Davina McCall makes ‘enormous leap forward’ as she leaves ICU after surgery

TV presenter Davina McCall is out of intensive care and has made an “enormous leap forward” in the last 24 hours, following her surgery to remove a rare brain tumour.

In an update on her Instagram account her partner Michael Douglas said: “Thanks so much to all the well wishers. She really has made an enormous leap forward in the last 24 hours. She is out of ICU.”

The 57-year-old previously posted a video on Instagram, to say she had been diagnosed with a type of benign tumour called a colloid cyst.

A benign tumour is not cancerous, but such cysts tend to grow slowly, according to the Brainstrust charity.

“Massive relief to see some light coming though. Thanks for all the good vibes coming in from all angles,” Mr Douglas continued in the post to McCall’s 1.9 million followers.

Ahead of her surgery McCall had explained how the tumour had been found by chance.

“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,” she said in a video posted on Friday.

“But it turned out I had a benign brain tumour called a colloid cyst, which is very rare – three in a million.”

Colloid cysts typically form in a fluid-filled cavity in the centre of the brain, and are themselves filled with fluid, the Brains Trust says.

They account for less than 2% of all primary brain tumours, and the rate of growth and symptoms can vary from person to person, according to the charity.

McCall explained a surgeon would perform a procedure called a craniotomy, where part of the skull is removed to take out the tumour.

Mr Douglas previously said the operation had been “textbook”.

McCall’s long TV presenting career includes Channel 4’s Big Brother, ITV’s Long Lost Family, and My Mum, Your Dad, along with Comic and Sport Relief for the BBC.

Earlier this year she won a special recognition award at the National TV Awards, for her contributions to the TV industry over her career.

She also campaigns on menopause awareness, after her changing hormones prompted her to highlight women’s experiences with her work.

Last year she won the top prize at the British Book Awards for 2022’s Menopausing, which she co-wrote with Dr Naomi Potter.

The so-called “Davina effect” saw a huge increase in demand for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after she made a Channel 4 documentary, Sex, Myths and Menopause, in 2021.