Davina McCall: The Brain Surgery Experience That Changed My Life. | With Steven Bartlett.

Begin Again with Davina McCall

FlightStory

Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 631 Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2025

⏱️ 106 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this exclusive and deeply personal episode of Begin Again, Davina McCall steps into the guest seat as Steven Bartlett takes over hosting duties for a powerful role reversal like never before. For the first time, Davina opens up about the life-changing moment she discovered a 1-in-3-million brain cyst, the fear of undergoing surgery and the difficult decision to keep her diagnosis private until the day of her surgery. She shares the raw reality of waking up from major brain surgery, the emotional letters she wrote to her children, and the long road to reclaiming her sense of self. Steven Bartlett, entrepreneur, bestselling author, and host of The Diary of a CEO, guides this emotional conversation with care, as Davina reflects on the anger, uncertainty, and gratitude that shaped her recovery. This is a story of resilience, vulnerability, and the power to begin again—even when life takes an unexpected turn. Follow me here: www.instagram.com/beginagain https://www.tiktok.com/@beginagainpod (00:00) Intro (01:22) A Message from Davina (04:54) How Does It Feel to Be Back? (06:40) Telling People About the Diagnosis (10:26) Finding Out About the Tumor (15:31) The Official Diagnosis & What It Means (17:11) Deciding to Have the Operation (24:35) It Can Happen to Anyone, No Matter How Healthy (27:31) Telling Friends (31:47) The Day of Diagnosis (35:33) Confronting Death (39:24) The Children & Motherhood (43:56) Adobe Ad (45:05) Rebuilding Her Relationship with Her Stepmum (58:26) Davina’s Relationship with Michael (01:01:22) Fear After the Operation (01:10:46) Public Reaction (01:13:14) Friends & Family (01:15:19) Gratitude (01:20:28) Coming Back to Work (01:27:18) Beginning Again (01:36:47) How Are You Feeling? Adobe - https://www.adobe.com/uk/express/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	exclusively on Disney Plus.
0:02.4	It's hard and it's brutal and that's what makes it special.
0:06.2	The multi-award winning series, FX's The Bear, is back for a brand new season.
0:11.4	Upon my signal, unleash hell.
0:15.4	And every second counts.
0:17.8	When that shows zero, this restaurant ceases operations.
0:21.8	FX is the bear.
0:23.1	New season now streaming exclusively on Disney Plus.
0:27.0	18 plus subscription required season C's apply.
0:30.1	In my head, I was literally the healthiest person in the world.
0:35.4	I felt like this thing had taken control of me.
0:40.7	And I was so angry.
0:44.1	I was like, how dare you control my daily life like this?
0:51.5	You have no idea that benign brain tumors can still kill you.
0:56.0	It's just you don't know when it's going to happen.
0:58.3	I talked to Michael about my wishes.
1:01.0	I wrote letters of wishes to all the children.
1:03.4	Personal letters to them.
1:04.7	Yeah.
1:05.5	Don't feel sad.
1:06.6	I have had an amazing life.
1:08.6	I really went to sleep and thought, everything will be okay.
	...

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