Davina McCall, 57, was ‘f***ing furious’ over lack of menopause knowledge that left her ‘terrified’ amid brain surgery battle
Davina McCall has revealed her “fury” over the lack of menopause knowledge that drove her to become an advocate for women’s health.
Speaking at Advertising Week Europe 2025 in central London, the 57-year-old TV presenter expressed her anger in stark terms.
“I was f***ing furious at the lack of knowledge that I had as a 43-year-old woman going through perimenopause, and (I was) terrified, lonely, not knowing what it was,” McCall said.
The former Big Brother presenter has long advocated for women’s health issues and has presented documentaries on contraception and menopause.
McCall described her shock at her lack of knowledge when perimenopause began and said: “I had no idea. And I thought, how, why? Why do I not know about this?
“I spoke to a couple of doctors. I was like, I know nothing. I literally know nothing. This is so insulting,” before she recalled consulting medical professionals about her experience.
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Emphasising the inevitability of menopause for women, she added: “There’s nothing you can do to avoid it. There’s no magic pill that you can take… It’s going to happen to all women. And then I thought, well, I’ll just start talking about it.”
In 2021, McCall released a Channel 4 documentary entitled “Davina McCall: Sex, Myths and the Menopause” where she documented her own journey.
The documentary also aimed to share advice and help for other women experiencing menopause after McCall previously revealed her initial hesitation about hormone replacement therapy.
“When I was taking HRT, I was so ashamed of it. In some way, I thought I’d given up, I was less of a woman, I wasn’t as strong as my other female counterparts,” she said.
@thisisdavinamccall To understand ( and share ) what it’s like to be menopausal .. see u here on a Monday ! 👀❤️ #MenopauseMonday ♬ original sound – Davina McCall
She added: “We never talked about it, it was such a shameful subject. It was ageing. It kind of gave this impression that you were washed up.”
McCall spoke about her podcast “Begin Again,” which was launched in October and explained that Steven Bartlett, whose company Flight Studio produces her show, initially suggested a podcast focused solely on menopause.
However, McCall had a broader vision in mind and said: “I actually thought it would be more about men and women and thought what podcast could I do for both men and women that would be about pivoting in life.
“It’s called Begin Again, so it’s about beginning your life over. So it might be to do with career, with love, with life, with spirituality,” McCall explained.
McCall’s advocacy for menopause awareness led to an unexpected health discovery last year and during a video on social media, she revealed: “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 gonna ace.”
The scan revealed a benign brain tumour called a colloid cyst, leaving the star to explain: “It’s very rare. Three in a million.”
While co-hosting Comic Relief’s 40th birthday celebration in March, McCall became emotional discussing the diagnosis.
“It’s been, quite possibly, the hardest thing I’ve ever been through,” she said, reflecting on how the experience made her contemplate “what life is all about.”