British TV presenter and national treasure Davina McCall discusses her fear of abandonment and taking a leap of faith
London-born Davina has loved performing since she was young. At 15 she was the lead singer in a band, went solo at 19, and and even appeared in a Kylie Minogue music video.
In 1992, she began a long and successful series of TV appearances, from starting her own show on MTV, to hosting nine seasons of Big Brother in 2000, presenting the Brit Awards, Comic Relief, and BAFTAs, to her current stint as the renowned star of BBC reality show, The Traitors. These highlights have occurred alongside a stream of trailblazing documentaries and podcast episodes, as well as publishing a book based off her documentary, Let’s Talk Sex, which helped establish sex and relationship education on the UK schooling curriculum.
Over the years, Davina has proved her versatility, with endless stories of triumph, often in the face of adversity. She claims that her positivity stems from her fractured childhood and turbulent teenage years. She has since become a sought-after advocate for women’s health, following her openness surrounding her struggles with the menopause. In 2022, she released a Sunday Times bestselling book, ‘Menopausing’, as well as a Channel 4 documentary raising awareness on the subject.