Very few people could have anticipated quite how much acclaim Jane McDonald would experience in the wake of 1998’s BBC series The Cruise. Yet, more than a quarter of a century later, the show’s standout star remains as popular as ever. Her debut album spent three weeks at number one despite comprising solely of cover versions, and McDonald has subsequently managed to balance a hugely successful presenting career with her first love: singing.

Whether through Loose Women, Cruising with Jane McDonald or her 12 studio albums, her popularity has shown little sign of waning. This year alone, she has appeared at Mighty Hoopla and released Living the Dream, another Top 10 album and, without doubt, her most personal collection to date. At this stage in her career, it feels entirely appropriate to call Jane McDonald a true icon of British entertainment.

That status is evident inside the AO Arena, where fans of all ages have glammed up to celebrate an artist they hold remarkably close to their hearts. As McDonald emerges to deliver the title track from Living the Dream, the sentiment of the song feels particularly apt. At 63, she really is living the dream. A 30-year career has taken her from cruise-ship cabaret to arena-sized performances, and the reception for her original material now appears to rival the affection audiences have always had for her covers.

The first half of the set leans heavily towards those newer compositions, allowing McDonald to demonstrate just how much her own repertoire has developed. But she remains clad in rhinestones when she turns her attention to four Dolly Parton classics, opening with I Will Always Love You – the song that appeared on her debut album and immediately transports the audience back to where this extraordinary journey began.

The opening set culminates in You’re My World, her first number-one single, which remains every bit the showstopper it has always been. It is the sort of moment that reminds you that McDonald has never needed elaborate gimmicks to command a stage: her voice, warmth and ability to connect with an audience are more than enough.

After a brief interval, however, she returns with a ferocious cover of RAYE’s WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!, proving once again that McDonald is anything but predictable. As Cruising with Jane McDonald has demonstrated, she is fearless in her choice of covers, and the second half embraces that spirit with a selection designed to get the arena moving.

There is plenty of fun, too, with APT. receiving one of the biggest responses of the night. Yet the most powerful reaction comes when the audience collectively breaks into “We love Jane”. Clearly overwhelmed, McDonald is reduced to tears – a genuinely touching reminder that this relationship between performer and audience runs considerably deeper than the usual arena-show exchange.

It is in the more intimate moments, though, that the evening becomes something truly special. Returning to her own compositions, McDonald pays a tender tribute to her late husband before later honouring her late mother with a deeply affecting rendition of All By Myself alongside her well-crafted compositions How Do I Move On and Beautiful Soul. Her vulnerability is palpable, and the audience listens with the sort of silence that only arrives when a performer has completely captured a room.

But it is You Still Lead Me that proves to be the emotional heart of the evening. Accompanied by images of her mother and late husband, McDonald pours every ounce of emotion into the performance. It is devastatingly beautiful, and if that song doesn’t eventually become a single and make a serious attempt at number one, something has gone seriously wrong.

Having poured her heart out, McDonald returns dressed in silver and ready to shimmy her way through a run of dance classics. It is the perfect way to close an evening that has travelled through nostalgia, celebration, grief, love and sheer joy.

Jane McDonald has spent 30 years proving that she is far more than the woman audiences first encountered aboard a cruise ship in 1998. With one audience member describing her as the British Better Midler, she is a presenter, singer, entertainer and, increasingly, a songwriter with material that feels every bit as meaningful as the covers that first made her famous. Tonight, though, she is simply Jane: Britain’s national treasure, adored by an arena full of people who leave beaming, grateful and, quite clearly, already looking forward to the next time she takes to the stage.