Davina McCall says brain surgery left her 'losing herself' and doubting fiancé's commitment

Davina McCall said she felt as if she was "losing herself" after undergoing brain surgery to remove a rare colloid cyst, and that the memory problems she experienced in the months that followed led her to wonder whether her fiancé, Michael Douglas, still wanted to be with her.

Speaking through tears on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast, the 57‑year‑old presenter described how short‑term memory problems after the operation left her repeatedly asking the same questions and feeling cut off from the person she had been.

McCall said medics discovered a "very rare" colloid cyst last November — a condition reported to affect about three in a million people — and that surgeons removed the lesion because of concerns about further growth and potential complications. She said she had ultimately made a full recovery but that the period after the operation was unexpectedly difficult.

"What I didn't anticipate was how difficult the six months after would be," McCall told the podcast host. "I did very well in approaching the operation and the lead‑up to the operation and going to sleep, but I just thought life would go back to normal quite quickly, and I didn't go back to normal." She said her long‑term memory remained intact but that her short‑term memory was "so bad" she would sometimes ask the same question "seven times in half an hour." Those lapses, she said, produced anxiety about how others — including her partner — were responding to her.

McCall said Douglas, who spent much of the recovery period with her, at times left the room when she repeated herself. She said she feared he might not want to remain in the relationship, but that the couple spoke and he reassured her that he loved her and that she was "just a bit annoying at the moment." She said she laughed with relief at that exchange.

The presenter said she still cannot speak about the tumour without becoming tearful and described a period in which she wanted to shout to those around her, "Please remember me. I'm still here. I'm trying to get back to you but I don't know how to do it. Wait for me. I promise you, I'm not going to be this annoying forever."

McCall and Douglas went public with their relationship in 2018. Reports this month said Douglas, described in some accounts as a hairstylist and a long‑time friend, recently proposed; friends told media McCall has a ring but has been wearing it only in private. McCall has three children, Holly, Tilly and Chester.

Medical specialists commonly warn that surgery in and around the brain can produce temporary cognitive changes, including short‑term memory impairment, as the brain recovers from the procedure. McCall said she had been told such problems were possible but that she had not anticipated their severity or duration. She said the reassurance of loved ones and the understanding that some symptoms would improve over time were important elements of her recovery.

On the podcast, McCall emphasized that she knew she was still "in there" during the recovery process and that gradual improvement followed. She said the candid conversation with Douglas, and the knowledge that the memory problems would get better, brought her relief as she worked to rebuild her day‑to‑day life after surgery.