British Presenter Davina McCall has revealed she has had breast cancer and underwent surgery three weeks ago. In a video posted to her Instagram account on Saturday morning, she said she was "very angry" when she found out but feels in a "much more positive place" following a lumpectomy. Sharing the news on Instagram, the former Big Brother host, 58, said: "have had breast cancer. I found a lump a few weeks ago. It came and went but then I was working on The Masked Singer and Lorraine, the TV show, and Lorraine Kelly had put signs on the backs of all the doors saying 'check your breasts' and every time I went for a wee I did that. "It was still there, and then one morning I saw myself in the mirror and thought 'I'm going to get that looked at.'"
"I had a biopsy. I found out it was indeed breast cancer and I had it taken out in a lumpectomy nearly three weeks ago." She added: "It was very, very small, so I got it very, very early which is incredibly lucky. But I am so relieved to have had it removed and to know that it hasn’t spread. My lymph nodes were clear, I didn’t have any removed, and all I'm going to do now is have five days of radiotherapy in January as kind of an insurance policy."
In her Instagram post, the Long Lost Family presenter thanked medical staff who treated her and urged women to get their breasts checked. She said: "I just want to say a massive thank you to everybody at the Royal Marsden (Hospital) … all the nurses, doctors who have helped me, thank you for your support. "Thanks to my family, to my brilliant kids, and an extra special thanks to Michael (Douglas). It’s been a lot. I was very angry when I found out, but I let go of that and I feel in a much more positive place now. I think my message is: get checked if you’re worried. Check yourself regularly. If you are due a mammogram, then get it done. I have dense breasts and I had a mammogram in August, and I was postponing the ultrasound; I just couldn’t find time to do it. Don’t do that. Get the ultrasound."
© Hogan Media/ShutterstockDavina's health
The news of her breast cancer surgery comes 11 months after the TV star underwent surgery for a benign brain tumour last year, something which she described as the "hardest thing" she's ever been through. "It's been, quite possibly, the hardest thing I've ever been through," Davina said. "This whole experience—weirdly—kind of weighing up all the risks and all the positive things about having this tumour removed made me think deeply about what life is all about and what really, really matters when things get tough." She added: "I needed the brilliance and the skills of lots of experts to make me okay. And oh my goodness, I've needed the love and support of friends and my family, and, in particular, my Michael, to get me through."
Davina's brain tumour, known as a colloid cyst, was found after she was offered a health check-up as part of her menopause advocacy work. "I put my head in the sand for a while, I saw quite a few neurosurgeons, I got lots of opinions, and I realised that I have to get it taken out. It's big for the space, it fills the space. It's 14mm wide, and it needs to come out because if it grows it will be bad," she said at the time.
Back in March, Davina told HELLO! about her recovery from surgery and she revealed that she was feeling good and is "unbelievably grateful." "Obviously it changes [things]. You have a new look on life, gratitude, love for people, love for nature, love for architecture - everything looks beautiful. It's different in that way, but not in personality or anything," she said while attending the Brain Tumour Research's Closer to a Cure: 15 Years of Impact gala held at London's Dorchester Hotel.
