She has survived heartbreak, death threats and nauseating sexism. In her Mayfair club, the Yorkshire star talks about superfans, viral hits, running away to sea – and her bid to become a Nashville icon
Whatever else has changed for Jane McDonald, between the working mens’ clubs the cruise ships and the arenas she is increasingly packing out, one thing has remained. It’s there on TV, where she remains the only Bafta-winning broadcaster liable to go full Cilla and break into song: she plays to the women. “Never acknowledge the men,” she advises cheerfully. There are a lot of husbands. “And they’re like, ‘Oh God …’” She pulls a face. “‘Jane McDonald.’” Increasingly, however, her audiences may not contain many straight men: her social media-led renaissance as an icon of northern high camp means she will perform at London queer festival Mighty Hoopla this summer.
I meet McDonald at her members’ club in Mayfair on the morning she releases her 12th album, Living the Dream. At the age of 62, she’s gone country. Recorded at the elite Blackbird Studios in Nashville – Coldplay and Taylor Swift have recorded there – she is dealing in unabashedly big country flavours. Less Cilla, more Shania.
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