Davina McCall thought her career was ‘over’ after ill-fated TV show

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

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Davina McCall has reflected on the show she has described as the “worst mistake of her life”, where ratings were so dismal she feared her career was “over”.

In 2006, the popular TV presenter was riding high on the success of reality show Big Brother, which she had been hosting since its inception in 2000.

Things took a turn, however, when she launched her chatshow Davina, which launched on BBC One on 15 February.

The programme was widely viewed as a disaster, with dismal ratings and a poor reception from critics who believed that McCall struggled in interviews with stars such as Girls Aloud and Westlife.

“McCall demonstrated a complete lack of talent as a chatshow host,” one scathing writeup in The Guardian said. “The audience certainly thought so: her 8 March show, only the fourth episode of Davina, attracted 2.5 million viewers, helping BBC One record its worst ever peak-time ratings.

“In years to come, she may well be held partly responsible for the abolition of the licence fee.”

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In an interview with The Observer,McCall reflected on the backlash that arrived as she was under intense media scrutiny due to her high-profile role on Big Brother.

“The papers had taken me down and lifted me up,” she said. “I’ve had everything thrown at me. Like, I was a bit frightened that my career was over after the chatshow thing.”

She continued: “It was quite intense, because they were saying, ‘Her career’s finished.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, please don’t let it be finished, because I love what I do.”

McCall revealed that she later bumped into one of the reporters who had “made a career” out of writing about her, and was stunned when he apologised.

“He went, ‘Well you’re alright now aren’t you?’” she recalled.

She said she realised it was “just a game” when she watched a documentary about late Big Brother star Jade Goody: “[The press] mocked her until they saw the public were on her side, then they were like, ‘OK, time to change it up!’”

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McCall went on to enjoy a successful 12 years as a co-presenter of Sport Relief and has hosted a string of hit shows including The Million Pound Drop and The Masked Singer.

Her widely anticipated new ITV dating reality show, My Mum, Your Dad, returns tonight (16 September) on ITV1 and ITVX.

Launched last year, it follows a group of single parents who have been nominated for the show by their adult children, for a chance of finding love again.