Jane McDonald

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Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jesse Ware and I'm here in my kitchen with my

mom. She's got a leopard print on. She's just given me a bag of food I didn't ask for,

which now I will have to use even though I had an avocado order this morning. So I just

find the view in the house. Yeah do you think my children eat lettuce, but you do, but

maybe I didn't punch your lettuce tonight Lenny. It's not a bit tomorrow. Yeah it's like

wilting and nearly dead, but yeah. Where are you going tomorrow, man? Shhh. Oh Lenny.

I'll be in Columbo on Saturday. Oh it's the best. I can't wait going everywhere. Columbo,

dambula, kandalana, and I'm going to try and get down to the south and go to Pappasante.

Oh yeah. Same Margot, same thing. Yeah, same Margot, something. So today we have,

an icon on a national treasure, absolutely. Absolutely, icon. Graced our screens in 1998 on a BBC 1

documentary about cruise ships. She was the kind of breakout star and the nation fell in love with

her. Jay McDonald was a cruise ship singer. She was completely warm and open and fabulous.

And she was just kind of cherished from that day on. Well she's a Yorkshire lass isn't she?

She has made, I think, over 10 studio records. She's headlined the MGM. Number one. Yep.

Yeah, yeah. With her channel five show, cruising with Jay McDonald, where she goes and travels

around. She was one of the first panel members on Loose Women, I play. And we just love her.

She's also covered one of my songs. She does very famous cover. Which song did she cover,

remember where you are? She didn't do another one of yours. She didn't do say you love me.

I mean, if she hasn't, she should. Okay. And she's coming on to talk about her new Nashville

country inspired album, Living the Drink. Yeah. Which she actually made in the Blackbird Studios,

which is in Nashville, which is a very famous studio. And it's fab. I wonder when we make a country

album where you have to drink bourbon. We can ask her. Jay McDonald's coming up and take them on.

Jay McDonald. Oh my god, I'm here. I'm, you've just come in with the biggest bouquet of flowers,

giving me the most gorgeous cuddle. It's really nice to finally meet you. Oh, right back at you.

And can I just say your cover of, remember, you are fantastic. Oh, bless you. And it gave me,

like, it was like a career highlight for me that I got seeing you do a cover of my song. So,

thank you. Well, thank you for doing it. Because it's one of the best songs I think in a long,

long time. It's one of those songs that I had to stop the car. You know that? And just listen to

it. And it was just, because I don't know about it. My favourite artist is Mina Ripeten. Oh, well,

she's my dream. Yeah. And I thought this is as close to Mina Ripeten as I can. And it was just

like, so I've been a fan of yours for such a long time. Thank you. Yeah. Can we talk about those

chains? Let's drink to that. Oh, lovely. And congrats on the new record. Thank you. And congrats

on yours. Oh, thank you. Cheers, mum. And, well, I mean, before we get into the new record,

how would you, when you've done, you've done some really iconic covers.

Jaiho. Yeah. Big one. You with the two bits of material. Oh, no. Nobody needs a dancer. You've

got two bits of material and you're giving it. It's amazing. Can do anything with soft furnishings.

Rear pulse to your body. Absolutely. You've done Kate by the ocean. Yeah. Do you know what that

means? No. What does it mean? Are we allowed to say? Well, yeah. Well, I thought I heard it was

really dirty. Yeah. Did you hear about that? I heard it's really dirty. And I said, la, la, la,

don't because I sing it in my show. I mean, but then I heard somewhat, I think they've like

PGed it on the internet. Oh, I love this. I am quite naive. I don't know if you've noticed that.

But, um, I just think it's about having a piece of Victoria's sponge looking out to see,

looking out to the cup of tea. Yeah. And that's how I picture it. And my fans all sing along.

And I love it. So you don't know Kate by the ocean would be a victorious. It would love you. Yeah.

Yeah. Drinking. What cup of tea? Cup of tea. Oh, champagne. Okay. You know, do you like champagne the

best of champagne? Me too. I do. It is my favourite go to drink. Me too. So we are so happy to have

you on. And it feels like, yeah, I mean, you've had such a huge career. And yet you're still

Jane that everyone feels like they fell in love with on the cruise ship. And you're exactly the

same. Well, that's very kind of you to say. I don't take it too seriously. I just think,

Blime, I'm still here. Can't believe it, really. I love what I do. And I never take it for granted.

And I feel blessed to be able to do what I do and travel the world and sing. I mean, we've got

a gift that is God-given. We're so lucky to do it. Yeah. And it's joyful. And I always thought

I'm great at, if I'm feeling a bit down, I think, what are you doing? Change that vibration, you know?

And so I'm into that a little bit. And I sort of think how blessed, really, that we have to do

a job that we do. Do you still get nervous? Oh, God, yeah. What do you do to calm your nerves?

Click it. Okay. So I used to be so bad. I used to be sick. Oh, wow. You know, nausea, sweat, palms.

Was this before the cruise ships in the club? Yeah. Was that when you were the most nervous?

Yeah. Okay. So, and I've always been a sickly child as well. I was a very sickly child.

Really? I was a bit... I'm in Mum's Abraham. I was pathetic actually. I was a bit pathetic.

You were shy, weren't you? Very shy. Very, very shy. Are you just an only child?

No, no. I've got a lovely sister and a fabulous brother. And you know, my sister can't even believe

I do what I do, really, because Janet will say, you were so mongy as a kid. You're not mongy.

Mongy? Oh, mongy. So, yeah, it's a real big auction. It's a bit like a Mary Mian.

Yeah. Or a bit Mardi. A bit Mardi, yeah. Mardi. Just, you know, Mardi.

Isn't that a bit more astute, eh? No, do you remember art tick-munked his, Mardi Ars?

Oh, okay. Mardi Ars is a mature reference. Kind of miserable, not very...

Yeah. Not very joyful. No, I wasn't. I was always sick, very nervous, you know, and so when

my mother said, you know, go, go off and sing, I was like, please don't let me do this.

And my dad used to argue with my mother and say, Jean, just, just leave her, leave her.

But she didn't. She just guided, pushed a little bit.

Because she knew you had a shower. Well, yeah. But she knew I had a way of earning a living.

So she sort of pushed a little. And then when I got the microphone,

it was a different thing. So, how did it begin, Jane? Well, I got an old piano.

We went to a house. We were moving house at the time. And there was a piano in it, and I just

went over to it and played a tune. Just played a tune on the piano. I don't know. She's got a good

melody in it. How old were you then? Probably about seven. Wow. So that's one of the new,

I don't know, musical. So then my mother sent me to piano lessons. And my first teacher said,

she's not got a musical note in a body. So my mother sent me to a blind man called Francis Walker,

who was incredible. And he got me to grade seven in piano. Wow. Wow. That's brilliant. So that,

so I don't think that I play because I'm right. And that's what I would do on my songs on.

That's amazing. But then when did the singing start? Well, this lovely piano player, Francis,

he had an accordion band. And he said to me, do you sing at all? I mean, yeah, I can't sing. And

he just played something. And I started to sing. And he went, I want you to stop piano lessons.

And I want you to go to singing lessons. And I went, is it that bad? You know, because I thought,

oh, you thought you couldn't think. And I said, oh, please don't tell my mother. Please don't tell

my mother that you're sacking me from piano. Because I already had one teacher. And anyway,

he talked to my mother. And she found the money. She got a job in a corner shop. And she sent me

to both. So I still did piano. And then I went to singing lessons as well. Jane needs to tell you

what her first word was. Downtown. Bloody hell. I know. Because my mother loved the radio.

I'm still today. I put the radio straight on because it was my mother. And she ran a boarding

house. And she said, she used to come in and say, now, mum's going to be a bit busy for a bit.

And she says, you never ever muffed you. I put the radio on. And she said, your first words were

downtown. Do you know the song? Yes, of course I do. So that's that's that's that's child abuse now.

But fantastic. I mean, yeah, you know, maybe it made you have that great pitch. So tell us

about the lodging house. You know, your mum, how many lodgers did your mum? Yeah, we were a

police house. So that we we had she'd got a policeman there. No, my dad worked down the pit.

But my mother and my grandmother ran the boarding house and used to take in lodgers and it was

all the police because we had a school in Wakefield where all the police from all over the world used

to come and stay. So we had sort of the lodgers from the police and they ran a great never made any

profit. I mean, my mother was rubbish at business, but a great cook. Yeah, really good. I was a

clean bed. So she had all that but no business. So I always said, if I was the age that I was now

when my mother said, let's have a boarding house. It had been brilliant. You say she's a great cook.

So can you describe a very memorable family meal from your childhood? Yeah, there was always a

pan of soup. Okay. And you know how to say, oh, sell by dates and all this. She just kept adding

to this soup. I mean, literally, as I heard that before, a good soup, a good place and you just

keep adding to it. Oh, no, it's a goodness. We all came in from school and just got a solid soup.

You know, but it was it was good stock. It was a ham stock that had been soaked overnight and then

lentils, split peas, leeks, all the seasonal vegetables. You know, so and then when it got down a

bit, she put a bit more stocking and then just add some more veg. So there was always a big

pant, there was also lovely smell of food in the house. Not in my house, good cat cook. You didn't

a cat cook. I'm rubbish. Well, yeah, I found her a soup recipe and I made it. I had three

attempts, two of them I had to chuck out, but yeah, finally, I've finally got it and it's in her

hand writing. Oh, I know. So that cheered me up that day. It was a really winter day and I thought,

right, come on mother, make this soup with me and it was delightful and all the memories came

flooding back of my mother and this smell and the soup and it tasted great and I thought,

I've got it. So that's me, that's me only thing. She said now. Yeah, yeah. When did she

hold? When did she post away? Um, she was 87. Oh, so good age. Yeah, she was great and she was ready

to go. Oh, she was. Yeah. So, you know, I don't mind when they're ready to go. So, but she,

she was great. You lost your dad before the cruise. Yeah, 93. Yeah, 93. And you were, you were

yeah, quite 30 or something. Yeah, but I still feel like it's really even for me now. Yeah, you

quite spiritual, Jay, because you talk about this quite a lot that you felt like you talk to,

I watch some clips of you from the cruise and like, you know, you, you do talk about like your

dad's there with you and does he, does he pop out and like in different situations? Is he the kind

of disease? No, that is just my father and my mother were like, yeah, then yeah, I mean, there was

so different. How they got together. I'll never know. I think it lied. I think that could have

been it. I think good looking. Very. See? Yeah, it was a very good and a great dancer. Oh, wow.

Did they go dancing? Yeah. So there it is. And I used to go to a ballroom dancing with my dad.

Did you? So he taught me how to dance. In fact, it sent me to dance lessons. And I came back and I was

very, anyway, and dancing is for enjoying. He says, I don't want you to feel stiff. I don't

want you to think about steps. I want you to just feel the partner and follow. Have you ever been

approached for strictly? Yeah. No. Can you do it? No, it's too long. Oh, it's got too much to do. Yeah,

yeah, I can't be fun. No, I mean sequins all the time. Anyway, I'm sorry. So, you know,

and it's a sad work. It's hard work. They work so hard on that. They do. They work hard.

Where do you say you're often very glamorous? Yes. Who dresses you? I have a lovely girl

called Kay Healy, who worked in a wedding shop in Wakefield. She was really good at just saying

and I'd say to her, can you whip up a frock? And what were you asking for? Yeah. Well,

is it always sequins? Well, I've upgraded now. More beading. Oh,

relations. Yeah, I'm on till or whatever. I'm on till. Do you like feather fruit fruit? Yeah,

I love that. Feathers are really in it. Yeah, they are. Object. Oh, yeah. Thanks for telling me. Yeah.

So, yeah, a bit of everything really. So, this lovely lady has done my gowns for

20 years. So, this is why we love you, James. Yeah. So, you're using the local wedding dress.

That's right. Wakefield. Yeah, I mean, she's Angel Kachur now, but she's Angel Kachur, but

it's her gowns are second to none. So, where's your next gig? My next gig is at the mighty hoopla.

Now, we need to, you are playing the main stage. You're doing the Saturday or the Sunday. I think

it's the Sunday. Okay, amazing. We're coming. We're coming. Oh, amazing. Because I wanted you to get

on stage with me at a hoopla. And you were learned to hold on a cruise, I think. I was, yeah,

I was mortified. You're very on brand. But you are now going and performing, they are going to

adore you. Oh, that's so lovely. It's such a great festival. This blin who runs it is heaven.

So, yeah, I can't wait to watch you perform. And then you're doing two nights at the

palladium. Yes. And a big old tour. Yeah, arenas apparently now. Oh, yeah. No, what's going on?

Oh, that's amazing. What's going on? What's going on? Hang on. It's the palladium stuff. So,

you're doing them and then you're going on to arenas? Yeah. So, I'm doing two theatres. I'm doing

blackpool because I love the blackpool at the house. So, I'm doing two nights at blackpool,

which is like a rave. You've never seen anything like it in your life. So, we're doing two nights

there. And then we're doing, I think, two nights at the London palladium. But then we're off

light to Leeds Arena. We're doing the big at Barnmouth. You know, the Sheffield Arena.

Amazing. It's kind of arena. I mean, what's going on? Well, you've done Vegas too.

MGM, thank you very much. Yeah, I did Vegas as well, which was amazing. How was that? It was great.

But, you know, it's really strange this because I should have had the best time of my life. I

just got to Vegas, but I knew my marriage was on the brink. Oh, okay. So, is this when you're,

yeah, my, he was managing it as well. He was, yes. Yeah. Nice guy, though. Okay. Yeah,

I'm a lovely fella. How long have you been together at that point? Eight years. And you got married.

I know. But you were in love. I know. And that really wasn't. Everybody could see it. I'm going,

no, that's not going to last. Okay. So, I was the only one that didn't see it, but he was a great

guy. And he did his best, you know, and he was a good manager. He was, okay. He was in certain

things. He was brilliant, but he was, he was very Danish and didn't understand that. It's all a

game. This is all a game as our business. I know. And you have to play it. Do you find that

hard? Do you feel like, I mean, you've been doing it over what, like, we're on to the third decade,

right? Can you see how the industry, because you got basically, it was quite a big thing,

when after the cruise, and Ed and people fell in love with you and heard your amazing voice,

you got this record deal. You went to number one. You were kind of a break out reality start.

Now, I don't think you are a reality. No, that's exactly what you were. But you weren't going

on the telly to gain fame. You were doing your job. You were doing your job. And you talked about

Chris, who was the director and just the sky with the camera on his own on this cruise ship,

who fell for you and knew that everyone else would. And he documented the wedding as well, didn't he?

Yes. But do you feel like you've had, like you said, you adapt and play the game and stuff,

but do you feel like it gets easier to play the game? Or do you think it's, if you must have been

quite hard to have been coming at such a high level, and maybe they're being this great expectation

for you then? Yeah. And I was a club artist, a cruise ship singer, which was like,

we don't allow this in our industry. And nobody thought for one minute that I would go straight

to number one with that album, nobody. So not even the record company. Which record company was that?

I can't possibly go into that. But it was a shock to everybody. And then my tour sold out massively,

which was, you know, another learning curve. And I was learning the business with Henrik along

the way, you know, so it was like, hang on a minute, listen, this is not tallying up. That's not

tallying up. But it's a game. And you have to play it. And then I got dropped from my labels.

And I thought, how hard can this be? So I did it all myself.

No, you're probably making way more money than when you were able to play.

Thank you. But you don't realize that every artist thinks they need a record company. And you

don't, 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, I put my house up more times to fund. Yeah, because I had no

kids. It didn't matter to me. So I'm in motherhood of wherever I was. So 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. And my fans

are the best in the world. And they've stuck with me. So it's only been the last sort of five years

that I've finally, I can breathe now. But I never gave up. And I think that's the thing. I think

so many people get frightened, lose a lot of money, 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.

And because I got dropped from everything, lose women was my saving grace. Yeah, they saved my life

on that show. I went on there and I could just be me. I didn't have to be anything else. We won

at the panel, were you? Yes. I was checking for you. Who was on with you?

Kay Adams, Jackie Brambles, Karol Magiffin, Zoe Tyler. They were just great, great.

Denise Welsh. How did you get into that? Well, I was a guest. Yeah. Oh, okay. And it was the first

interview I did just after Henrik and I had split up. Yeah. I'm the short, my wedding.

Do you believe that? I keep that. They didn't read the room. No, I went to pieces.

You know, and I just said, well, what can I say? He left me and I don't know what to say.

He left you? Yeah, he left me. Bogor. I did. But I don't blame him. I don't, I don't blame him.

It was hard. He did your turn. He did. It was the best thing he ever did because I learnt

everything. All the books he'd read. I then read. And that's when I thought, how hard can this be?

So I've run the company and the label and I've managed myself for... You manage yourself?

Yeah, I manage myself. Oh, she's a bad bitch. And so that's how I do it. I had a TV agent.

It was great. But I managed everything, all the music, everything in-house, production,

all the tours I did in-house because nobody had touched me. And then all of a sudden,

Leeds Arena went, we'd loved to have a year. And as soon as I got into Leeds Arena, it went,

and then thankfully, I'm now with Peter Taylor, Coffin Taylor and Live Nation. So Live Nation

picked me up straight away. And boom, that's it. It's just gone bang now. So where's your favourite

place to perform? Blackpool. Blackpool. I've never paid in blackpool. Blackpool, why not?

You got to do that. You got to go after the show to go to Fanny Girls. Oh, it's great.

Oh, we love Fanny Girls. Yeah, it's my friend. Oh, my... My mum couldn't get over it. She said,

this is like Paris, like Moulin Rouge, I've never seen so many fabulous people. I know, it's just

the best night out as Blackpools, especially Fanny Girls. Where do you eat? No, in Bellatpool.

Is it still fish and chips? It's a typical fish and chips, but there's a really good street

where there's a fabulous Italian on there. So I can see it. I know where to get to where it's just up

from the front door of the opera house. You go up there and you turn left and there's a really

good Italian restaurant. Okay, so you say you don't cook? No. So what do you eat? Is this because,

what do you mean is it because you've been spoiled by being on cruise ships? Yeah, I've been spoiled

because I live with my mate as well. Yeah, so, so live with Miffy, you know. Is this suit

who does Google Box with me? Yeah, she's fantastic. She's amazing. She was supposed to come today,

but I know she was supposed to be here. She's got to, she's not here, but it was you can come

again with something. She's fab. How do you know each other? 35 years ago, we had the same

agent in the clubs and we had the same fan base and the guys used to say, you've got to go and see,

so and they used to say, you've got to go and see, Jane. And then one day we met in our agent's pub

and we had to do a free gig for him. I know. He always said it was for charity, but I think, you

know, it wasn't here. It was charity. I know. It's charity, but God love him. And anyway, he brought

this friendship together and I instantly liked it and I watched it and I laughed at me and

because she was that type of person who would sing a song, you know, built out the park and then

said, oh, what a day. You know, so I was similar. I used to say, have you seen Emma Dale this week?

You know, so because always get the women on side. That was the secret of me in the clubs.

I really don't speak to, don't even acknowledge the men. Never did that. I always speak to the women.

And because I'm a real woman's woman, I like women's company. And so I used to say, oh,

Le Penet, have you watched Emma Dale this week? You know, something that I asked and they'd say, oh,

oh, it's kicking off on that. So the women were straight on then. And the men just follow.

So, you know, so what do you normally do? You don't cook. So do you open packets? No, I've got

some great restaurants that I go to, but I've only just started to live on my own.

Her first time in my life, yeah, I lived with your mum for a long time. I lived with my mother.

Then Ed took over the cooking. He was a great cook. And then Sue came in and she lived with me

for a while. And she was a fabulous cook. And so it's only just now I thought, nothing in fridge.

I can learn how to boil the egg. Which I have done. I can now put your

egg, which I'm very proud of myself. Do you add finita? No. Do you do the spinny thing? No,

I just put it in fresh, fresh eggs. I learned that. Just google it. Snap chat, whatever it is.

What is it? Snap chat. I think it's not chat. Chat. G-B-T. Chat. G-B-T. Yeah. Okay.

What's that? I don't know either. Really? You're so youthful. Not. So, yeah. So I've done quite a few

though I'm so glad she's reachable. So, okay. Because I'd never been on a cruise. Yeah. Oh, what?

We were just talking about it now. Tell me it's a big cruise fan. I've got just been on one of the

Virgin ones. Oh my god, adults only. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh, it's far about though. I've just started

doing me on fan cruise now. Can we come on that? Can we come on that? It's a food good. Excellent.

Okay. Which boat is it though? It's the ambassador. It's the ambience. And it's just gone into

dry dock. It's all been done up. Is it as good as the galaxy? Well, it's different now.

Because I'm a headliner now. Whereas I was just, you know, I'm a headliner. I'm a headliner.

Yeah. Whoopie Goldberg. Yeah. That's right. It's headlining. It's still the old language for me.

You know, because I was a cruise ship singer so long. So, if you decide to me when I were a cruise

ship singer, one day you're going to hire your own cruise and you're going to have, it's going to

be fully our fans. All the staff, all the sailors, going to be really cute. Oh, they are. Yeah.

They are gorgeous outfits. Yeah. The bottom is beautiful. Yeah. They are.

And it's just the best party ever. We tried it out. We thought, should we have a go? Yeah.

So, me and Peter Taylor and Jonathan Blackburn all got together. I have this meeting said,

right, let's do this. How exciting. And we got this ship and it was the biggest party you've

ever seen in your life. People would rest up as me. Oh my god. People were in my outfits that I'd

give to charity. It was just the best week of my life. I've never known out like it. Didn't

feel bits in your white female? No. Okay, fine. It felt fab. It felt like it was like your

birthday. Yeah. How many women and how many men would you say? Probably more women. Yeah.

But then again, I have a fabulous gay following. Yeah. So there was lots of young men. Yeah.

Who were just having the time of their lives. And the disco was up to like three in the morning,

because we had Mary Mack on there as well with us. And it was doing the next one with us,

which is fabulous. Lots of single people. That's what I loved. Yeah. Lots of single. They got onto

the chats and everything that we have going. I'm on my own, never done a cruise before. Then

another would come on, so am I. Should we share a cabin? And these friendships just start

going on, but that's because you're so warm and gorgeous. I spoke kind. But I want to ask,

when you graduated from the kind of the clubs to the cruise ships, did you have to get your

sea legs? Because that's the thing that gives me the fear. Because I get a little me and my

weight on it. Just take a tablet. Right. And then you get used to it. Yeah. But then it kind of

drugged us and we're on. Yeah. Which is the best sea scissor. Still ground. Still ground.

I think we had that, Jesse. I think we had that. I've made us know. No,

have a meme. Well, that's probably. We would like one. That's a scramble. I didn't see the ocean.

I was like, no, you would do. Yeah. No, it's still ground. And just take it. Even if you

not see sick, I'll say to anybody, take it anyway, because you never know. And I guarantee you'll be fine.

Okay. Yeah. Now, what does a day in the life of Jane that Donald and food on a cruise ship look like?

Right. I don't do three meals a day. Okay. So you intermittent fast. I do. Yeah. Okay. So I don't eat

until probably midday. Right. So then I have a really good lunch. And then some at quite

light at night. Is that because you're going to be singing? Yeah. Or because you're going to be

partying. Both. Okay. Yeah. So I don't. I sometimes look at myself. How do I keep that thing?

Cause I live on cruise ships night. I eat in restaurants. Yeah. But it's your metabolism. Yeah.

I think you're probably right. Yeah. You know, I mean, you're very slim. I won't go that far.

You are. I love you for that. Yeah. You are very slim. But I just, I've got to be careful.

What's your favourite meal? Oh, probably sundae roast. Yeah. I love a sundae roast.

Should we go into the last supper? Your last supper. Yeah. Let's talk about the last

up. I'm just going to sort of a bit starter. You start a main drink ride dessert. Always champagne.

Always champagne. Oh, gosh. We got it. Right. Yeah. Yes. You did. That is brilliant.

Probably a prawn cocktail. Something similar. Yeah. You know, without tomato. With that,

you don't like, I don't like raw tomato. I feel like I've got like a cooked tomato.

Cooked tomato fine. Okay. But um, so a prawn cocktail. Yeah. Sundae roast. Bit of brown bread.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's nice. Nice buttered. Oh, lovely. Yeah. And only never margarine. Yeah.

Um, and then, uh, oh, what do I fancy? I do like profiterals. Oh, yeah. That's a very,

that's a very quick, and we go straight. We go straight. Yeah. Which ride?

Yes, that's nice. Which, yeah. No, which meat though, Jane. Beef. Beef.

Yeah. Yorkshire. Oh, yeah. Who made the best Yorkshire you've ever tasted?

Oh, Sue. Sue makes. Sue is just. What a line. This brick. Oh, what's she do? Is it just very hot?

Equal. No, she equal of everything. Milk eggs and flour. All equal. Okay. Then whisk it

like a demon. Yeah. Season it. Put it in the fridge. Does she leave it rest? Yeah.

Low it rest. Then really hot fat. Really hot. And then, which fat would she use?

Oil the oil? Yeah. She'll probably use oil. Yeah. And then just stir it, pour it, boom.

Leave it. Do it up and just leave it. And hers are like, so she makes great. Which is your

favourite song to sing? Oh, at the moment. At the moment. Probably a dance yourself,

Dizzy, because of Ed. Ed was in liquid gold. At least in it. And he was the drummer in liquid

gold, the Mad one. Yeah. And I remember going out with him when I was very, very young,

and that was in the charts. And I thought, I'm going out with the superstar.

So when, and it's one of those songs that everybody just goes, oh, I love this song.

You know, so when we kick into Dizzy's song, you would do if you heard it.

Come on, Jay. Come on, just give us a little bigger line.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah. That's it. Yeah. So, which is your normal finale song?

Uh, probably it's always a disco, Medley. I love people to feel up when they're leaving.

So I've got them crying. I have them laughing. And then everybody's singing on the way out.

And so disco, Donna Summer. Yeah, all of them. All of them. Yeah, all of it. But usually really well

known. Like, boom, baby, burn. Stuff like that. Yeah. Have you ever done, have you ever done

the last dance? I feel like that's what we're really good at.

That one. Yeah. Oh, let's do it. Oh, I love that song. She was so wonderful.

Amazing. Amazing. I know. Should I just serve out here? Because it's a bit easy.

Yeah. Yeah. So we're having, we're having Persian chicken rice with pomegranates and pistachios,

and then just with a cucumber basil onion salad. Oh, marvellous.

If you got into my head, is that good? That's absolutely fantastic. Yeah, perfect.

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Howdy, howdy, howdy, howdy and welcome to fantasy fanfellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the

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What made you do a country in Western Alban? Well, it's a country album country.

I'm sorry, what's the difference? Well, country in Western was very much about three

wheels on your wagon and shot me dog. That type of thing. But country is massive. So it's like

country rock. Everybody's having to go to a country album. And when we were writing it,

this is the first time I've had sort of proper a team of writers in. I've never done that before.

And all of a sudden it started to go down a country. So I now went,

oh, this is, I said, this is very country. I said, why don't we go to Nashville?

So they were like, what? Thank you so much. You want, you want to go to Nashville? I went,

yeah, let's just go. I love Nashville. It's such a great, it's an amazing place.

Totally. Were you really inspired? Yeah. And I think I got it because I don't want to do,

I've done all my vocals back in Castleford. I know it's that weird, but Castleford, Castleford,

Yorkshire. Right, okay. Because the studio there is second to none. It's called chairworks.

And I found it during Covid, because I wanted to do an album, but you know, everything was

shut and then I found this place up the road. And apparently everybody goes there. Everybody

records there. Chairworks in Castle. Chair. Oh, chairworks as in sitting there. Oh right,

I thought you were saying chairworks in Castleford. No, that's a good one. And so I got the flu

when I got to Nashville. So I couldn't record the vocals, but just getting that, we were at the

Blackbird's studio when it just recorded. What's it like? Well, have you been there, do you know?

Well, Taylor Swift did her album there. She'd called Playdeads. There's just every massive star

on this wall as you walk in. There was only me, I didn't know. And I thought, wow, this is incredible.

So it was just a vibe and then all the musers just came in. And I remember watching Muscle Shows

with, and I thought I want that vibe and they got it. What's a Muscle Shows? Muscle Shows is a group of

people who used to work with the Reef of Franklin. And it was amazing rhythm section that were like

all the incredible songs you're living in. There's an amazing documentary on it.

Yeah. And I thought I want that vibe. And I was in there one night and because I was filming

through the day and then I used to get in at night. And I've written this song called Ain't Gonna

Bag. And it's all about that. When you know your partner's cheating on you and you've known it

for a while, but you've never actually admitted it. And all of a sudden you're like, I'm done

with you. I'm not going to do this anymore. And I just went, I want it to be like Ain't No Way.

You know that, the rhythm and the went, got you. And they just went into this like

bluesy. And I just thought, can't wait to sing this. And I'm just one of my favourite tracks

on the album. I love it. Ain't gonna beg. And I thought, yeah, come on.

Sounds so exciting. It was brilliant. Have you got a new TV series coming up?

Well, I've got the Nashville. I've filmed in Nashville for two weeks.

What's making the album? Not so much making the album, getting the inspiration for the album.

So I spoke to some great writers out there. And it's a community of musicians out there who,

you know, unlike sort of here, people really want to help you. You know, so you know,

why is it different? When you get to Nashville, it's like a pilgrimage for a musician to go to

to Nashville. And people will say, I know this bar, they'll set you on. Or there's a place here

that you could stay. Or do you need a musician for that? So there's loads of people who you can go

to and ask for help. And the people that I spoke to were very much saying that it was a community

of singers and writers. And the writers are revealed as much as the musicians over there.

I'd love to go and do a writing trip there. Loads of songwriters are kind of the L.A.

songwriters all moving to Nashville. Do you have to work on your voice still? Like,

because I'm having so many singing lessons at the moment. I'm really, really working at it at the

moment. Not because I think I've lost it because I want to keep on getting better. Do you?

Do you feel like your voice has changed? And for the better, for, you know, you're more challenged

by it. Like, you know, you've still got a fantastic voice. But it has it changed. Yeah, I'm much

more earthy now. So it's dropped a little, but it's stronger. So I got a virus on the ship just

before COVID. I think I had COVID when I got back from one of the ships. And it took me here just

to get over it. And when I went back in the studio, it was like the lighting. It was the,

the album I was doing was like the lighting. And I was like, the voice has changed. And then Sean,

Sean Barry, who's my MD and one of the producers on the album and one of the writers went like it

better. It says you've got a lot more power. It's, it's like a grown-up voice now. And he helped me

a great deal. So I went, yeah, I quite like this. So it's more gritty. It's more powerful now. And it's

I can sing rock now and and really go for it. Whereas my earlier albums were very,

I could it any note that I wanted. But there's no, no soul in it. But I think the older you get,

the more life you live, your voice takes on a completely different

tone. It's not right. Yeah, it's on. I thought I just made that word. And it's

and just embrace it. So when your voice changes, don't worry. Just think, oh, this isn't it.

I'm going to work on this now. I think you could have like self-help books.

I think maybe that's like the next step. Could be, could be, you never know. But don't be afraid of that.

Okay. But so when you're singing, do you have a little routine that you prepare?

Yeah, I just, I used to, I can't believe I'm going to admit this. I used to literally cough,

have a drum beaway and go on stage. That was me. That's, that's. And for years, I never, I don't

worry about my voice. I think if I can talk, I can sing. So don't be worried about it. I think

the worry is the thing that constricts you. Well, yeah, you were doing like 12 shows a week

on this ship. That's like, you're in kind of musical theatre, like, how much you're having to

work your voice and the full sets and stuff. I mean, it's kind of, you know, a remarkable night,

Jesse. No, no, no, no, no. Do you warm up? I don't know. I'm a bit older. So, and I had a great

Fiona McDonald, who I worked with in cats. Yeah. In fact, she was very pivotable. Pivotable. Pivotal.

Because there are many of them. Yeah, keep going. Pivotal. She's very, very pivotal in my career,

because she started to work with me and gave me a few runs and, you know, this is bringing

voice out, blah, blah, blah. And she went, you have no idea where you can go with your voice.

And she made me super woman. Oh, that's amazing. So, I then recorded, never enough. I did,

this is me. And boom, just hits every night. So, it was just someone saying to me, you've got to

get your confidence, yeah, where you can go with that voice. And singing cats every night,

that when I was in cats. Which cat? Oh, yeah. I was grizzabella. So, memory. So, when you hit

in a topsy every night, you know, and, and thinking, here we go. And you've got to hit it,

because that's what they're there for. That's for, you know, it's for the topsy. That's right,

the comfort of the topsy. Is the topsy in the bodyguard, the song? Oh, God, your name.

Which one? Which song? Yeah. And I have nothing. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that is that. Yeah. It's that topsy. I don't know.

Probably we're Whitney, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Do you sing any Whitney? Whitney made me who I am today,

because I took all Whitney's songs in the 80s and, you know, the 90s. And I was like,

Queen of the Clubs, because I could sing Whitney. So, and that was it. And I did a place called

the Made from Marion in Skegness. And I know, and I was on the summer season there. And I remember

going, if I, and the whole place was two and a half thousand. I keep going. And I love that song.

You know, when you think, oh, I would only be in your way. Yeah. And then I'll learn you'd have

to shout. Yeah. If you'll just bring it down, people will come down to you. And that's what I

learned at the Made Marion, that you don't have to keep shouting above it. Come down and they'll come

down to you. I think you need to join McDonald's School of, of soul and sass and, and success. I'm

in. Oh, wow. I'm drinking in all that. Oh, look. Before we let you go, we do have a, a cookie.

You, I don't, do you, have you got a sweet? Oh, come stress. Do you like a cup of tea?

Oh, I love a cup of tea. Oh, yes, please. And I know, I'm going to get, I'm going to get a tea

put out for you, because I know that's how you like it. I don't like it. I'm going to do that.

We've got the opportunity. I do have the option to. Oh, yeah.

I've done your tea, how I think you like it. Do we need to let that brew more?

Yeah. Just leave it for a good, a minute at least. Yeah. A minute or two.

A minute more. Yeah. No, I think you've done two minutes now.

Okay. Should we check? Yeah. Because I don't want to get this wrong.

You don't get over brewed. No, you don't, you want it brewed, not stewed.

That's grand. Thank you. All right. Sorry, I haven't got it in a jar.

No, I know, I know people that leave this bag in when they get it. It's bitter.

It's awful. No, that should never happen. I think in a shop, they should have

a colour chart. You know, for coffee, and you say, I like it that.

That's a good idea. That's a great idea. Yeah, I think you're

exactly wrong. Yeah. We have a dark chocolate and rye with sea salt cookie,

if you want a little bit. Absolutely. Okay, great. Thank you so much.

It's all this trouble. Jane, I just, I actually could just have you live with me.

Do you want to move in? You don't fancy living on your own anymore.

You're just coming in here and we could just do duets all night.

That'd be lovely, wouldn't it? I was hoping for a duet.

Oh, no, I'm not warmed up. I'm not as good as Jane on the, on the, on the spot.

Before we let you go, would you be able to give us an nostalgic taste that can transport you

back somewhere, happy or sad? Would it be your mum's soup? My mum's soup. Yeah.

Split, please. Split, please. I can't believe how junk I am.

You've got an arse. Split, please. Lentils. Leaks. Turnip. Fennel.

That's her secret fennel. Fennel. That is unusual. Yeah. It's not a common

thing. No, it isn't, but that was her take. It gives it a just a slightly different take.

I mean, I don't think my mum knew about broccoli till I was kind of my teens.

Well, that was sort of a lake coming, wasn't it, broccoli? Yeah, nobody ate broccoli.

As long as cauliflower. Also, I mean, is there like a very memorable

food moment on the cruise ships that you can remember? I'm good or bad. I, you know,

Sundays. Oh, yeah. Mach potato. What do you mean? They did Mach potato on a Sunday.

Instead of red? Celebrity. Yeah. No, it could have what you wanted. Okay. In fact,

that was proper Mach potato. And that's when I was a cruise ship singer in the old days.

I know you think that's pretty song gravy. That's all. That's what you wanted. You love gravy.

Do you like an onion gravy? I love any gravy. Okay. Do you have a secret recipe gravy?

Yeah, I do. Oh, you do? I don't have a secret. I'm good at sort of Yorkshire's gravy.

I'm good at the side bits. Okay. That's just the main thing. Okay. Red currant jelly.

Oh, in it. Yeah. That's the secret. I learned that in Denmark of all places.

So she, you know, a friend of Henrik said, this is the secret to a really good gravy.

And it was a little bit of Worcestershire's. Oh, nice.

And can I have me? I sound like I'm delia.

I want to know. I want to know. Is there the place where all the people and the cruise ships

like you go behind a door and there's like a dirty dancing party happening for all the staff?

Titanic. Yeah, all the time. Is there these after hours places that only the start that go and

it's like the wildest parties? The low debt, the low debt. There are, yeah.

Are they great parties? Fabulous. Really? And of course, when you're staff or officer or crew or whatever,

yeah. There's hundreds, hundreds of people work. There's another city underneath this, you know.

And there's always somebody who's got a birthday. Of course, it speaks to you.

So there's a party every night. So when I worked on celebrity and I had a fabulous cast on

there, they were just amazing. And we used to say, after the show, are we going out for a drink

or straight to bed? And everybody was so straight to bed and end up in the bath. So we just say,

we're straight to bed tonight. So we just called it straight to bed. But I ran a singles club

on there as well. Because there's a lot of people who don't want to cop off, you know.

Yeah. I did me as of that. And I had a fabulous start. Oh, I did. And I didn't know that. And then

I thought, no, just, no. I like just a bit of solace now. But there were a lot of people who

didn't want or got partners at home or something like that. So I used to run a singles club and

we used to have the best time, cat around to it. So I used to run quite a lot of things in the background

as well as being a singer. So you're also a tour operator on a very rare show. Of course. You can

do it. Oh, James Donald, you do it all. Thank you so much for being such a delight, for sharing

such gorgeous stories and just being really inspiring. Thank you for your kindness and your

lovely hospitality. Such a pleasure. Can't wait to watch you perform. Oh god, I hope so.

James Donald is my spare animal. She's fabulous woman. She's really inspiring. She's inspiring

because she's absolutely knows who she is and completely comfortable with in her skin.

And just adore what she's doing, which is so wonderful and she feels lucky to do it.

And she has fun with her. The best fun. Also, she's a business woman. She is. And a very good one

at that. I like her and I respect her. And I just, it was a real treat to make her. She could run

the world. Yeah, probably. James Donald for press. Yeah, travel the world and run the world,

I loved her. Thank you, Jane, for coming on the podcast, for being so open and gorgeous,

loved you. Yeah. James album, living the dream, is out on March the 20th. And she's certainly

living the dream. She's also going to be on tour in the autumn. And we're definitely going

going going. So you can go and get tickets for any of those shows. It's a nice check. And the

hoopla is the best gig. The bank holiday. She's came the Sunday. So definitely definitely

catch James Donald this year.

Howdy, howdy ho and welcome to fantasy fanfellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the fantasy

fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson. And I'm Steven, your bookish

internet goofball, but you can call me the smash daddy. And we are currently deep diving Brandon

Sanderson's fantasy epic Miss born, but here's the catch. Steven here has not read Miss born

before. That's right. Hey, hey, so each week you'll get my unfiltered raw reactions to every

single chip. And along the way, we'll do character deep dives, magic explainers, and Steven will

even try to guess what's next. Spoiler alert, he'll be wrong. News flash, I'm never wrong.

Episodes come out every Wednesday and you can find fantasy fanfellas wherever you get your

podcasts. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.

Hi, this is Zivi Owens, host of Totally Booked with Zibi, formerly mom's don't have time to read

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