Davina McCall's devastating WhatsApp plans in case she died during tumour operation

Davina McCall didn't want to leave anything to chance when she went in for a brain surgery at the end of last year as there were risks involved

Caring Davina McCall set up WhatsApp plan for friends and family in case she died on operating table when she had brain surgery.

The TV host reveals the fears she had around her operation in a new emotion packed interview, her first since she was in the operating theatre in November. Davina explains: "I said, 'Look, I've got to plan for it if it doesn't go according to plan'.

"When I'd spoken to the doctors, they talked about things like stroke, epilepsy, these being risks. Nicking an artery or a blood vessel in the brain and having a bleed... so there were a lot of things that could be a risk. And obviously, because of my age, you know, I'm fifty-seven."

Interviewer Steven Bartlett then says he was put in a WhatsApp group with other family and friends which highlighted to him just how many loved ones Davina had. She replies: "Do you know what I was thinking when I made the WhatsApp group, is who do I...if something bad happened, who do I not want to hear it from a paper?

"So, I was kind of thinking, in a way, I want them to hear good things. Who do I want to hear the news first before anybody else gets it? And that was my list of people. And it was, you know, people like you, who I work with, who I really care about. And then there were obviously my family members. And it was quite nice putting that list together because I thought, 'I have so many people I really care about in my life'."

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Davina, star of shows including Long Lost Family and The Masked Singer, found the colloid cyst by chance when she was given a free health scan after giving a talk on the menopause. In her new podcast interview she describes how she felt the tumour "had taken hold of me" and that initially made her angry because it made her feel "every day like I'm in danger".

But she learned to live with it, calling the tumour Jeffrey as a coping mechanism. She even threw parties for Jeffrey to downplay the signifigance of what the tumour meant and to try to stay upbeat. "I'm grateful. Life will never be the same again, but in rather a good way," the TV host says in a teary interview, her first since the operation in November. She adds: "There's that saying, 'A life lived in fear is a life half-lived'."

On her beloved children - Holly, 23, Tilly, 21, and 18-year-old Chester - and the thought of death, she adds: "I mean, the thing you really want to do is have your mum around when you have babies, get married. Christmases with grandchildren...I mean, I can't wait for grandkids.

"Those are the kinds of things that I would feel sad about. But what I was trying to not do is think about things that I would miss if I didn't make it. I was trying to think about, 'How would they cope if I didn't make it? Who would they have around them? Who would support them? Where would they live?' I was trying really not to kind of think too much about what I would miss because it just made me feel too sad.

"Weirdly, I'd thought about it so much that actually my final thought about it was that they're surrounded by love and family and Michael, but also they're really great kids. Like, I just thought, 'You guys... it will be devastating, but you will all be okay.' And I just had that feeling. They're good kids. They're smart. That was such a nice feeling. I don't mean smart as in clever. I mean in life. Robust. Yes, they make me very proud. And you know, it's interesting because I always wanted my mum to say that about me. That's why I became famous. That was the whole reason. But it's so nice to be able to say that about my kid and to tell them all the time. It's amazing. But through this... it has made me immensely proud of all of them."

Now after a successful operation Davina is feeling positive. She adds: "It's not changed me forever, but I've learned things about myself that I would never have learned without this operation or without the cyst. I'm pretty sure in two years' time, I will see it as one of the greatest blessings of my life."

After the operation in December, Davina was seen on social media saying she felt "more like herself". A keep fit fanatic, she also filmed herself in January returning to the gym. She admits in the interview getting back to work has been tough as she became "mildy institutionalised by my home". This week she has thanked fans for the "love and support" on social media and said she felt overwhelmed because so many people have been in touch.

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

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