I’ve learnt to become more gentle on myself in midlife, says Davina McCall

By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Los Angeles Correspondent

Davina McCall said she is “quite all or nothing as a person” but has found a way to be more gentle on herself in midlife as her disciplined lifestyle was “unsustainable”.

The TV star and lifestyle guru, 56, said she has spent her life “being rigid with myself” as a firm advocate for health and wellbeing – having launched her own online fitness platform after years of exercise DVDs.

“I’m quite often all or nothing as a person, I haven’t had a drink in 33 years,” The Masked Singer judge told Good Housekeeping magazine.

“I’ve spent my life being quite rigid with myself.

“When my sister died 10 years ago, I literally stopped eating sugar. But that was unsustainable and now, in midlife, I’ve become a little bit more gentle with myself.

“Now I eat fruit and for breakfast I have granola with kefir.”

McCall’s sister Caroline Baday died from lung cancer in 2012 at the age of 50.

During her career, McCall has hosted across most major networks in the UK, including Big Brother on Channel 4, the BBC’s Comic Relief, and Long Lost Family on ITV.

Her next project will see the launch of a new lingerie brand named Sessi.

“I’ve spent the past seven years talking about a lingerie brand for post-baby bodies and I’m finally launching it,” she said.

“I get a bit teary when I talk about this because when I felt really invisible and went into shops to buy underwear, I thought, ‘What’s on offer is the plainest, most neutral, depressing big pants. You’re going to give me the menopause and really dull underwear?’

“I decided ‘no, I’m not doing it’. So, in February, I’m launching a new brand Sessi – a mixture of sexy and sassy, which is how I want people to feel.”

The February 2024 issue of Good Housekeeping is now on sale.