Davina McCall makes defiant career decision despite brain surgery

Davina McCall has made a brave career decision and is set to continue her weekly podcast recordings despite undergoing brain surgery. The 57-year-old presenter of 'My Mum, Your Dad' was determined not to let the discovery of a brain tumour disrupt the progress of her new show, 'Begin Again,' which she launched last month.

Prior to her six-hour surgery on Friday, Davina had the foresight to pre-record a full series of hour-long interviews with a number of stars. This ensured that her podcast would maintain its weekly schedule during her recovery period.

Since its debut on October 9, Davina's cherished podcast has featured in-depth conversations with stars such as Fearne Cotton, Paloma Faith, and Paul C Brunson. The podcast's goal is to inspire listeners to view midlife as a time of significant transformation, as reported by the Mirror.

A source revealed Davina's unwavering commitment to her podcast. They said: "Begin Again is Davina's real passion project and there was absolutely no way she wanted its impact put on ice because of her surgery.

"There will be no break in the series run whilst she is out the spotlight. Davina made sure everything was pre-recorded and put in place so what she feels are important conversations can continue whilst she recovers."

It was revealed last week that Davina had been rushed to hospital for brain surgery. The Masked Singer judge, 57, has had an operation to remove a 14mm benign brain tumour, which she discovered during a health scan a few months ago while giving a talk for a menopause company.

In a video update shared on Friday, Davina asked her fans to keep her in their prayers as her boyfriend Michael Douglas takes over her social media during her recovery period. Michael reassured fans that Davina is in "great shape" but will be "off grid" until she's fully recovered.

He wrote in the caption of the video: "Hey everyone. Michael here. @davinamccall will be "off grid" for a bit while she recovers from this brain operation. She is in great shape and in very good hands.

"I'll do the odd update from her account here for anyone interested. I'm sure she'll read all the comments when she's able to so feel free to send love. The support of people is amazingly powerful. Have a great day everyone. Michael xxx".

Alongside her husband's caption, an emotional Davina addressed fans in a pre-recorded video, saying: "I'm posting this. It will be Friday morning, and I'm doing it because a few months ago, I did a menopause talk for a company, and they offered me a health scan in return, which I thought I was going to ace, but it turned out I had a benign brain tumour called a colloid cyst, which is very rare, three in a million.

"And so I slightly put my head in the sand for a while, and then I saw quite a few neuro surgeons. I got lots of opinions, and I realised that I have to get it taken out."

Davina described it as a "big" tumour, 14 mm wide, adding: "It needs to come out, because if it grows, it would be bad."

The star told how she would undergo a craniotomy, a surgical procedure to temporarily remove part of the skull.

"Say a prayer for me. I'm in good spirits. "I'm going to be in hospital for about nine days, and then I'm going to be going home, but I'm going to be off my phone for a while. But I don't want you to worry about me. I'm doing that enough as it is. I am in a good space, and I have all the faith in the world in my surgeon and his team, and I am handing the reins over to him. He knows what he's doing," she signed off.

According to the NHS, non-cancerous brain tumours are more common in people over the age of 50, and symptoms include headaches, blackouts, behavioural changes and loss of consciousness.

The NHS describes a benign brain tumour as: "A benign (non-cancerous) brain tumour is a mass of cells that grows relatively slowly in the brain. Non-cancerous brain tumours tend to stay in one place and do not spread. It will not usually come back if all of the tumour can be safely removed during surgery. If the tumour cannot be completely removed, there's a risk it could grow back. In this case it'll be closely monitored using scans or treated with radiotherapy."

The former Big Brother host, who currently presents ITV dating show My Mum, Your Dad, has long advocated on women's health issues, and presented documentaries on contraception and the menopause.