Loose Women legend Jane McDonald has revealed why she wouldn’t return to the show – and it’s because the friends she knows and loves are not on the panel.

The singer, 61, appeared on the ITV programme for ten years before quitting in 2014, however, it had been rumoured that she may be returning this year for the 25th anniversary special.

She told Woman Magazine: ‘Never say never. But it was a period in time when everything was different. We could get away with things that we could never do now.’

‘And it was an era of girls who were not just colleagues – we were a force to be reckoned with. We were like Sex And The City when we hit the town. We’d have taken a bullet for each other.’

‘I don’t think I could go back without my friends on the same panel.’

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Loose Women legend Jane McDonald has revealed she wouldn’t return to the show as she no longer has her friends on the panel

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The singer, 61, appeared on the ITV programme for ten years before quitting in 2014, however, it had been rumoued that she may be returning this year for the 25th anniversary special (L-R Andrea McLean, Lisa Maxwell, Sherrie Hewson, and Jane in 2010)

Jane’s rep also previously shut down any reports of her going back on the show by saying,: ‘There are no discussions taking place with regards to Jane returning to Loose Women whatsoever.’

‘She always thoroughly enjoys going back as a guest and catching up with the ladies but there’s no plans to go back as a panellist.’

During her time on the show, Jane appeared alongside the likes of Carol McGiffin, 64, Lisa Maxwell, 60, Denise Welch, 66, the late Linda Bellingham, 66, and Andrea McLean, 54.

However, the show now features a wide range of women including Charlene White, 43, Coleen Nolan, 59, Linda Robson, 66, and Olivia Attwood, 33.

In the past, there have been some reports of drama between the women and Coleen previously admitted that she ‘fell out of love’ with the show for some time.

She confessed to The Sun: ‘It was because certain people behind the scenes weren’t being nice and I wasn’t enjoying it.’

‘Then those people went onto other things and great people came in, and I’ve loved it ever since.’

Since quitting the show, Jane has appeared as a guest several times to talk about her various programmes and the death of her beloved partner Eddie Rothe.

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She said: ‘Never say never. But it was a period in time when everything was different. We could get away with things that we could never do now.’ (L-R Jackie Brambles, Coleen Nolan, Carol McGiffin, and Jane in 2008)

It comes after Jane revealed she feels ‘lucky and blessed’ to have known ‘real love’ with late husband Eddie, who died from lung cancer in 2021. 

The singer and TV presenter joined Ranvir Singh on an instalment of Lorraine last month, to discuss how getting back on stage has helped her cope with grief.

Jane gushed over ‘the most amazing thirteen years’ she shared with Eddie, and also revealed how she plans to pay tribute to both him and her mother Jean, who died in 2018.

Opening up on her loss and choosing to stay positive, Jane admitted: ‘You have to find your way of dealing with it, it’s not easy. It never leaves you either.

‘Everybody thinks, ”Oh, she’s back on track”. No, it never leaves you. I have to make a decision every morning what my day is going to be like, because you can go that way, or you can go that way.

‘I choose to go the positive way and it’s not always easy. It’s not always easy and if you have a bad day, that’s fine. Have a bad day.

‘But in general, now I look at my life and I think, ”I’ve got a lot more good days in my life than I have bad days now”. I’ve come on leaps and bounds and I think the music and touring again, and getting back with my band, and writing new stuff again is just, it’s given me such joy and a purpose.

‘My purpose is to go out and entertain. Yeah, I think once you’ve found your purpose in life, everything just comes together and I feel my purpose now is to get back on that stage.’

Later in the interview, she said: ‘It’s that purpose thing again. You know, my life is different now to what it was and my plans have all changed now to what they were.

‘I have a great group of girlfriends that I go out with a lot, we go on holiday together. I laugh again and there’s that one moment when you look in the mirror and you think, ”I know you”.

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She also revealed that the women on the show weren’t just her colleagues they were her friends: ‘I don’t think I could go back without my friends on the same panel’

‘I feel as if I’m back! It’s the music and seeing the fans again on tour that are going to bring all that joy. That’s why I’ve called it With All My Love because I love the [fans] so much and they helped me through such an incredibly difficult time.’

Remembering Eddie, Jane emotionally told Ranvir: ‘I had the most amazing thirteen years with this man. That’s what I think of, how lucky and blessed I’ve been to have that time with him and know real love.’

Discussing her upcoming tour, Jane revealed: ‘I wrote a secondary song for my mother. I wrote a song called The Hand That Leads Me, which is going to be a weeping moment in the show.

‘So get ready fans – bring your tissues! It’s me just sat acoustically at the piano, playing this song for my mother and singing it. Then You Still Lead Me was the follow up but just as Ed became ill, I’d recorded that song so it’s got a double meaning.’

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It comes after Jane revealed on an instalment of Lorraine last month that she feels ‘lucky and blessed’ to have known ‘real love’ with late husband Eddie, who died from lung cancer in 2021

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The singer and TV presenter gushed over ‘the most amazing thirteen years’ she shared with Eddie, and discussed how getting back on stage has helped her cope with grief

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Another loss: Jane’s mother Jean passed away in 2018, and the star revealed that she wrote a song for her mother, titled The Hand That Leads Me (pictured with her mum in 2013)

She continued: ‘But it’s for everybody, this is how I get through the show. I don’t think of it as my song, I think it is their song because there’s so many people out there that have gone through exactly what I have. The songs are for you, not for me, and that’s how I get through it.’

Jane had known The Searchers star Eddie since they were teenagers but they only reconnected in the early noughties, before getting engaged in 2008.

The beloved TV star, who rose to fame on 1998 docusoap The Cruise, was left devastated when she lost musician Eddie to lung cancer.

Jane was previously married to Danish plumber Henrik Brixen from 1998 to 2003.

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Opening up on her loss and choosing to stay positive, Jane admitted: ‘You have to find your way of dealing with it, it’s not easy. It never leaves you either’

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Jane had known The Searchers star Eddie since they were teenagers but they only reconnected in the early noughties. They got engaged in 2008 (pictured in 2018)