Davina McCall was overcome with emotion on Thursday's episode of Lorraine as she opened up about her addiction battle and credited her best friend of 40 years, Sarah Hiscox, for saving her life. The former Big Brother presenter, now 58, admitted she 'wouldn't be here' without Sarah's intervention.
Friendship and Sobriety Journey
Sarah Hiscox appeared on the ITV chat show to promote her new book, The Beginning and End of Everything, which details her own devastating drug addiction. At the height of her addiction, Sarah lost her marriage and custody of her two sons. After 25 years of sobriety, she is reunited with her family and credits Davina for her support.
In a heartfelt moment, Davina tearfully said: 'I'm so unbelievably proud of her. In so many ways she put herself out there. She wrote a book that was very painful for her to write.'
Davina's Emotional Confession
Visibly moved, Davina continued: 'Behind all of it is the sweetest most beautiful love story ever.. I'm going to start crying. Sarah's husband is an amazing man and what they went through together and where they are now.'
Davina then revealed how Sarah had saved her life. The TV presenter began drinking in her teenage years before developing a heroin habit, but she became clean and has maintained sobriety for over three decades. She admitted: 'She got me clean - I wouldn't be here without her. I really wouldn't. I was desperate and I was pretending and I was trying to fake everything was fine.'
Turning to Sarah, she added: 'She was honest with me and I hated her for it. She locked me in the car.'
Sarah's Perspective
Sarah explained her motivation: 'I loved her and I could see this incredibly vital woman that I loved. You know, she's family to me. I could see her just disappearing. She was running clubs at the time and everybody wanted to be on the guest list for one of her clubs so no one would dare confront her.'
She added: 'So I locked her in the car and I said listen…' Davina joked: 'I thought I was going to a Santana gig.'
The Importance of Checking In
Lorraine Kelly noted the mutual support between the friends, saying: 'But isn't that the thing about how much you need your pals because when the tables were turned, Davina you helped.'
Davina highlighted a key message from Sarah's book: 'You know what I also think is an important message for anybody watching is that I read this book and I had to call you every five pages because I didn't know. I was best friends with her when we were 19, but I was kind of taking drugs recreationally. It was getting quite out of control but I was so self obsessed and wrapped up in myself, I didn't know how broken she was.'
She urged viewers: 'You've got to ask people how they are, check in and make sure they're ok. Double check in - 'How are you really?' - because I never knew.'
Lorraine airs weekdays from 9.30am on ITV1 and ITVX.
