Michael Douglas has spoken about the moment he feared his wife, TV presenter Davina McCall, could die during her health struggles. He described caring for her as she underwent treatment for a benign brain tumour and later breast cancer.
Fear of losing Davina
Speaking on the Man Alive with Dr Jeff Foster podcast, Michael recalled sitting by Davina's hospital bed in tears. He said the experience mirrored his own illness, when he watched his mother cry at his bedside.
“When I was ill with my lungs, I used to look at my mum crying by my bedside and used to think, ‘This is horrible for you. This is worse for you than it is for me,’ because I was just laid there, getting on with it,” he said.
“And then all of a sudden, I was the person sat next to her bed, kind of crying,” he explained.
A dangerous operation
Michael described his fear during Davina's treatment, saying: “And I was, like, God, it's so hard for me, because I just want her to be well, and there was a danger that she was going to die or have a stroke.”
He recalled that two brain operations took place at the hospital that day. After another patient suffered a devastating stroke during surgery, Michael spoke to her family and realised how serious Davina's situation could have been.
“And I thought, 'Oh well, that could be me, actually,' just pushing Davina around in the wheelchair and all that,” he said.
Recovery and new diagnosis
Michael admitted he found it hard to accept the possibility of losing his wife. “So I really had to kind of come to terms with that idea. I found it very hard,” he said.
After the surgery, Davina left hospital with severe memory problems. “And then she came out of hospital almost with Alzheimer's, she couldn't remember anything,” he said.
Michael said pressures around his business added to the strain. “I would say 2025, last year, was the most challenging year of my whole life, and it had a lot to do with her recovery,” he revealed.
Just as they were recovering from one crisis, Davina was diagnosed with breast cancer. She previously revealed doctors found a lump, and she underwent a lumpectomy and radiotherapy. In April, she shared on her Making The Cut podcast that she had received the “all clear” after a check-up.
The former Big Brother host has long campaigned on women's health issues, including menopause awareness, after discovering her brain tumour during a health check linked to that work. Davina McCall returns to screens tonight hosting Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace on ITV at 8pm.
