The cruise ship singer turned national treasure reveals how 20 years in showbiz have led to her own entertainment show on Channel 5
JANE McDonald is having a chuckle to herself. The topic of conversation is her smash hit travel show, Cruising With Jane McDonald, which recently ended a third run on Channel 5. “Let’s be honest, it’s not a bad gig, is it?” she laughs. “I can’t sit here and go, ‘Oh it’s terribly tiring,’ can I? No, it’s brilliant doing Cruising…. I’m having a great time.”
It clearly shows on screen, as Jane goes full circle from having her life as a ships singer documented on reality show The Cruise 20 years ago.
“I still see it as a holiday, not a TV show,” she admits. “I’m out there with my mates. If you see what goes on when we’re not filming, you’d understand what I’m talking about. We have a brilliant time.”
So why does Jane think Cruising… has been so successful?
“I have no idea,” she chuckles. “I am the least professional presenter you’ll ever met in your life.
“I don’t research, so I have no idea what I’m talking about. I just go on and say what I see, which can be a bit naughty. Which I don’t realise. It’s everybody’s filthy minds, not mine.”
Whatever the reason, it’s a winning formula captured yet again with Jane’s new Channel 5 show, a musical entertainment series on Friday nights called Jane McDonald & Friends.
“I was talking to the bosses at Channel 5 about other shows following the success of Cruising with Jane McDonald,” she explains. “I said, ‘Just come and watch me in concert and then speak to me about another show.’
“I take my hat off to them,” she adds. “They came and they watched me perform, and they saw the banter… Because although I sing and do the torch songs and everything else, I can’t stop talking to the audience.” It feels apt that Jane isn’t taking herself too seriously, because she’s a woman on a mission to create what she describes as “feel-good” television.
“This show is just pure escapism, it’s proper weekend watching,” she says.
“I think that’s what’s been missing from our screens. We’ve had a decade of things having a bit of an agenda and I wanted to do TV that makes you smile. And that’s what I’m doing.”
She thinks for a second. “It makes me smile, anyway.”
Jane admits that her relaxed presenting style and rapport with the audience make the new series compulsive viewing.
“It’s quite risque, because I forget the camera’s rolling. And I’ve noticed, the little tinkers, they’ve put all my outtakes at the end.”
With 20 years in showbusiness, Jane’s been able to call on some old friends. Above: Jane is bringing the feel-good back to weekend TV. Below: with Shayne Ward (left), and Tony Hadley
“It’s been great fun,” she says. “I’ve known Russell Watson for years, we go way back. We did a show together in Blackpool years ago.
“Tony Hadley I know and love – he did a duet with me on my new album, Hold The Covers Back. We sing that on the new series.
“I’ve known The Overtones for ages. I’ve worked with them for quite some time. Shayne Ward, I knew… So there’s quite a few of my friends.
“We’ve had to cut so much out because we just end up having a chat. The audience must have thought ‘what the hell’s going on here?’”
Jane reels off names like Elkie Brooks, Bonnie Tyler and Alexander O’Neal and is still in shock at them having appeared on her series.
“They’re legends! But I’m grateful to them as well, for coming on and having a good time with us. It’s brilliant.” Jane is quick to reply when asked for her personal highlights from the new series.
“Probably having Tony Hadley on. I was like, ‘Blimey, it’s Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet!’” she laughs loudly.
“When we sang the duet together I thought, ‘Jane, remember this moment here because you’re singing with Tony Hadley. One of your own songs, on your own show.’
“You’ve got to be very, very grateful for moments like that in your life. Every day there’s something that I’m grateful for. Every single day of every episode of Jane McDonald & Friends, I loved every second of it.
“When big stars come on your show it’s a real honour to have them on there.”
Jane admits that she has been star struck by several big names.
“There’s quite a few actually!” she beams. “Josh Groban, I was completely blown away by. I thought he was amazing. He came and sang a duet with me on a previous show.
“And Bette Midler,” she gasps at the memory. “She’s teeny as well, really small. But she was just great fun. I thought, ‘Oh god, that’s a proper star.’
“Whoopi Goldberg, I’ve met her as well. My ultimate was David Foster. I went to see him in Las Vegas. He asked me to sing a song with him in front of 10,000 people. I nearly died!
“I thought,‘How does he know I’m in and how does he know who I am?’ But I got up and sang a song with David Foster at The Mandalay Bay. So that was probably the most frightening, but the most star struck I’ve ever been.”