Winning a Bafta, releasing 16 episodes of Cruising and fronting a second series of a variety show - it’s all in two years’ work for Jane McDonald.
The TV star has been on our screens since the late 1990s but the tail end of this decade has seen her find a new level of fame which was never clearer than last month, when she became the most talked about star on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! without even being in the jungle.
You’d be right in thinking Jane deserves a well-earned break and in 2020, she will finally take a vacation that doesn’t involve cameras but before then, it’s full steam ahead (pardon the pun) as she relaunches the classic travel show format.
“I didn't realise that there hadn't been a big holiday show on since Wish You Were Here,” she tells Standard Online. “And you know, that's years ago. We just do all the legwork for you. We go and find great places, the right hotel.
“We give you the prices, we give you how to get there, what to do when you get there. So it's literally just instead of going through a brochure, you just watch my show and there it is.”
As with Wish You Were Here, Holidaying will see Jane and two other celebrities separately travel on three holidays; covering everything from beachside resorts to city breaks and adventure-packed weekends. It is (pun intended) just the ticket for anyone harbouring (sorry) a case of the January blues.
“I just hope and pray that somebody watches it,” Jane laughs. “I mean, we've been amazed by the success of Cruising. That's just unbelievable, it's got a life of its own, that show.”
It’s not just TV lovers at home who are fans of Cruising either as in 2018, the programme scooped Channel 5 its first ever TV Bafta - which has not been relegated to Jane’s loo.
“I have got it pride of place next to my telly,” she says. “So every time I put my telly on I think, ‘eh, look at that! I’ve got one of them!’
“So many people say ‘Oh, it’s in my toilet’. Not for me. Everyone has got to see that Bafta when they walk in. And they do.”
Fans of Cruising needn’t panic either - Holidaying doesn’t spell the end of the series, though Jane admits there are obviously only so many cruises one woman can go on.
“I've got another series to do in the new year,” she explains. “But you know… I suppose there's only so many beds you can jump on and so many cruises that you can talk about so maybe this is the next step, I have no idea. So I just have to wait and see what to do.”
Jane’s travel prowess is so strong that she can recommend a cruise to anyone based on just a few pointers - she directs me towards one of the “smaller Royal Caribbean ships, they’ve got discos on until 4 o'clock in the morning” - but the power is in the producers’ hands in Holidaying.
“We have no script which you can tell,” she laughs. “I just sort of get there and it's literally me going on me holidays and seeing it through my eyes which are quite childlike, I do get excited.”
Travelling so often for work comes at a price though and the jetset - or whatever the cruise equivalent is - life means Jane hasn’t had an actual break in quite some time.
She admits: “I haven't had a holiday now for four years, and I've just booked to go away with my other half but i am doing a little bit of work while I'm there because I'm writing. But [it'll be] me and him, in the middle of nowhere, can't wait. ‘Cos I quite like him!”
But first, though: Christmas. While Jane will be on our screens with a Christmas eve Cruising special and New Year’s extravaganza - “this is the party you want to be at, stay in with me” - the woman herself will be taking a well-earned rest.
“I'm going to be laid on my sofa with my fella eating and drinking me own body weight,” she declares. “That's what I'm going to be doing. Without a doubt.”
Holidaying with Jane McDonald airs on Friday January 3 on Channel 5.