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Davina McCall opens up about father's battle with Alzheimer's

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Sharnaz Shahid
Deputy Online Editor
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Davina McCall has opened up about her father's battle with Alzheimer's. Speaking to TV presenter John Bishop, the 49-year-old candidly revealed how her father Andrew is not letting his condition get the better of him. "It's getting worse and his short-term memory is much worse than it was a couple of years ago," she explained. "But his positive mental attitude they said is absolutely key in him dealing with his illness."

davina 2a© Photo: Getty Images

Davina McCall has opened up about father's battle with Alzheimer's

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She added: "I look at my Dad and I see such hope and such positivity and each hurdle we'll cross when we get to it. So he's a real inspiration and I hope he can be for other people too." The Long Lost Family presenter, who has three children with husband Matthew Robertson, also discussed her past addiction with drugs. "I'd lost all the good people," Davina confessed. "There was one person left, and she was the one that said to me in the end, 'Look, we're all talking about you. You think you've got this kind of mask up and you're kidding us all, but you're not.'" The star added: "I was devastated. Course, I swore at her a lot and got out the car, slammed the door!"

davina© Photo: Getty Images

"I look at my Dad and I see such hope," she told TV presenter John Bishop

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Despite the tragedies in her life, Davina has admitted that she has an "attitude of gratitude". She recently told Best magazine: "I live by the motto 'an attitude of gratitude'. Some people might look at me and think 'Oh that's easy for you', but it doesn't have to be about the hot husband or the lovely kids." The mother-of-three has been very open about her troubled relationship with mother Florence Kock, who passed away in South Africa in 2008. Following the breakdown of her parents' marriage when she was three years old, Davina went to live with her paternal grandparents but then turned to drugs when she was a teenager.

John Bishop in Conversation with Davina McCall airs on Thursday April 20 at 9pm on W.

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