Davina McCall made a special WhatsApp group for family and friends in case she died during brain tumour surgery. The ‘Masked Singer’ star went under the knife last November to remove a colloid cyst, after it was picked up on a scan, and has now told how she made an emergency plan in case things didn’t go well during the operation.
Speaking to ‘Dragons’ Den’ star Steven Bartlett on her ‘Begin Again’ podcast, she said: “I said, ‘Look, I’ve got to plan for it if it doesn’t go according to plan’. When I’d spoken to the doctors, they talked about things like stroke, epilepsy, these being risks. Nicking an artery or a blood vessel in the brain and having a bleed… so there were a lot of things that could be a risk. And obviously, because of my age, you know, I’m 57.
“Do you know what I was thinking when I made the WhatsApp group, is who do I … if something bad happened, who do I not want to hear it from a paper? So, I was kind of thinking, in a way, I want them to hear good things. Who do I want to hear the news first before anybody else gets it? And that was my list of people. And it was, you know, people like you, who I work with, who I really care about. And then there were obviously my family members. And it was quite nice putting that list together because I thought, ‘I have so many people I really care about in my life’.”
Davina – who has children Holly, 23, Tilly, 21, and 18-year-old Chester – admits her life will “never be the same again” following the tumour. She added: “I’m grateful. Life will never be the same again, but in rather a good way.
“There’s that saying, ‘A life lived in fear is a life half-lived’.” Last month, Davina returned to the gym nearly two months after undergoing brain surgery, but admitted she was taking it “super easy”.
Speaking in an Instagram video, she said: “So I’m nearly two months post surgery and I am ready to work out. “I’m going to take it super easy. I’ve lost a lot of muscle. I’ve lost a lot of weight, and I can’t wait to tone up a bit and fill out a bit. So, I did a 15-minute workout just to make sure I was going to be OK.
“I’m going light, I’m going to take it super easy. I’m going to listen to my body, but going light weights and just easing myself in slowly. “I’ve lost a lot of cardiovascular fitness as well. But I’ve got to say it felt really, really good to do something for my body. It needed it. “I’ve been walking every day, but this felt really nice to be back in the gym.”