Inside Jane McDonald’s heartbreak last year after the tragic death of her fiancé, who taught her “life is for living”.

TV star Jane McDonald was devastated by the tragic death of her fiance last year.

The 58-year-old singer and former Loose Women actress was heartbroken when her fiancé Eddie Rothe died last April after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

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She said at the time that the musician “taught me that life is for living”.

Jane has been with drummer Eddie since 2008 but was introduced to him twenty years ago.

She first met the The Searchers star in 1980 and the pair dated briefly before going their separate ways.

Jane and Eddie’s short-lived relationship came to an end after a chance meeting at the ITV studios in 2008.

She was on Loose Women at the time while Eddie was a guest on This Morning.

Jane said she almost pulled out to say hello to her former flame, who she last saw face to face when she was 18.

She recalled, “He said, ‘Look, I just got through a divorce, here’s my card if you want to talk to me.'”

“I could not wait for it. I ran home from Loose Women, I couldn’t wait to talk to him because a lot had happened.

“I figured if he doesn’t know who I am, I really did. I thought he was going to say, ‘Who are you?'”

In her first interview since his death, Jane said: “If we know anything about what has happened in the past year, it is that life is too short.

“That taught me that life is for living and I will live it even more when we are allowed out again.”

She continued, “We all think, ‘I better not spend this,’ but I’ll tell you something, I’m going to spend big and I’m going to have the best time because you just don’t know when you’re going to make it again.”

In a statement announcing Eddie’s death, Jane thanked the NHS and hospice for looking after him in his final days.

In a statement published online, Jane said: “It is with great sadness that we share the news that Jane’s beloved life partner Ed passed away on Friday March 26th.

“He had been battling lung cancer for the past few months.

“We would like to thank everyone for their help and support at this very difficult time, especially the NHS staff and the wonderful team at Wakefield Hospice.”

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