Singer Jane McDonald has had a rough time of it over the last two years. ANDREW WHITE discovers how the docusoap star got her career back on track after her divorce...

CABARET may be the lowest of the low as far as Simon Cowell is concerned, but it's the very life blood of Jane McDonald.

The glitzy Wakefield diva who shot to overnight fame as star of 90s BBC docusoap The Cruise is proud to deal in big emotions and theatrical numbers, however unfashionable it might make her.

But there's more to McDonald than the smiley entertainer that thousands of fans now consider a friend more than an idol.

To start with, she's spent the last 18 months coming to terms with a painful divorce from her husband-cum-manager Henrik Brixen.

The split was far from amicable and plunged the normally perky star into a well of depression and self-doubt.

In interviews she has described Brixen, who she married in a ratings-grabbing televised ceremony, as a critical and manipulative Svengali-like figure with an iron grip on her career.

Now preparing to hit the road again with a new tour, Jane is back to her old optimistic self - but looks back on her personal nightmare with an understandable shudder.

"I honestly did get to the point of thinking 'Shall I give it all up?' When I lost Henrik, I lost my backbone and my rock," she confesses.

"I depended on Henrik and it's taken me a long time to get my strength back.

"I'm very upbeat now, but it was hard to let people know that we were getting divorced.

"Everybody had followed our story so intensely on The Cruise it took me a long time to come out and say 'I've fouled up'.

"That was hard to admit, but the fans seem to have got right behind me."

As if to prove that something good can come out of the most horrendous situation, Jane has spent her 'lost months' honing her skills as a songwriter.

Of course, the new show features plenty of the give-it-all-you've got cover versions fans have come to expect, but Jane will also be serving up some McDonald originals for the first time.

"The fans have been on at me for ages to write my own stuff. I've just finished an album of my own songs. There's a lot of big I Will Survive-type ballads in there and a few jazzy things. I like anthems."

Jane and her record company have parted ways, but the singer seems to be relishing her new-found creative freedom.

"They wanted me to be a covers artist. They told me that's what sells. But I tend to differ," says the 40-year-old.

Anyone fearing that Jane might have abandoned her familiar showbiz approach in favour of Alanis Morrissette-style soul-searching shouldn't worry too much.

Describing her song-writing process, she says: "I write the lyrics first and sit down and think about what type of song I want it to be.

"On Behind Closed Doors, the lyrics were so strong I had to put it to some upbeat dance music otherwise people would have been slashing their wrists.

"I'm quite lucky really. The best songs I write I've written in 15 minutes."

It's this complete lack of pretension that is part of Jane's appeal.

Her bouncy optimism is also refreshing in the era of self-pity.

"I feel as if I've just started my career now," she says.

"When you're being told what to do by your record company and PR company you tend to lose your sense of control.

"You think they must be right but in fact you've got your own personality and way of doing things and that's what people like."

Looking back, she admits she was uncomfortable with some of the post-Cruise projects she took on, such as pre-Pop Idol talent show Star for a Night.

"Fifty per cent of the things I did I would have questioned. I was forced into presenting Star for a Night, but it was very good for my profile.

"I did enjoy it but it took ten months to film a series. I just didn't have time for anything else. I made the decision to leave it because I wanted to be a singer before everything else."

Whatever her reservations, Jane's sympathetic streak meant she was always ready to offer a comforting shoulder to the nervous talent show contestants.

"I really feel for these young kids being stood up and ridiculed. It's just humiliation, like going back to throwing rotten fruit at people in the stocks. It must be absolutely dreadful.

"If I was on Pop Idol, I'd have to go and smack the judges!"

Jane McDonald and Simon Cowell going head to head? I know who I'd put my money on.

Jane McDonald is at the Bournemouth International Centre on 17th October (box office: 01202 456456) and The Anvil, Basingstoke on 21st October (box office: 01202 844244).