Inside Jane McDonald’s first marriage that ‘should have never happened’

Jane McDonald hasn’t always been lucky in love, with the singer sadly losing her long-time partner, Eddie Rothe, to cancer back in 2021. Beforehand, she had been married to engineer Henrik Brixen, but the singer had another husband before meeting Henrik.

Although the star doesn’t speak about her first marriage often, in her memoir, Let the Light In, Jane lifted the lid on their relationship, candidly saying that the couple should have never married in the first place.

In the chapter about navigating relationships, the Cruising star said: “My next lesson in love was a huge and quite unbelievable one, because on the rebound from Wal I not only started dating another gorgeous blond drummer; reader, I married him. It should never have happened.

“Paul was a lovely, lovely guy. We met for the first time when his band played at Pussycat, and we got together the following year, when I recommended Paul and his crew for a gig at Casanova’s. I was 21, and I can’t explain or properly recall what was going through my head at the time. Was I really on the rebound? That’s how I’ve explained it in the past, but things are never that simple, are they?

“I fell in love with Paul, that’s for sure. I moved into his flat, 20 miles from Wakefield, and I was that mad about him I gave up my work at Casanova’s so that I was home in the evenings for him, when he wasn’t out doing a gig.”

Although at the time, Jane wanted to be a performer, she admitted that she ended up taking a job at a call centre for two years. For her wedding, the couple went for a “traditional wedding at the Spiritualist church” with Jane wearing “a classic 1980s meringue”.

The star admitted that her husband was entirely unaware of her singing abilities until she performed at their wedding; the couple later became a double act after returning home from their honeymoon.

However, Jane soon came to realise that she had been putting her own dreams on hold as a result of staying in the marriage, writing: “I can only assume my self-esteem was floundering, because for this short period in time I had settled for a life I didn’t want. And that meant I had let go of my dream. Like I said: big mistake! Huge!

“It took me six months of marriage to admit I wanted a different life and that Paul deserved better too. With my itchy feet and a dream that still needed chasing, I was not going to make him happy, or myself.”

The 62-year-old admitted that she still felt “guilty” about the way things ended with Paul, four decades following the end of their marriage.

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She continued: “As far as Paul was concerned it was all fantastic one minute and the next it was over, just like that. I hurt him so much and I feel absolutely dreadful about that. I could have stayed through guilt and duty or the fear of admitting failure, but I know that would have been so wrong, for both of us.

“As difficult as it is, sometimes the kindest thing to do is admit you made a mistake and walk away. That’s one of the hardest lessons of all, but there are times when it has to be done, because we only get one life, and we all deserve to be happy, we really do.”

Jane’s late love

The love of Jane’s life was former Searchers drummer Eddie Rothe. The pair had previously dated in the 1980s when Jane was a teenager before they lost contact, eventually reconciling in 2008 when they crossed paths again on the set of Loose Women.

Although Eddie proposed in 2008, the couple didn’t walk down the aisle, with the musician passing away from lung cancer in 2021.

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Speaking to HELLO! three years after his death, Jane said: “It’s the biggest shock ever because your life completely changes. You have to rebuild and I was very grateful that I had another life besides Ed. My career was still going on and my friends were there.”

She continued: “There’s no way of dealing with it. You just have to rebuild [your life] in the best way you can. For me, that’s going out and seeing my fans again and saying to those who have gone through the same as me, I know what you’re feeling.”