he wants and eat his fish-finger sandwiches, and I can do what I want. Then we join up and it works really well.’