What happened to Jenny Powell – Jason Orange romance, heartbreak and horror cyst

Jenny Powell was one of the most popular TV pin-ups of the Nineties, earning legions of admirers after hosting Top of the Pops and Wheel of Fortune.

Just 26 when she landed the coveted game show gig alongside John Leslie, the Essex-born star and graduate of the famed Italia Conti school in London was linked to a slew of the men of the moment, including Simply Red's Mick Hucknall and Bros' Matt Goss.

But it was her three-year relationship with Take That star Jason Orange at the peak of the band's fame that had fans green with envy.

They split in 1995, but Jenny, 52, recently revealed that she remains close to Jason's mum to this day.

“He was another really, really kind, humble guy," she told The Sun.

“Jason used to send me anonymous Valentine’s - I worked out it was him. We dated on and off and again it was in the height of their fame.

He was quite spiritual and gave me really good self-help books. Take That fans used to put their lit cigarettes through my letterbox. I’m still really close to his mum, Jenny.”

Three years later she met Toby, a company director with his own flooring firm.

They went on to have daughter Constance, 19, and Pollyanna, 12, but split shortly after her birth in 2009, leaving Jenny devastated.

“After my ex and I split I was just heartbroken really. I was hollow and numb and it was a horrible feeling," she told the Daily Record.

“I said to my mum yesterday, the unfortunate thing is there are no photos of Polly as a baby and I don’t remember a lot about her first year.

“I was so distracted. I was trying to get through it and I don’t remember a lot apart from trying to cope and get better.”

Then at Christmas 2010, a chance meeting at a coffee shop in London's Euston station changed everything.

It was there that she bumped into sports therapist Martin Lowe, who, despite being seven years younger, made his interest known.

“We met in Pret A Manger and I’d been to a Christmas party. I had false eyelashes. One was hanging off my eye - I was looking irresistible," she told The Sun.

"Then this guy walked in and I thought, ‘He’s dead fit, he is’, then he sat opposite me. He went, ‘Do you want my number?’ He proposed about four years later in New York.”

After realising that the relationship was going to be serious, Jenny booked a three-month sabbatical to Florida for herself, Martin and the kids so they could get to know each other.

But just four days into the trip of a lifetime, the TV presenter found herself going straight from Miami’s Seaquarium to the ­operating table.

“It was a boiling hot morning and we were having a great time,” she previously told The Mirror.

“Then, out of nowhere, I got a twinge in my side. But I’m one of those people who, unless something really hurts, I wouldn’t want to ruin everyone’s day so I just hoped it would go away.”

“It felt like we were at the beginning of this great adventure, but within 45 minutes of the first twinge I was doubled up and my left side felt so excruciating I burst out crying,” she said.

“It was a searing pain and the on-site medics at the park were worried it might be my appendix.

“I knew ­that US medical bills could be ­astronomical and I was so worried it could cost thousands as Martin chucked us all into the car and we headed to hospital.

“By the time we got there I couldn’t stand up straight. I was doubled up in pain, needed a wheelchair and was puking up from the agony.”

Within two hours Jenny had ­undergone MRI and CT scans.

“I remember going into the machine’s awful tunnel, thinking it was probably cancer or some terrible terminal illness and remember the tears rolling down my cheeks.

“I was horrified,” she admitted.

Luckily, the former Loose Women panellist didn’t have to wait long for a doctor to reveal her test results.

“They had found a dermoid cyst in my left ovary and it was the size of an orange,” said Jenny.

“I’d never heard of one, but they’re quite freaky – apparently some can contain hair, teeth and all sorts.”

Dermoid cysts usually occur inside the skull, on the lower back, on the face or in the ovaries.

Some are present from birth while ovarian dermoid cysts tend to develop during a woman’s reproductive years.

If not caught soon enough they can lead to infection, rupture and, more rarely, even cancer, though they can usually be easily removed using keyhole surgery.

“I was trying to get my head round the medical side of what I had been told about this weird cyst,” she continued, “while the doctor was saying, ‘I can do this now and you can still wear your bikini. Don’t worry, it will be two very small scars – one in your belly button and one on your hip’.

“I remember replying, ‘I don’t care about wearing a bikini, I just don’t want to be in pain any more – get this thing out!’

“The surgeon warned me he might need to take my ovary away completely. But I was 44 at the time and already had my two ­children, so I said, ‘Just do what you have to do’.”

The operation was a success with doctors able to remove only the cyst, but Jenny was in for another scare when she realised she hadn't taken out holiday insurance before leaving the UK.

Faced with a £54,000 bill, the panicked star eventually remembered an old bank account she had opened during her marriage that came with free insurance. Thankfully, it was valid.

She added: “When they said ‘Yes, that’s all fine, carry on’ it was the biggest relief. Now I look back and wonder what the hell was I thinking? That could have been a major disaster.

“I hadn’t consciously thought about holiday insurance at all – and $70,000 is huge. It was the biggest sigh of relief I’ve ever breathed in my life. Lesson learnt.”

Jenny now lives in a Georgian house in Cheshire with Martin, her daughters and their rescue dog Elsa.

And having recently revealed she gets mistaken for Constance's sister, Jenny has credited her fiancé with keeping her in killer shape.

She also does hot yoga and weights and swerves sugar and processed food.

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