SAIL OF THE CENTURY
JANE MCDONALD IS OFF ON HER TRAVELS AGAIN…
And if Spain doesn’t float your boat, how about a spot of sightseeing in the Great Lakes of North America? That’s Jane Mcdonald’s first destination for the latest series of her BAFTA award-winning travelogue, and as Inside TV calls her up for a chat, we discover that she had an amazing time – even if certain items on the itinerary left her soaked to the skin…
Tell us about the Great Lakes, Jane…
They’re not lakes as we know them, where you can see the other side – these are more like oceans! They’re massive, and they take days to get around. It was fantastic – even though it was raining, it didn’t matter. I’m from Yorkshire and it rains a lot up there, so I felt very at home!
You also visited Niagara Falls on this trip – what was that like?
It was just incredible to see the force of nature in the water like that. And then I got on a zip wire to go across it – what on earth was I thinking?! I was a nervous wreck beforehand, but it was totally brilliant and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Which is more than
I can say for the rapids in Montreal – oh, my God, that was not fun. I got absolutely drenched!
When you started this show, did you have any idea it’d be this successful?
Not in a million years! I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously. I said to [Channel 5 director of programmes] Ben Frow, “I just want to go on holiday and take the camera crew, really – I don’t want to be a proper presenter,” and he said, “Well, that’s what we want.” So I don’t have a script, I literally go on and say, “[Gasps] Look at this!”
The songs at the end of each episode have become quite famous, too…
Ben was the one who suggested it, and I thought I’d get annihilated! But it’s been the opposite, and everybody on Twitter and Facebook is asking, “What’s she going to sing?” I can’t tell you, but I’ve done some this time I never thought I’d be singing!
What sort of impact has the show had on the cruising industry?
The amount of cruise lines which have got in touch and said, “Our website crashed” and the people who stop me in the street and say, “I’ve just booked my first cruise because of you” – I couldn’t be more thrilled!