Jane McDonald has faced a many tragedies in her life including the death of three loved ones.
The presenter often mentions her dad, a miner called Peter who died back in 1993, whilst exploring the world in her Channel 5 documentary series.
During a trip around the Inner Hebrides, Jane felt her father’s presence throughout as she told the camera he was the one who taught her how to dance.
Towards the end of the episode, she raised a glass to the sky and paid tribute to him as her trip came to an end. Channel 5 viewers have gotten a sense of how close Jane was to her parent’s over the years. In one show, she took a trip down memory lane when exploring Scarborough, a place she often visited as a child.
Holding back tears, she recalled the memories with her family as she told viewers: “Ah, happy days, I would do anything with just one more day with them.”
Sadly, Jane’s mum Jean died in 2018, which she announced on Twitter, now called X, in a heartbreaking tribute saying: “A light in my heart has gone out for a short while.”
In the past, the popular presenter has shown her gratitude for her mum, who encouraged her musical career.
She once confessed: “I am going, to be honest, my first piano teacher said that I didn't have a musical note in my body, but my mother disagreed with her.”
Admitting that her mum sent her to another teacher, Jane was thankful for her decision as she added: “I am very grateful to my mother for believing in me because she could see something that I couldn't.”
Despite Jane finding fame in the 90s, Jane continued to live at home with her mother until she was 45.
Tragically, three years after her mum’s death, her fiance Eddie Rothe lost his short battle with lung cancer.
The pair had known each other briefly during Jane’s teen years and dating back in 2008 after reconnecting later on in life.
Speaking to the DailyMail last year, the 61-year-old detailed her fiance’s death as she confessed he had no symptoms.
She said: “As daft as it sounds, I’m thankful it was during Covid because I was there with him.
“Nobody else was. But that was the hardest thing. I had no nurses or doctors come in. I had to learn how to do it all myself. I had him at home as long as I could.
“Then I took him to the Wakefield Hospice, which is a beautiful place. I’ll be forever grateful to them. I was with him all the time there.”
Since his death, the 61–year-old has admitted she’s “not bothered” about finding love again, telling MailOnline she doesn’t need someone in her life to make it fulfilled.
Jane’s encounters with death over the years left sobbing in a repeated episode of her show last weekend when visiting a health and wellness centre.
While in a virtual float tank, which essentially was a meditation pod, Jane couldn’t stop the tears from rolling.
After spending 30 minutes in the pod that featured flashing lights, she told the cameras: “You know when you hear these stories of people dying and they follow the light, that's how it felt.
“That has blown my mind. Thank goodness that we did that, that is something I will never forget."
Jane McDonald: Cruising USA is available to watch on Channel 5
