Davina McCall reveals she named her brain tumour and even threw it a PARTY with speeches, songs and her boyfriend on the piano – but admits she was so scared of dying she wrote farewell letters to her children

Davina McCall has revealed she named her brain tumour, and even threw it a party.

A rare colloid cyst in her brain, though benign, carried the risk of sudden death before the TV presenter underwent life-saving surgery in November 2024.

The Big Brother star, 57, shared on her podcast Begin Again: ‘I called my brain tumour Jeffrey,’ she said.

‘I needed to name it something. And I didn’t have any personal friends that were called Jeffrey, so it seemed like a good name to call him. And we had a Jeffrey happy birthday party with friends.’

She said her boyfriend, hairdresser Michael Douglas, 49, ‘played the piano and sang some songs and sort of did speeches. And we all kind of talked about things and I talked about the fact that I was a bit scared, but “I know I’m going to do it”.

‘And if it was going to happen to anybody, it was good it happened to me because I am robust mentally and I can handle it.’

Davina McCall has revealed she named her brain tumour, and even threw it a party

The My Mum Your Dad presenter had her tumour picked up at a private clinic when she was offered a health check after taking part in a talk about menopause 

The mother-of-three was so fearful of dying that she ensured her affairs were in order.

‘I wrote letters of wishes to all the children, and put those in my will.’

‘What I wanted to do was to try and find a way that they would all find a way through if I didn’t make it. They make me very proud’, she said.

The Long Lost Family host believed that ‘in my head, I was literally the healthiest person in the world… And I had this head-to-toe scan.  

‘And they came back and they went, “Okay, we’ve got your results. Um… we’d like to talk to you.”’

Despite the severity of her condition, she was determined to avoid pity.

‘I just did not want the drama, right? I felt like the drama would make it a hundred times worse for me. I don’t want limp necks. “Oh my God, oh my…” I don’t want pity. Because a lot of people have said to me since, “When you told me, I thought you could die.”

‘And I thought, “I don’t want people looking at me like I could die. I’m dealing with that myself.” I just want positivity.’

She said her boyfriend, hairdresser Michael Douglas ‘played the piano and sang some songs and sort of did speeches’ 

Now, as she recovers, the author sees life with a fresh perspective.

‘I feel like life’s never going to be the same again, but in rather a good way.’

She added: ‘A life lived in fear is a life half-lived. Write your bucket list now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.’

Brand new episodes of Begin Again drop Thursdays at 8am GMT wherever you get your podcasts.