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Happy Place

Davina McCall: “What if I don’t make it?” Embracing life after a brain tumour

Happy Place

Fearne Cotton

Society & Culture, Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Relationships, Personal Journals

4.615.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are you living the life you want to live? Broadcaster Davina McCall’s recent health scare has shown her the importance of living boldly, with no regrets.


In this chat, live from The Happy Place Festival, best pals Fearne and Davina share how having tumours removed within a few months of each other brought them closer together.


Davina explains how you can turn fear into joy through mindset changes, and how to apologise so you’re not carrying the weight of guilt anymore. She also reflects on how being in Narcotics Anonymous finally enabled her to like herself, warts and all.


If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like:

 

Mel Robbins


Trinny Woodall


Dannii Minogue


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello, I'm Fern Cotton and this is Happy Place, the show that worked towards self-acceptance.

0:07.6

Now, we're heading back to the Happy Place Festival in Gunnersbury Park today with Davina McCall.

0:14.4

I had hated myself when I got clean. I mean, I really hated myself. I had let myself down.

0:20.7

I had done things. I said I would hated myself. I had let myself down. I had done things.

0:22.3

I said I would never do.

0:24.6

And my sponsor said to me, the next time I saw her, she gave me a mirror.

0:29.1

Picked it up two nights later or something.

0:31.5

And I looked at it and I said, I like you.

0:34.7

And then I couldn't stop crying because it wasn't true.

0:38.6

And I was like, how did I get here?

0:41.8

But I started realizing that you can like yourself warts and all.

0:47.3

Oh, I've got goosebumps even thinking back to this.

0:49.8

This was such a special one for me to do at the festival.

0:59.6

I cannot tell you. Devena is one of the most special people that's come into my life. Oh, I could have a cry thinking about it. We've known

1:06.2

each other for a long time and we've sort of increasingly become closer and closer but she's always been there

1:13.3

for me in just the most beautiful way and you know if you watch devina on TV if you have like me

1:19.2

watched her since the days of streetmate a thousand years ago you'd hope that she's as

1:24.8

enthusiastic and just embracing of everyone and open-hearted.

1:33.3

You'd hope she was all of those things in real life.

1:36.3

Let me tell you, she's that and more.

1:38.3

And you watch her walk around, like backstage at the festival,

1:42.3

she had so much time for everybody talking to every team

...

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