Jane McDonald stepped in at the last minute to present the British Soap Awards 2023 on Saturday evening after the former host Philip Schofield resigned from ITV.
The Loose Women star looked gorgeous in a floor length red velvet gown as she presented the annual event for the first time ever on June 3, which she described as a "dream come true".
The shindig, which was held at The Lowry in Salford Quays in Manchester, saw actors from Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Doctors all competing for glory as the public voted for the best nominee in each category.
The 60-year-old had all eyes on her on the night as she wowed in her stunning dress on the red carpet and opened the show by telling the soap stars: “I’ve got to say I am a massive fan of the soaps so this is my dream job. Welcome to you all, thank you for having me.”
Although Jane has been very successful in her career, she has not been as lucky with her love life and suffered a devastating loss in 2021 after the death of her beloved fiancé.
Since then the singer has taken a step out of the spotlight to slow down from work and have some time with her family but told her fans she was "so excited" to step in to host the awards.
Here we take a closer look at some of Jane's career highlights, the tragic loss of her partner and her new diet which led to a complete weight loss transformation.
Tragic loss
Jane suffered a terrible loss in March 2021 after her fiancé Eddie Rothe sadly passed away from lung cancer.
The English television presenter had a very long relationship history with the former drummer of the 60s band The Searchers, who she first dated when she was just 17 in 1980.
The pair split due to Eddie's apparent "rock and roll" lifestyle before they met by chance again in 2007 as Eddie appeared on This Morning while Jane was filming Loose Women in the same ITV studio.
The couple re sparked their romance in 2008 after their chance encounter and Eddie proposed on the Christmas Eve of that year.
Tragically, Jane never got the opportunity to tie the knot with her third husband-to-be who died aged 67 after a short battle with the disease.
The singer, who cared for Eddie in his final months, heartbreakingly told her Loose Women co-star on her How To Be 60 podcast about love, loss and life that when he passed "he took our future" with him.
Speaking of her fiancé's death, she said that it has forced her to reflect on her own life and prioritise what was important in the years that she has left instead of working constantly.
She said: "My life has changed a lot. But by God, I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it now. Because that's what we're supposed to do. I don't want to be sad, I don't want to be miserable.
"And Ed would have hated if I was, and my mother definitely would have hated it. So if there is this something out there, where they are watching us, I want them to think I'm okay. I'm okay. And that's because of you."
Jane's niece Katie, who fell pregnant shortly after Eddie's death, paid a touching tribute to her aunt's partner by naming her new born son Ed after him.
Cruise ship series
Before Jane made it in the entertainment industry, she spent a lot of her early career performing in clubs and bars before she landed work as a singer on cruise ships.
Originally from Wakefield in West Yorkshire, the star came into the spotlight in 1998 after her appearance on the BBC show The Cruise, which documented her life as an on board entertainer.
Around about the same time, she signed a record deal and released her first album, which soared to number one in the UK charts.
Jane's career in the showbiz industry skyrocketed from there but the singer kept to her cruise ship roots as she went on to host her own BAFTA award winning Channel 5 show, Cruising with Jane McDonald.
The much-loved travel show, which saw the TV personality cruise around in luxury liners to places across the world such as South America and Australia, came to an end in 2020 after running for seven seasons.
Throughout her time on the programme, Jane showed viewers what life on a ship was like as she travelled on 38 different cruise liners and boarded over 100 flights while travelling around the world.
The travel series was taken over by Scottish comedian Susan Calman in 2022.
Jane is also known for being a former Loose Women panellist which she appeared on from 2004 to 2015.
Weight loss
The Loose Women star showcased her impressive weight loss last year when she revealed that she had dropped three dress sizes, taking her from a size 14 to a size eight.
Jane's gruelling weight loss journey had been well documented since the singer took up the challenge to completely reform her diet by taking part in the programme Sugar Free Farm.
The ITV documentary, which only ran for two seasons, followed Jane and five other celebrities around as they attempted to live on a sugar free diet.
The TV presenter lost a remarkable 1.5 stone after just a fortnight on the show and managed to maintain her new healthy eating habits off camera too.
Speaking of her old diet to Your Healthy Living she explained: "I didn't realise that if you eat the wrong things, it doesn't feed your body so you will want more."
She continued: "I used to eat so much rubbish. I've always loved a pie and I was very carbohydrate-led as I was always hungry. I ate far too much and all the wrong things."
Jane has credited the programme's nutritionist Angelique Panagos for helping her transform her lifestyle as she confesses that much of her diet used to consist of microwave meals due to her busy schedule which she didn't realise had so much sugar in them.
Jane admits there are a couple of old guilty pleasures she still misses from time to time including a glass of red wine but still allows herself to have one glass a week as a treat.
She also told how she's swapped out her old chip and dip for organic nuts and seeds to satisfy her carb cravings.
Despite losing such a large amount of weight over a short space of time, the programme's experts have insisted that the show was never about slimming down and focused more on educating clients about healthy habits and cutting out sugar which is something Jane has successfully kept up since.
The British Soap Awards will be available to watch at 8pm tonight on ITV1 and ITVX. You can find the full list of winners and nominees ahead of the show here.
