Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.
Davina McCall has revealed that she had breast cancer and is urging people to look out for specific signs.
The 58-year-old took to Instagram this morning (8 November) to share the news as she hopes talking about it 'might help someone'.
McCall said: "This is what I always do," having opened up last year about needing surgery to remove a benign brain tumour.
Advert
The TV presenter has thanked hospital staff after she had a lumpectomy 'nearly three weeks ago' to remove a lump after a biopsy found it was breast cancer.
She said in a video: “I just wanted to tell you that I have had breast cancer. I found a lump a few weeks ago, and it came and went, but then I was working on the Masked Singer and Lorraine, the TV show, Lorraine Kelly, had put signs on the back of all the doors saying, 'check your breasts.'"
McCall continued: "And every time I went for a wee I did that, and it was still there. And then one morning, I saw it in the mirror, and I thought, I’m going to get that looked at.
“So I had a biopsy. I found out it was indeed breast cancer, and I had it taken out in a lumpectomy nearly three weeks ago, and the margins, they take out a little bit extra and they check the margins, and the margins are clear.
“It was very, very small, so I got it very, very early, which is incredibly lucky, but I am so relieved to have had it removed, and to know that it hasn’t spread.
“My lymph nodes were clear. I didn’t have any removed, and all I’m going to do now is have five days of radiotherapy in January as kind of an insurance policy, and then I am on my journey to try it and stop it ever coming back.”
As well as shouting out members of staff and the Royal Marsden hospital in London, McCall thanked her family and 'brilliant kids' with an 'extra special thanks' to her partner, hairdresser Michael Douglas.
“It’s been a lot. I was very angry when I found out, but I let go of that, and I feel in a much more positive place now,” she continued.
“I think my message is, get checked if you’re worried, check yourself regularly. If you are due a mammogram, then get it done. And I have dense breasts, and I had a mammogram in August, and I was postponing the ultrasound. I just couldn’t find time to do it. Don’t do that.
“Get the ultrasound, and thanks for watching. And I’m sending you all a massive hug.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.
Jess Battison