Jane McDonald has survived heartbreak, death threats and nauseating sexism. Now, at 62, the Yorkshire star is releasing her 12th album, 'Living the Dream', recorded at Nashville's elite Blackbird Studios. She talks about her journey from working men's clubs to cruise ships to arenas, and her bid to become a country icon.
McDonald, who remains the only Bafta-winning broadcaster liable to break into song on TV, says she always plays to the women. 'Never acknowledge the men,' she advises. Her social media-led renaissance as an icon of northern high camp means she will perform at London queer festival Mighty Hoopla this summer.
She was wary of agreeing to an interview with no conditions. For more than two decades, McDonald has been her own manager and is protective of her client. She attracts 'a lot of fake news' and turns down about 96% of what she is offered unless it passes her 'Hell yeah!' test.
Recently, she was comforting a friend ground down by a serially cheating husband. That became the bar-room blues of 'Ain't Gonna Beg'. She brought a Channel 5 crew to Nashville for a documentary airing next month. Her travel programmes won the channel its first Bafta in 2018.
None of this was meant to happen. McDonald had planned to retire with fiance Eddie Rothe, who died of lung cancer in 2021. 'Everybody was waiting for that Ed song,' she says, but nothing came. So for the first time, she worked with professional songwriters, resulting in tracks like 'How Do I Move On' and 'Beautiful Soul'.
McDonald wakes at 5am for Radio 2 appearances and signs CDs for fans. Stage door signings began taking longer than the shows, and there was a credible threat to her life. 'Would a man stand and talk to the fans like me?' she asks. 'I write for them, really.'
