Davina on masks, broken homes & shattered families
Davina McCall, host of Long Lost Family, reveals why she longs for hugs and what the ITV series means to her
Davina McCall is back with hit series Long Lost Family and, if you’ve seen the first episodes, you’ll know tissues are a necessary requirement! Expect shattered families, heartbreak, broken homes but – hopefully – a joyful reunion at the end. Indeed, heartache is something Davina, 53, knows only too well. Her own family set-up changed dramatically when she separated from ex-husband Matthew Robertson in 2017 – after 17 years. She admitted the marriage split was ‘traumatic’ and plunged her into ‘emotional turmoil’ but, thankfully, having moved on with hairdresser Michael Douglas, she has found her happy ending. Lockdown, says the star – who is also unveiling which celebs are behind those masks on her other show, The Masked Singer – has made this emotional show even more touching, with the hugs a reminder of beautiful times ahead…
This series feels more poignant than ever…
Yes, I really feel that this past year, with everything that’s gone on, this idea of physical contact and closeness and intimacy with people is so intense. And already in the first lockdown, we showed a spinoff series called Born Without Trace – which we’d filmed pre-lockdown, where there was still physical contact happening – and there is something so beautiful about seeing people being able to hug each other. I know we can hug people in our bubbles, but it’s not the same as when you just see someone who needs a hug and you can just do it. So, being able to enjoy this new series, shot in the most part pre- any kind of restrictions last year, is like a gift. It’s like a light at the end of the tunnel, because it’s where we are going back to.
What’s been your favourite story this series?
There are so many twists and turns. Relatives found on the other side of the world and others down the road. If you’ve seen the first episode, there is a couple – Phyllis and Kevin – who had a baby son together when they were just teenagers and their son was adopted against their wishes. Often, we are looking for an individual child or a parent, so for both parents to be together searching for their son and for them to have lost their child in
that particular way, is obviously absolute torment. But also, it does really highlight the fact that, there is absolutely nothing easy about giving up a baby for adoption. It’s like having your heart ripped out. They fought through the courts to get him back when he was a baby and have spent the past 40 years looking for him. We were able to find him, living in Spain and it’s a real sliding doors moment. It’s an incredible story.
After so many series, what does Long Lost Family mean to you?
I love a story that can make you emotionally connect, literally every single series. I’ve never watched an episode and thought, ‘Oh, I can’t connect with this story in some way’. Also, it’s quite an interesting concept that there should be a programme that would touch absolutely everybody, no matter what kind of upbringing you’ve had, we can all relate to what it would feel like to yearn for somebody, or to long to find somebody, or to feel like there’s something not quite right in your life and you can’t settle until you’ve got that sorted.
It’s not always a happy ending though, is it…?
Sometimes it’s disappointment, sometimes joy – but it always touches someone in a certain way. It always gets you. And the thing is, I’ve always been slightly amazed that there are still these incredible stories. It’s often not about whether they’ve been found or have not been found – that is obviously either a sad or amazing moment – but for me, it’s the stories and how they’re told. They are so multi-layered and complicated and they cross countries and borders and religions. It’s like peeling an onion, sometimes. That’s what’s special about it, for me.
l Long Lost Family continues on Mondays, at 9pm on ITV.
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Dmy husband a kiss before going to work. He went, ‘Oh, poor you!’ because it was dark and rainy. I said, ‘I know, but there are people who’d cut their right arm off to be going to work, in my industry’.
Has your new soap family made you feel welcome?
I’ve never been made to feel more welcome, anywhere! But it was a big decision, to go back to a soap and all those early starts. Though working on a soap opera is a welcome distraction from the world right now. It’s gruelling. It’s hard to plan anything as schedules chop and change. You might get home at 8pm, think you’re not in the next morning, then find out you are – argh! But acting is my main love, it’s what I’m good at, it’s where I’m happiest.
Trish seems like a live wire…
This is the kind of part actresses kill for! She’s feisty, flirty… her very first line was, ‘Nobody ignores a booty call from me!’ which for an actor is amazing! She’s very multi-layered – that’s what attracted me to this part.
She’s with a younger man, Brad King [Tom Benedict Knight]. What’s Tom like?
Lovely… we just gel. And let’s be honest, Tom is very easy on the eye! I also like how Hollyoaks haven’t made a big deal of the age difference. There are about 15 years between them, the same as between me and Lincoln.
You thought they’d find someone ‘from Dad’s Army who’s about 120’, didn’t you?!
Ha, when they told me Trish had a partner, I don’t know why, I was imagining an Arthur Daley type, shuffling around the set! When the casting director told me, I said, ‘ Well done you, and well done me!’
Is it true they’re considering your real-life partners as body doubles?
Lincoln thinks it’s hilarious. Yes! They’re trying clever camera angles – we use things like a gym horse between Tom and I to keep a distance… But there’ll come a time when Trish and Tom have to touch but, because of Covid, we can’t. When that time comes, Lincoln has no choice, he’s doing it.
Were you surprised at the amount of dancing you do as Trish?!
Yes! I thought I was going
to be like Abby Lee Miller in that reality show Dance Moms – standing there, barking instructions. No, they had me doing a bloody TikTok dance yesterday! I haven’t been great at exercise lately, at least it’s getting me off my backside.
Tell us about Trish’s relationship with her daughter, Maxine…
There’s a selfish, narcissistic side to Trish, which starts to come out in the way she deals with her daughter, who begins to make the audience aware that this behaviour has always gone on.
Do you ever wish you’d had a daughter?
I always wanted a little boy first. Now, I have two sons who I couldn’t love any more. I do tell them they’ll have to look after me in my dotage, because I don’t know whether sons are quite as good at that as daughters! But my sister has a boy and two girls, our families have grown up like siblings, I don’t feel like I’ve missed out. Except that the girls’ bedrooms have always been tidier than my sons’!
How have your boys been?
They’re dealing with things well. Matthew (lead singer of indie band, The 1975) is writing and recording. Louis is in Emmerdale and has been working a bit. From a selfish point of view, we can’t complain. I know many aren’t as fortunate. It’s important we look out for others – this is a mental pandemic, as much as a physical one.
Speaking of support, are the women in your life more important than ever?
I have great girlfriends. I never trust women who say, ‘I’m not a woman’s woman.’ I always look beyond that statement, if I hear it. I have male friends, but my girlfriends – we’ve been there for each other solidly this past year. We’ve all struggled, all kept each other afloat. Especially my single girlfriends – this is so hard for people who chose to live alone, not be alone. I’m lucky I haven’t had an episode of my major depression disorder, though I’ve been overwhelmed and frightened.
You kicked the booze eight years ago this April. Has the past year tested that?
Alcohol, no. I’ve been up and down by a few pounds a little, being stuck at home... I still enjoy a pie, or fish and chips – I’m a Geordie! But I balance it. I try to move. Some days I’m lazy, others I force myself to go for a walk. But now, more than ever – we’ve got to take care of ourselves, inside and out.
‘I don’t need much to be happy’
‘Trish is feisty and flirty - this is the kind of part actresses kill for!’
Hollyoaks is on five nights a week, Mon-Fri, C4, 6.30pm. First Look, E4, 7pm.