Davina McCall has opened up about her fears of dying in the past, and how she’s now not afraid of the idea
Davina McCall has candidly discussed her experience of her 2024 diagnosis of a benign brain tumour. The television favourite has now confessed that she no longer fears death in a chat with Good Housekeeping UK.
The Masked Singer panellist told her followers in November last year that doctors had discovered a colloid cyst during a health screening she received as part of her menopause campaigning efforts. She underwent an operation to extract the tumour and spent time in intensive care before recuperating at home with support from her partner, celebrity hairstylist Michael Douglas.
The NHS states that non-malignant brain tumours are more prevalent in individuals aged over 50, with symptoms including headaches, vision difficulties and drowsiness, whilst some can be “difficult to remove without damaging surrounding tissue”. Chemotherapy or radiotherapy may also be employed if surgical intervention proves unsuccessful.
She disclosed that following a scan, medics informed her it was an unusual form of tumour that “very, very rarely” can “cause sudden death”, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Davina revealed her previous anxieties: “I’ve been terrified of dying my whole life – my mum died quite young, my dad died quite young, and my sister died very young.
“I thought: ‘I have to come to terms with the fact that I might not make it, so what do I have to do to make that OK?’ I had to let go of the outcome and be able to go to sleep without the abject horror of the idea of dying.
“I said to Michael: ‘If I go, I really need you to keep plugged in to the kids [Holly, Tilly and Chester, who she shares with her ex-husband Matthew Robertson] and stay in their lives.’
“We were both scared, but we were honest and told each other that. It made the whole thing less daunting, knowing that everything was out on the table.”
The star previously revealed to Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast that she is “not afraid of dying any more” following her surgery for the benign tumour.
Davina continued: “Michael and I just did a casual chat in the kitchen. I said: ‘Look, we know what it is and we know where it is, it’s quite rare, but we’ve found somebody who’s done the operation before and he feels confident.’
“I didn’t talk to them about dying, but I did write each of them a letter and I did my will.
“I thought: ‘You’re all great kids and you’ll all be fine if I don’t make it – of course, I want to make it, but if I don’t, you’ll all turn out great.’
“I don’t want to read (the letters) now, as if I’d died, but I do want them to know that I’m proud of them.”
The full interview can be read now in the October issue of Good Housekeeping UK
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter.
