Davina McCall became a television icon thanks to her Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother exploits that saw her present the shows from their 2000 inception to 2010.
Her path to get there proved very tricky, however. Now aged 56, the star lives a plushy life and is a key ingredient in the success of ITV’s The Masked Singer.
Her youth and twenties years were an entirely different affair though as she struggled with heroin addiction – a habit she described as a “miracle” to kick. At the time she was dating singer-songwriter Eric Clapton, who despite being part of the rock ‘n’ roll community, she credits as being the only person capable of saving her from the perils of addiction.
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Davina’s troubles began very early on after he parents split when she was just three. A rocky relationship with her mum Florence ensued as she left the country for France leaving her to grow up in her grandparents’ home.
(Image: Channel 4)
Davina claims Florence would often cancel meetings with her at the last minute resulting in heartbreak and her eventual experimentation with cocaine and heroin by the age of just 16. She previously opened up to the Mirror: “I was a mess. You name it, I took it. Cocaine, ecstasy and heroin.”
She divulged more details in 2021, telling DJ Fat Tony on his show, The Recovery, about how she funded her addiction. “It’s a miracle I’m still alive,” she confessed. “My drug of choice was heroin. I went from speed then to coke – coke was and is really expensive for a 17, 18-year-old girl still at school. Then I got a job at Models One and that changed everything.”
Davina continued: “I was partying a lot and it was the ecstasy era and it was late Eighties, early Nineties – summer of love. Everybody hugging each other, and stroking each other, and telling everybody that they loved them. So I remember that as being a really crazy, fun time.”
(Image: Getty Images)
After several years of abuse, that ‘fun time’ came to an end in frightening circumstances at 25 as Davina self-medicated with a concoction of drugs to make herself feel “normal” – only for it to result in an overdose. Delivering a motivational speech at an International Women’s Day event in 2000, Davina recalled the horrific episode: “Drugs took me to a very, very, very dark place and, one night, I overdosed.
“It was very frightening as it was a very gradual overdose. I’d had a cocktail of drugs, because I didn’t want to feel normal. I was constantly trying to escape myself – I was like a piece of fruit rotting from the inside.”
(Image: Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock)
Supported by Clapton, and with the help of Narcotics Anonymous, she set about getting clean, which she achieved after a year of therapy. Clapton later helped land her a role on MTV’s Most Wanted in 1992 and from there, there was no turning back.
Despite splitting from the musician, Davina’s career went from strength-to-strength as she moved to the channel’s Hit List UK before making her mainstream TV debut hosting ITV game show God’s Gift. With her career in a trajectory motion, she landed another role with the same broadcaster – this time Don’t Try This At Home – where she remained for four series.
Her success prompted Channel 4 to shell out for her services, which saw her take on the role as the presenter of its new dating game show, Streetmate. By now Davina’s talents had bagged her a role in presenting the BRIT Awards, before 4 agreed a deal with Endemol to broadcast Big Brother and install Davina as its sole host.
After departing Big Brother after a decade as it transitioned from Channel 4 to Channel 5 in a move that saw her replaced by Emma Willis, Davina went on to present more TV success stories in The Million Pound Drop and The Jump.
And after overhauling her life, the mum-of-three became an avid fitness fanatic and with that she went on to release a number of chart topping workout DVDs and books – and became the face of Garnier’s hair products.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
