Jane McDonald staged an emotional return to Loose Women on Thursday morning to discuss the loss of her partner Ed Rothe.
The Bafta-winning TV personality broke down in tears as she remembered the Searchers musician, who died earlier this year after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
Jane – who was part of the Loose Women panel on-and-off between 2004 and 2014 – was reunited with former co-stars Carol McGiffin and Kaye Adams as she sat down for a moving interview.
Paying a tearful tribute to her late fiancé, Jane said: “I don’t want to feel sad for the rest of my life because that wasn’t Ed. Ed was golden, smiley, he was beautiful.
“Thirteen years of absolute bliss. That’s how I’m getting through it. I’m not thinking of the last six months because it was horrendous.”
“I’m thinking of how grateful I’ve been for such a wonderful…” she continued, becoming emotional.
Jane announced that Ed had died in March, revealing that he had “been battling lung cancer for the last few months”.
During her Loose Women interview, Jane revealed that she had nursed Ed through his final months.
“I had to have a crash course in nursing. Ryan, the lovely district nurse, – thank you Ryan – came and showed me how to do everything,” she said.
“Because it was lung cancer, they were so afraid of him getting Covid that I took over everything.”
“And that was a privilege,” Jane continued. “At first I thought, ‘How am I going to do that?’. But then you get a strength when you’re nursing your loved one and it really is a privilege.
“I changed all the dressings and cared for him and I nursed him and I’m glad I did.”
Viewers were moved at the emotional interview:
My heart really goes out to Jane McDonaldSending her so much love #loosewomen
— Lewis (@lewispringle) November 11, 2021
hard watch with Jane McDonald on @loosewomen shortly. Seen her perform live with my mum & without. Love you Jane. The hand that leads me is still one of my fav all time tracks. Not a day goes by I wonder where you are a close second.
— Kelly (@inchhigh971) November 11, 2021
Ed and Jane first dated for a few months back in the early 80s when he was the drummer in disco group Liquid Gold.
They became a couple again 26 years later when they were brought back into each other’s lives following a chance meeting at the ITV studios in 2008, where Jane was filming Loose Women and Ed was appearing on This Morning.
The pair became engaged later that year.
Looking to the future, Jane confirmed that she had scrapped plans to retire at the end of the year, and revealed plans for a new Channel 5 travel show.
Confirming she will not be returning to her popular Cruising series, Jane said her adventures would be continuing on land with Jane McDonald’s Caribbean, which will see her explore Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, and Grenada.
She also spoke of her upcoming series Jane McDonald’s Yorkshire, which she described as a “love letter” to her home county.
Both are set to arrive on Channel 5 in 2022.
Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV.
