Singer and television presenter Jane McDonald has made a startling confession about her past marriage, revealing she was never truly in love with her ex-husband Henrik Brixen. The 62-year-old star described Brixen's decision to end their eight-year union as "the best thing he ever did," offering candid insights into their relationship and her subsequent career challenges.
A Marriage Without Romance
Jane McDonald married Dutch ship plumbing engineer Henrik Brixen in a highly public ceremony, with their relationship lasting eight years before ending in 2003. During their marriage, Brixen also served as McDonald's manager, creating a complex professional and personal dynamic. Despite the length of their partnership, McDonald now admits she lacked genuine romantic feelings for her husband.
"Oh no, I really wasn't in love with him," McDonald revealed during an appearance on the Table Manners podcast with hosts Jessie and Lennie Ware. "Everybody could see it and was going, that's not gonna last. I was the only one who didn't see it."
Professional Partnership Challenges
The singer described Brixen as a "nice guy" and "great guy" who did his best, but their professional relationship faced significant obstacles. As her manager, Brixen struggled to navigate the music industry's complex social dynamics, with McDonald noting his Danish background made him reluctant to "play the game" that characterizes the entertainment business.
"He was brilliant, but he was very Danish and didn't understand that it's all a game, our business, and you have to play it," McDonald explained. "I was a club artist, a cruise ship singer, which was like, we don't allow this in our industry."
Career Struggles and Independence
McDonald's career breakthrough came unexpectedly when her album went straight to number one, shocking both her record company and the industry establishment. Her subsequent tour sold out massively, but professional challenges continued. Eventually, she was dropped from her labels, forcing her to take control of her career independently.
"You don't realise that, every artist thinks they need a record company, and you don't," McDonald shared. "You just need a bit of money. So if you've got a backer or a good bank like I had, you know, they'll just say, Yeah, off you go."
The singer revealed she repeatedly put her house up as collateral to fund tours and albums, a risk she was willing to take since she had no children. "I put my house up all the time to fund the tours and the albums, and I just kept going and building the fan base," she said.
Personal Loneliness and Professional Boundaries
In her 2019 autobiography, McDonald detailed growing feelings of loneliness within her marriage, particularly after Brixen ruled out having children. "Henrik and I once talked about having children but there wasn't room for babies in his plans for me," she wrote. "I began to feel lonely in my marriage."
The blurring of professional and personal boundaries became increasingly problematic. "Your manager is your boss and tells you what to do, what to wear and who to be, so our relationship changed," McDonald explained. "I loved him with all my heart but felt he'd stopped looking at me as a wife. I became a product."
This realization eventually led to her firing Brixen as her manager, a decision that preceded their marital separation.
Later Love and Tragic Loss
Following her split from Brixen in 2003, McDonald rekindled a relationship with her teenage sweetheart Eddie Rothe, a musician from The Searchers. The couple, who had known each other since their teenage years but only reconnected in the early 2000s, became engaged in 2008.
Tragically, Rothe died of lung cancer in 2021, leaving McDonald to navigate profound grief. "There's not a day goes by that I don't think of Eddie, talk of him - It's awful," she told Bella Magazine recently.
Coping With Grief and Finding Joy
Four years after Rothe's passing, McDonald continues to process her loss while finding ways to maintain positivity. "I'm not going to butter this up in any way: grief stays with you all the time, but what you have to do is sit it beside joy," she shared. "You have to bring as much joy into your life as humanly possible, so that you feel more joy than the grief. I'm just about level now."
The singer revealed she begins each day with a positive mantra, consciously choosing to focus on joy despite her ongoing sorrow. Her resilience extends to her career, where she credits her loyal fan base for supporting her through decades of industry challenges.
"My fans are the best in the world," McDonald said. "And they stood with me. So it's only been the last sort of five years that I've finally been able to breathe now, but I never gave up."
Reflecting on her journey, McDonald offered advice to others facing professional or personal obstacles: "I think so many people get frightened, lose a lot of money, and think this is not for me. I can't stand this. Or they get so disillusioned with the industry, you've just got to play it or do it a different way."
