Davina McCall has revealed how comedian Peter Kay reached out to offer her guidance and encouragement during her recent health struggles, including a brain tumour and a breast cancer diagnosis.
The former Big Brother presenter had a benign brain tumour, called a colloid cyst, removed in 2024. In October last year, she announced she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. After the discovery, she underwent a lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy to treat the disease earlier this year. In April, Davina said she had been given the "all clear" from cancer.
Peter Kay's Unexpected Support
Speaking as she picked up a lifetime achievement award at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Davina said, as per the Mirror: "I had this brain tumour diagnosis and I spoke about it because I was going to disappear off the face of the earth for three months. So I said exactly what it is, how big it is and the name of it so they (media) could cover everything they needed to, and I would be left alone. It was a really good way of dealing with it.
"But when I got breast cancer, it was like f**k, I could really disappear and not talk to anybody about this, but I can’t, because I have done this before. And d’you know who helped me, it was really strange it was Peter Kay, he called me when I was in hospital with my brain tumour.
"And I don’t really know him that well, but he was unbelievably supportive. And then when I had my breast cancer diagnosis, he helped, and he just talked me through 'What do you want to do?' And he said: I think you know what you want to do. And I was like: ‘Yeah I want to talk about it.'
"I was kind of angry about having to talk about it because I knew I was going to be questioned about HRT and there was going to be judgment around that."
Reconnecting with Husband Michael Douglas
The 58-year-old star also praised her husband, Michael Douglas, for his ongoing support, and admitted they had been "pushed apart" by her brain tumour symptoms.
She said: "At the end of brain-tumour-gate, cancer brought us together. The tumour pushed us apart because I had no short-term memory – I was over here trying to get better, and he was over worrying if I was ever going to come back.
"But cancer smushed us back together in such a weird way, it was just a beautiful way for us to just reconnect and rebond. I was almost grateful for that experience, and I caught it early so I did make a full recovery but there was something about it that we needed."
Honoured for 30-Year Career
The Edinburgh TV Festival’s 2026 outstanding achievement award was presented to Davina in honour of her 30-year career on television. She made her TV debut on MTV, then spent a decade hosting Big Brother. She has also featured in multiple shows, including Bafta award-winning series Long Lost Family, Million Pound Drop and The Masked Singer.
In a wide-ranging on-stage interview with her friend and Long Lost Family co-presenter Nicky Campbell, McCall said she would not change a thing about her life or career. Touching on her health, she said: "When I got breast cancer, I felt like I could really disappear and not talk about it, but I’d already done it before [with my brain tumour]. I was kind of angry I had to talk about it."
