EVER since she found fame aboard The Cruise documentary series, Jane McDonald had been on a crest of a wave. But then she hit the rocks, or at least her marriage did.

The Wakefield singer was knocked out of her usually ebullient stride, so much so that she has not toured since June of last year. Now, however, she is ready to return to the concert arena.

Jane is undertaking an autumn tour of 31 dates, newly buoyed by her high-spirited TV appearance, deflating host Mark Lamarr's testy cynicism on BBC2's Never Mind The Buzzcocks pop quiz.

On October 24 she is at York Barbican Centre, where McDonald fans can expect more of that exuberance in the company of her five-piece band. "It's a kind of I Will Survive show, because when my marriage did fall apart, I did too, but I seem to have got my bubble back; I'm back to being the buoyant Cruise girl," she says.

"What happened really did knock me for six. In life, you live and your learn, and I really have done that after a very difficult time for me. But the fans have been really supportive; they've come back big time and they're loving the new stuff."

Among the new numbers are I Will Not Be Beaten and Behind Closed Doors, songs written by Jane in response to her recent experiences. "Those titles say it all," she says. "You don't realise how many people are going through the same thing as you, so it's been quite therapeutic for me to have to talk about it.

"The first day of tour interviews was a mess as I was worried at first about letting the information out because the wedding had been so public, and I felt I had let everyone down - but I had tried every which way to save that marriage, but I couldn't."

There has been one ironic benefit of Jane's broken marriage. "I have sung all these songs all these years, and now they really mean something and I believe in them myself," she says.

As she promised when touring her Love At The Movies project, her next record will be an album of her own songs. On this latest tour, nine out of the 20 songs that form Jane's two-hour set are McDonald compositions. "I'll be going into the recording studio straight after the tour," she says. "I've finished writing the album, and it will be all be my own material, so that's good as I've made the transition from cruise ship cover artist to songwriter, which is a great thing to be able to do."

As a taster for the upcoming album, Jane has brought out a limited-edition EP, available only on tour, led off by the poignant Behind Closed Doors.

"When I do the album. I'll probably call it I Will Not Be Beaten... and I won't be, and thankfully people still want to see me perform," she says.

"It's so good to be back touring. It's been about 15 months since I was last on the road and I really have missed it."

Wearing Frank Usher designs on tour, Jane has a "more chic" new look. "I've lost lots of weight and people are saying now there's less of me, they want to see more of me, so that's why I'm doing chic and sexy," she says. "Just get rid of your husband and you lose weight. It's a bit drastic, I know, but it worked for me!"

That new figure was shown off on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, where a dancing Jane flashed her midriff, amid amused encouragement from team captain Bill Bailey.

"I've been asked to go on there so many times but my manager had always turned it down because he worried how I would cope with it, but he should know what I'm like!

"I'm known for being vocal and that's what that show needs, so I loved it," Jane says. "It's showbiz for god's sake, and when you're in the public eye, you either embrace it or you don't go on that show."

The half-hour quiz show was a chance for Jane to escape her pigeonhole as that Yorkshire lass from The Cruise who sings ballads.

"People are always surprised when they meet me or see a concert and realise I am a bit 'gobby'... but that's why those who do come keep coming back, because they like me that way," she says, with self-mocking laughter in her voice.

Jane McDonald In Concert, York Barbican Centre, October 24, 7.30pm. Tickets: £19.50; ring 01904 656688 or pay on the door. Also Hull City Hall, November 14; tickets 01482 226655.

Updated: 09:54 Friday, October 24, 2003