Pals reveal why Davina WON’T marry new love – despite ‘happy ever after plans’ following cancer battle
SHE’S overcome heroin addiction, divorce, eating disorders and family tragedy – and now Davina McCall has announced she is cancer free.
She can move on with the love of her life Michael Douglas, but what’s next for the TV star and will she finally get her happily ever after?
Talking about Davina‘s recent agony with her rock by her side, a friend of the couple says: “The past year has been incredibly challenging for both of them, but it’s made them even stronger.
“Being together, enjoying simple moments together, and growing old, that’s all Davina wants now.”
Taking to Instagram last week, she said her brain tumour ordeal had given her a new outlook on life, speaking of her gratitude and her “love for people, love for nature, love for architecture. Everything looks beautiful”.
Many will wonder if marriage is now on the cards for the former Big Brother presenter after so much heartache, but that’s not exactly what Davina has in mind, according to pals.
Davina’s friend added: “Davina is besotted with Michael and so naturally we’re all wondering when they’ll get married and what’s next for them.
“But Davina isn’t focused on getting married to Michael. She doesn’t want to get married right now. Instead, she wants to travel the world and have some amazing adventures with him.
“One of Davina’s favourite things is being in nature and we reckon she’ll be planning some amazing road trip with Michael.
“She’s also very into design and architecture, so getting to travel and see more of the world is what she wants.
“Michael is very easy company. With him she can be exactly who she is. So going travelling will be easy for them because they get on so well.”
It’s such positivity and enthusiasm which has got Davina through her darkest moments.
She fought anorexia as a teenager then became a cocaine, heroin and alcohol addict for six years.
She got clean with the help of then boyfriend, guitar legend Eric Clapton, 23 years her senior.
Davina would go on to become a huge telly star after landing a job presenting her own television show on MTV.
She went on to front quiz shows such as The Million Pound Drop, reality programmes like The Jump and The Masked Singer.
‘No such thing as a lost cause’
She still attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and has credited the organisation with transforming her life.
“There is no such thing as a hopeless anybody,” she once told me, in that very enthusiastic Davina McCall way. “People may look at someone on the street and think they are beyond help but no one is.
“I have seen people who you really would cross the street to avoid and five years forward they are a happily married upstanding pillar of the community.
“There is no such thing as a lost cause.”
That was eight years ago when she had overcome a devastating heroin addiction and gone on to be one of the UK’s most successful TV stars.
Little did she know that she would have to face another huge battle after being diagnosed with a benign brain tumour and have to undergo lifesaving surgery.
The 57-year-old had a six-hour operation in November to remove the colloid cyst – a rare, fluid-filled benign tumour.
Speaking alongside celebrity hairdresser Michael, 47, she spoke of her joy at the prognosis saying: “We thought we’d post a final brain operation update. Last week I had my final MRI.
“I was a bit nervous about it as I knew that, if any of it was left, it would grow back and I would have to go through the whole thing again – which I was prepared to do.
“I kind of mentally prepared for that – but it was clear.”
She was operated on by surgeon Kevin O’Neill, who she credits with saving her life.
In her update, she added: “I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who looked after me so well.
“A special, heartfelt thank you to Kevin, from both of us, for being an absolute legend.”
Speaking about her issues has always been one of Davina’s greatest strengths.
Talking about her menopause prompted a national conversation about the once-taboo subject and reframed the way society viewed menopausal women.
The same happened when she opened up about her long struggle with addiction.
When we spoke at the Attitude Pride Awards in 2017, she told me: “I’ll definitely never be recovered. I love going to my AA meetings and don’t think I will ever stop.
“They are very welcoming. All my mates are there, it’s a social thing and they inspire me.
“I started talking about it a long time ago because I wanted to tell people in my own words.
“I’m talking 25 years ago so it was especially shocking back then.
“I was the only presenter who had been an addict.”
It was one of Davina’s most candid interviews, and I remember how much her honesty moved me.
Little did I know at the time, that she was in the process of splitting with her husband Matthew Robinson who she married in 2000. They have three children together – Holly, 23, Tilly, 21, and 18-year-old son Chester.
They announced their split in November 2017 – four months after we spoke.
The announcement came days after she shared a post on Instagram saying she had made “so many mistakes” in her life, but that “there is always a new day”.
She’s since revealed that she stayed in the unhappy marriage for the sake of their children.
She said: “In the end, we were living completely separate lives. We were hardly talking. It wasn’t arguing. We never argued. We just lived separate lives. And we weren’t happy.”
It was the death of her sister Caroline – who was diagnosed with lung cancer, which spread to her brain leaving her with two brain tumours – which made Davina re-evaluate her life and leave Matthew.
Despite her traumatic past, friends of the star say that she is only thinking of the present – and this new lease of life she has been given with Michael and her kids.
“Davina is one of the kindest, most enthusiastic people you will meet,” one friend tells me. “But having this illness has given her a new perspective on life. She’s done a lot in life, but now she really relishes the simple things. Being with Michael and her children. Just making the most of every day.”
In fact, it is hairdresser Michael who she sees spending the rest of her days with.
The pair had been friends for years but got together after Davina finalised her divorce to Matthew in April 2018.
So it was extra cruel when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour that could cause sudden death.
She said: “I’ve had so many people say to me, ‘Well, at least it was benign.’ And you think, ‘You have no idea that benign brain tumours can still kill you’.”
Michael was the person who held her hand through the terror.
And while their relationship goes from strength to strength, so does her career – as she’s landed her first new role since the surgery – hosting her fourth dating show.
She will present the BBC’s Stranded on Honeymoon Island – described as Married at First Sight meets Love Island – which is scheduled to launch this year.
Now that Davina has got her happy ever after with Michael, maybe she can inspire others to be hopeful in the face of such adversity.
Symptoms of a benign brain tumour
A benign brain tumour is a mass of cells that grows relatively slowly in the brain.
Benign means it in not cancerous.
Non-cancerous brain tumours tend to stay in one place and do not spread.
Some slow-growing tumours may not cause any symptoms at first.
When symptoms occur, it’s because the tumour is putting pressure on the brain and preventing a specific area of the brain from working properly.
As the tumour grows and increases pressure in the skull, you might experience:
- New, persistent headaches that are sometimes worse in the morning or when bending over or coughing
- Feeling sick all the time
- Drowsiness
- Vision problems, such as blurred or double vision, loss of part of your visual field and temporary vision loss
- Epileptic seizures that may affect the whole body, or you may just have a twitch in one area
See a GP if you develop any of these symptoms.
They’ll examine you and ask about your symptoms.
If they suspect you may have a tumour or are not sure what’s causing your symptoms, they may refer you to a brain and nerve specialist for further investigation.
Source: NHS