McDonald’s husband ‘left her with nothing’

Entertainer Jane McDonald has said she was left with nothing after her husband took over managing her career.

The singer, who shot to fame on fly-on-the-wall TV series The Cruise, said she “should have been a multi-millionaire” after a string of albums, tours and books but did not have any money in the bank.

McDonald met engineer Henrik Brixen, who she eventually split from in 2002, while working on a cruise ship, when he came to fix the ship’s boiler.

She said she felt relief when he took over as her manager, but came to realise this was a mistake.

Writing in her autobiography Riding The Waves, she said: “He was so bright, but I was beginning to worry he might be out of his depth.

“I should have looked closer at the contracts I signed and the financial implications for me – but I was so gullible and clueless.

“I loved him with all my heart, but felt he’d stopped looking at me as a wife. I became a product. I lost confidence and became introverted.”

She became concerned when friends pointed out she should have enough money to make investments, writing: “I went into the office and scoured the accounts: there was no money anywhere. I couldn’t believe it.

“I’d had albums out, books out, tours sold out, a top TV show... I should have been a multi-millionaire, but I didn’t have any money in the bank.

“I had left everything on the business side to Henrik. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I really did have nothing left.

“I told Henrik ‘I’m firing you as my manager’. My work had dried up and it felt as if the whole industry had turned their backs on us.”

Singer Jane McDonald has published her life story.