Davina McCall announced on November 8 that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. “I found a lump a few weeks ago,” she shared via a video message posted to Instagram.
“I had it taken out in a lumpectomy three weeks ago,” she adds, continuing, “It was very, very small so I got it very, very early.” The margins, or tissue surrounding the lump, have been tested and are free of the disease.
“I’m grateful for every minute, because I know it might go, and I’m all right with that,” she says, adding poignantly, “I don’t want to die, obviously – I love life – but I’m not obsessed with dying now.”
Davina, who announced her engagement to celebrity hairdresser Michael Douglas in September, suggests the couple were initially reluctant to tie the knot, but changed their minds in the midst of the presenter’s health issues.
Saying they were originally happy just having a “lovely time” together, Davina shares, “I don’t think either of us were sure about getting married again,” adding, “But we had a very big beginning of the year, with a lot of s*** that was going down.
“As I used to say in the Big Brother house, I’ve been on quite a journey,” she says. Davina also shares that when they do wed, she and Michael will have a small and private ceremony, explaining, “Getting married at this stage of life is so different, the second time around.”
The presenter thanks Lorraine Kelly’s Change + Check campaign for helping her detect her breast cancer early. The campaign highlights the signs of the disease, as well as offering information on which wider symptoms to be aware of.
“I was working on The Masked Singer TV show, and Lorraine Kelly had put signs on all the doors saying to check your breasts, and every time I went for a wee, I did that,” she says.
Davina continues to explain that she’d already identified a lump, and continued to check it during work breaks. Seeing the words from Lorraine’s campaign pushed her to go and get it checked.
(Image credit: Lia Toby/Getty Images for the NTA’s)
“I had a biopsy, and I found out it was indeed breast cancer,” Davina shares. “I’m so relieved to have had it removed, and to know that it hasn’t spread,” she adds.
She’ll be having five days of radiotherapy in January as “an insurance policy,” as her lymph nodes also came back clear from cancer.
Revealing she was “very angry” on receiving a cancer diagnosis, Davina says she has “let go” of those feelings and is trying to focus on being positive.
“I’m the happiest I have ever been. I’m in such a good space,” she told Hello!, concluding, “and it’s age that’s given me that.
“You don’t get the experience without ageing. It’s taken me until my fifties to learn enough to make myself feel really, deeply content,” she says.
