Davina McCall recounts ‘scare’ after waking from surgery for brain tumour

Davina McCall has reflected on giving her partner and her neurosurgeon “a scare” when she woke up from her recent brain surgery.

The 57-year-old TV presenter and Masked Singer judge recently underwent a successful operation to remove a 14mm-wide benign tumour, a colloid cyst, from her brain.

Colloid cysts are small fluid-filled sacs located in or around the lateral and third ventricles of the brain, according to the London Neurology Partnership. They affect only three in a million people.

In a health update shared on 2 December, McCall thanked her specialist surgeon, Kevin O’Neill, for removing “the whole thing”.

But the presenter reflected on waking up from her operation and being extremely confused, which concerned her partner, the celebrity hairstylist Michael Douglas, and her surgeon O’Neill.

“I know I gave [O’Neill] and Michael a bit of a scare after the operation because I was so confused,” said McCall. “But I’m doing so well now, and I just wanted to thank him and all the team for taking such really good care of me.”

Following her operation, McCall told her followers that her short-term memory had been affected, but it was something that would improve over time

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“My short-term memory is a bit remiss but that’s something I can work on. I’m writing down everything I’m doing to keep myself feeling safe,” she said last week. “I’m on the mend, I’m resting, I’m sleeping loads, I feel really good. And very lucky.”

In another update, she told followers that her short-term memory was getting better every day.

“I’m just trying to sleep a lot and get better. It has been an example to me on how much sleep helps me recover from everything,” she said. “If I feel confused or if I’m struggling to concentrate, I just go to sleep and I wake up completely renewed and refreshed. So I know that my brain needs lots of sleep.”

After sharing her recent update, McCall’s celebrity friends and colleagues shared their well-wishes online.

Fashion guru and TV personality Trinny Woodall wrote: “So good to see you recovering,” while TV host Rylan simply said, “Angel.”

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Singer Paloma Faith added: “Wow what a turn around! You and your surgeon are unreal xx.”

In a previous statement, McCall said the benign brain tumour was discovered after she was offered a courtesy health check-up as part of her menopause advocacy work, and it was a large tumour, measuring 14mm wide.

Ahead of McCall’s surgery, Douglas said McCall’s procedure was “textbook” according to the surgeon and that she had been recovering in the ICU as a precaution.

McCall rose to fame presenting the Channel 4 reality show Big Brother, and has gone on to front programmes including Comic Relief, The Million Pound Drop, and ITV’s My Mum, Your Dad. She is also a judge on the ITV shows The Masked Singer and The Masked Dancer.

In recent years, McCall has become an advocate for raising awareness around menopause. In 2022, she released a book titled Menopausing: The Positive Roadmap To Your Second Spring, with the aim of ending “the shame and horrific misinformation surrounding menopause”.