Jane McDonald

“Loose Women' is fantastic. It's great working with a group of strong, feisty females, who are also your mates. It's like therapy.”

“I loved being at sea: the sights, the sounds, the food, the sunshine, the people, and the work.”

“Everyone's always shocked that I'm still based in Yorkshire, but going home there is my sanctuary. Home is where the heart is, and my mother, sister and brother are there, and my partner.”

“I was very blessed with 'The Cruise' and what happened - that just doesn't happen to people like me.”

“Oh, I think everyone knows I like to party.”

“Cruising' is feel good TV.”

“Loose Women' didn't axe me. I had started planning the tour and album and Loose Women saw my list of 40 dates. I wanted to back out and focus on my music career.”

“I spend six months of the year on cruises. Travelling the world with your mates, it's such good fun and I hope that comes across.”

“I'm the only one of the family born in Yorkshire. My aunt came down first with her husband and told my mum there was plenty of work in Wakefield. My dad was going to go to Australia, but mum said no, we'll go to Wakefield.”

“When you're younger you've got all these hang-ups, but when you get to your 50s you just have a good time.”

“I did 100 concerts in 2010 and I had a bit of a burn out at the end of the year. I was absolutely exhausted and didn't want to do it any more.”

“Some people seem to survive on very little sleep but I am definitely not one of them.”

“I've had the same group of friends for more than 30 years and although I am not always great at keeping in touch, I am very loyal to people who are important to me.”

“I had the working class ethic. I wanted to make a living and there weren't many opportunities for an opera singer in Yorkshire, so I went onto the club circuit.”

“Then I trained as an opera singer for four years before I started singing professionally as a pop act.”

“My dad Peter, who was my roadie when I was starting out, had loads of confidence but couldn't sing.”

“Being tired doesn't necessarily make me grumpy but I do find it incredibly hard to focus or get anything done.”

“Trying to work out my schedule is hard but I'm lucky I have two great teams who take care of it all.”

“Never having to hoover, cook, clean or do any task I don't want to would be heaven.”

“I can't say I am totally up to date with the latest technology, but at the same time, I would say that I am very good at working out how to use technical items.”