Jane McDonald breaks silence after death of fiancé Eddie Rothe: ‘Life is for living and I will live it’

Jane McDonald has broken her silence following the death of her fiancé Eddie Rothe.

Eddie died at the age of 67 from lung cancer and the sad news was announced on the day of his funeral earlier this month.

Singer Jane, 58, said she is looking forward to getting on with her life when coronavirus restrictions allow, adding that Eddie’s death has taught her ‘life is too short’.

In her first interview since his death, she told the Mirror: ‘If we know anything about what has happened in this past year, it’s that life is too short.’

‘This has taught me that life is for living and I will live it even more when we are allowed out again.’

She added: ‘We all think, “I’d better not spend that,” but I tell you something, I’m going to spend a lot and I’m going to have the best time because you just don’t know when you’re going to be able to do it again.’

Rothe’s death was announced on Jane’s social media at the start of April, with a statement reading: ‘It is with immense sadness that we share the news that Jane’s beloved long term partner, Ed, passed away on Friday 26th March.

‘He had been battling lung cancer for the last few months. We would like to thank everyone for all their help and support during this very difficult time, especially the NHS staff and the wonderful team at The Wakefield Hospice.

‘The funeral took place earlier today and we would please ask for your kindness in observing Jane’s privacy for her and Ed’s family at this sad time.’

Jane initially dated Rothe in 1980 when she was 17, with the couple later reuniting and becoming engaged in 2008.

Jane’s Loose Women co-star Charlene White said on an episode of the show after hearing the sad news: ‘We want to send our condolences to our friend Jane McDonald, who has sadly lost her partner Eddie Rothe to lung cancer.

‘Ed was part of the Loose Women family for many years and we’re sending Jane and Ed’s family all the love in the world.’

Jane Moore added: ‘It is really, really sad. Jane has been in here as a guest quite a few times since leaving the show and he was always with her, he was always waiting in the wings.

‘He was actually her rock.’

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