THE STORY SO FAR: Jane McDonald

She’s the proud recipient of a Bafta for her show Cruising (9pm, Ch5), which finds the singer and presenter back on the high seas. Here’s her story so far…

Up for it: Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1963, Jane studied music – first piano, then singing – before touring clubs (with her dad as her roadie) in her teens and 20s. She then went to work on cruise ships and, aged 35, she agreed to appear in 1998’s fly-on-the-wall series The Cruise.

Star days: The Cruise made her a star and, having met her future husband and manager, Henrik, on the ships, the BBC televised their 1998 wedding. They divorced in 2002.

Record it: After The Cruise came the record deal and a self-titled number one album (1998). She has released seven albums to date, and embarks regularly on sellout tours – including a night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Other strings: When not crooning her way around the country, Jane has played TV hostess in shows such as Star For A Night (1999-2001) and Jane And Friends (2017-18). From 2004 to 2014, Jane aired her forthright views as one of the regular Loose Women panellists.

Not so sweet: She also appeared in the 2016 series Sugar Free Farm, saying:

‘I was a bit offended, actually… Why do they think I need to lose weight?’ It was a positive experience for her, though, and she lost a total of four stone.

Cat can: One of her self-confessed career highs was playing Grizabella in Cats, following in the footsteps of Nicole Scherzinger. The show, in Blackpool, ran for eight weeks.