Hit the road with Viva la diva
It’s been a very difficult time for TV star Jane McDonald, whose fiancé Eddie Rothe died last March from lung cancer.
But now the singer, who made her name 24 years ago on reality show The Cruise, is back on our screens, setting aside her music career to embark on a road trip around her native Yorkshire.
Jane, 58, said: “This county’s chock-full of memories for me. I’ll visit some very happy memories of days gone by and the people who are as important as the places.
“And you are very welcome to join me, to rediscover the places I loved as a girl, in my very own time machine.”
That “time machine” is a Vauxhall Viva, the very first car that Jane owned. She said: “It’s like your first love, your first car. You never forget. My dad once told me the Viva wouldn’t go over 50mph. But that was just to stop me putting my foot down!”
In the opening episode, Jane visits one of TV’s most famous locations, Holmfirth, where sitcom Last Of The Summer Wine was filmed for 37 years. She meets one of the show’s cast members and recalls the weekly appointment to view with her family.
“After bath time, me and Tony would shiver in front of the fire, with Mum doing the week’s ironing and Dad sat surrounded by a cloud of cigarette smoke, polishing our shoes. On Sundays at 7.30pm, it was always Last Of The Summer Wine,” she said.
As she visits her hometown of Wakefield, it’s clear how much the place means to her.
Jane said: “This is how I remember Wakey back in the day – proudly working class. The mines ran 24/7, helping to power Britain. Big families were crammed into terraces and the street was our real playground. We looked out for each other, there’s a true sense of community.”
Wakefield has its own version of the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and Jane gets out the Brasso to polish plaques for local stars including former Corrie actress Katherine Kelly. There’s also a trip to Wakefield Cathedral and a local nature reserve, before Jane shares a cuppa and reminisces with her brother Tony, laughing about the food their dad took with him down the mines – cheese and jam sandwiches.
Ending the episode, Jane’s comments seem to suggest she’s definitely looking to the future.
She said: “I have absolutely loved showing you around my favourite place, Wakefield. It’s lovely thinking back to all the great times I’ve had here – and all the great times I’m going to have. I always think, ‘Just keep looking ahead. Step outside your door and just embrace life’. That’s my belief.”
And this being Jane, that’s the cue for her to belt out a song to end the show.