Davina McCall has publicly thanked comedian Peter Kay for the support he offered during her health battles, revealing secret calls from the funnyman helped her through her brain tumour and cancer diagnosis. The TV host, 58, said even though she is not close to the comedian, he reached out and helped put her mind at ease when she was going through hell.
Ahead of Lifetime Achievement Award
Ahead of picking up a lifetime achievement award at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Davina talked about her highs and lows on and off screen. She said: “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?'
“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.”
Brain Tumour and Breast Cancer Surgery
Davina underwent an operation to remove a benign brain tumour in 2024 and was so worried she even wrote goodbye letters to her family members. In November 2025 she revealed she underwent surgery for breast cancer and posted on social media she was “so relieved” to learn it had not spread. She thanked medical staff at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, where she had the lumpectomy, and urged women to get their breasts checked.
This is not the first time Kay, 53, has reached out to inspire someone suffering with illness. In 2021 he saw a news item about Laura Nuttall's brain cancer on regional news in Manchester. He then got in touch with her and spoke to her on the phone before raising money for her treatment.
Living Her Best Life
TV star Davina, who has fronted Big Brother and Streetmate earlier in her career, said after her illness and going through the menopause she was now “living her best life” and loving married life with second husband Michael Douglas, as well as a blossoming career including the likes of ITV show Long Lost Family and her podcast Begin Again.
She said she wanted to continue to make more TV documentaries about women’s health. Asked if she might consider being a contestant on a big primetime show she said: “The problem with Strictly is it is around Christmas. I am asked every year, and I’m A Celebrity, I am asked every year. I don’t know if I could do I’m A Celeb. I think it's a bit like the whole Big Brother thing, you are laying yourself bare. I like to keep a little bit of myself for my family.”
