The Cruise: Jane McDonald opens up about ex husband & being 'selfish' in relationships

Jane McDonald can be seen preparing for her first performance on the erstwhile Celebrity Cruises ship in episode one, which aired on Monday.

In the show, she opens up about her relationships.

The Cruise first came out in January 1998 - the same year she married Henrik Brixen, a ship's plumbing engineer, who later became her manager.

In the first episode, 'Let the Dream Begin' the singer opens up about hard it is to be away from her "man" but never names him directly.

"Leaving is a little bit sad - I'm leaving my other half where he is," she says at sailaway.

She later adds, as she glams up for her show in her cabin: "I'm missing him terribly, my man."

However, admitting she's "nervous" to perform, she shares the benefits of her partner not being with her.

"I'm glad he's not seeing me like this - he's never seen me before a show, getting ready for it."

In fact, explains Jane - he only really knows her as "plain Jane" which is "quite sweet."

"He just knows me as his girlfriend," she says.

Past boyfriends falling for the celebrity side of her life has proved an issue in the past, Jane admits.

"[My partner] doesn't really know Jane the singer, the big act or anything which is nice because I know he's fallen for me and not the image of what I do which has been a problem sometimes in the past," said Jane.

The star also shared insight into her own role in a relationship, saying she can be "selfish."

"I suppose I am difficult to live with because I am quite selfish, well I'm a lot selfish," she admits.

"So I tend to forget the partner a lot; they give me all this attention, they've always got to be there for me, and I've not reciprocated and given that back which is very selfish of me and I apologise."

Jane and Henrik broke up in 2002 after she "began to feel lonely" in the marriage.

In her 2019 autobiography titled Riding The Waves: My Story, Jane commented on her and Henrik's conversation around starting a family.

She wrote: "Henrik and I once talked about having children but there wasn't room for babies in his plans for me. I began to feel lonely in my marriage.

"Your manager is your boss and tells you what to do, what to wear and who to be, so our relationship changed. I loved him with all my heart but felt he'd stopped looking at me as a wife. I became a product.

"Eventually, I came to the devastating conclusion that I really did have nothing left. I told Henrik, "I'm firing you as my manager.'"

Jane went on to rekindle a romance with teenage-sweetheart Eddie Rothe and the pair became engaged in 2008.

Tragically, Eddie died from lung cancer this year on March 26, aged 68.