Davina McCall has revealed that her best friend Sarah Hiscox locked her in a car to call out her drug use, which ended up being the catalyst to her getting clean.
The TV presenter, 56, said the tough conversation came after she had become ‘a bit of a mess’ with heroin – and had lost all of her friends bar author Sarah.
Appearing on mother-daughter duo Andi and Miquita Oliver’s podcast Stirring It Up podcast, Davina brought along her best friend of 37 years, Sarah.
Andi revealed on Wednesday’s episode that she had known both guests since they were teenagers, with Davina even babysitting a young Miquita, before the group delved into the former Big Brother host’s struggles with drugs.
Davina recalled a day where Sarah pretended to drive her to Santana before taking the opportunity to call out her friend’s drug problem. This was a turning point for Davina and spurred her to call for help regarding her addiction for fear of losing her close friend.
Davina McCall revealed that her best friend Sarah Hiscox locked her in a car to call out her drug use, which ended up being catalyst to her getting clean, on the Stirring It Up podcast on Wednesday (Pictured on May 12)
The TV presenter, 56, said the tough conversation came after she had become ‘a bit of a mess’ with heroin – and had lost all of her friends bar author Sarah (Pictured in 2000)
‘It was a bit of a mess and [with heroin] I was very rigid and boundaried about it,’ Davina said. ‘I left my job because that was the problem – I got worse.
‘I left my boyfriend because that was the problem – I got worse… and then I was just left with me. Nobody really wanted to hang out with me. I was one of those people that used to fall asleep at dinner parties.’
Recalling the day, she continued: ‘[Sarah] got me in a car and we were going to go and see Santana and then she locked the car door. She went, “I’m not taking you to Santana, I just wanted to talk to you”.
‘I’d moved back in with my mum and dad because I had no money and no friends left. I was really kind of just at rock bottom and [Sarah] went, “I know you’ve been lying to me, I know you’ve been telling me that you’re clean but I can see you’re not”.’
Sarah told Davina that she was the ‘topic of conversation at every dinner I go to, every coffee I have with friends… everywhere I go, you are what we are talking about’.
This angered Davina, and in an emotional reaction she swore at her friend and left the car crying. But Sarah’s word stuck with her.
Davina said: ‘I was like, “Well f**k you, f**k you, f**k you!” Got out the car, slammed the door, already my heart is breaking in two.
‘Turn away from the car, start crying, make it to the door, thinking I’m not going to f***ing turn round. Sit down on the bed – that is like a camp bed because my parents didn’t have a bedroom for me to sleep in – just sit there and go “What the actual f*ck, this is my life, what have I f**king done?” I’ve lost my only friend, I’ve just told her to f**k off, I am broken.’
Appearing on mother-daughter duo Andi and Miquita Oliver’s podcast Stirring It Up podcast, Davina brought along her best friend of 37 years, Sarah (all pictured)
Davina recalled a day where Sarah pretended to drive her to Santana before taking the opportunity to call out her friend’s drug problem (Pictured in May 2023)
Andi revealed on Wednesday’s episode that she had known to both guests since they were teenagers, with Davina even babysitting a young Miquita (Pictured Andi and Miquita in August 2023)
Davina then called an addict who had got clean that she had met previously and started her recovery journey.
‘I cried all night, woke up the next morning, went straight to [Sarah’s] office and took her a bunch of s***ty, cheap flowers as I didn’t have any money and went, “I’m not expecting you to believe me, but I do want to get clean. I’m sorry about what I said.”.’
During the podcast, Davina started crying as she recalled the moment, before turning to Sarah and saying: ‘I could see there was distrust in your eyes, like “Well show me” and I thought “Oh I’ve really broken it, it’s not going to get fixed again” and I thought I really better do this.
‘And It was almost like I was okay with losing everyone else, but not Sarah.’
Asked what prompted Sarah to try the tough love effect with her friend, she said: ‘I really loved her. We had become great friends and I didn’t want to lose her.’
But the pair shared that their friendship went both ways in this regard, as years later Sarah battled addiction herself, resulting in her getting divorced.
However Sarah’s husband and Davina joined forces to help the woman they both adored and she got clean, and remarried to him.
Speaking about appearing on the podcast, Davina shared a picture of herself, Sarah, Andi and Miquita.
‘Had to post this straightaway,’ she wrote. ‘Because my best mate @sarahhiscox and I have just spent the most idyllic three hours with two very old friends, weve known @andioliver since we were teenagers and I used to babysit @miquitaoliver.
‘I love this podcast it was beyond exciting to be on it. To be honest I completely forgot we were recording a podcast (@stirringitup) it just felt like a marvellous catch up with very old friends …. we laughed, we cried.
‘Okay, well, I cried. It was like therapy with f**king great food, which in my mind is the best kind of therapy… connecting with old friends. Food for the soul.’
Sarah told Davina that she was the ‘topic of conversation at every dinner I go to, every coffee I have with friends… everywhere I go, you are what we are talking about’
In December, Davina spoke about how she hasn’t had an alcoholic drink in more than 30 years and admitted she has been quite ‘rigid’ with herself in life.
She opened up about how she can be a very ‘all or nothing’ person as she spoke about her health in the February issue of Good Housekeeping.
Davina shared that she gave up sugar completely when her sister Caroline died of lung cancer in August 2012, but has become more ‘gentle’ with herself in recent years.
Davina, who has previously candidly spoken about how sobriety changed her life, also revealed that she hasn’t had an alcoholic drink in 33 years.
She told the magazine: ‘I’m quite often all or nothing as a person. I haven’t had a drink in 33 years. I’ve spent my life being quite rigid with myself.
‘When my sister died 10 years ago, I literally stopped eating sugar. But that was unsustainable and now, in midlife, I’ve become a little bit more gentle with myself. Now I eat fruit, and for breakfast I have granola with kefir.’
