Being fit should be fun – not punishing
ENVIABLY fit, glamorous and successful, Davina Mccall doesn’t look like a woman who needs anything to boost her confidence – but the 52-year-old has a secret weapon.
“Smoking hot underwear,” which, she says with a laugh, helps her feel like a “foxy minx”. “I’ve always worn smoking hot underwear. It’s just for me, a little shield, only you know you’re wearing it and it’s the best thing ever,” says the presenter and fitness guru, who was due to host the first Wellfest UK before it was postponed due to the pandemic (she’s previously taken part in Wellfest Ireland).
She’s appalled that from 50 onwards, many women “feel invisible when it comes to underwear and are often only offered something really boring, plain – big pants, ugh!
“We’re perfectly able to feel sexy and vixen-like, with or without a man. You can be in your 50s, 60s and 70s and need a bit of va-va-voom. I regard it as an act of self-love to treat my body to lovely lingerie every morning.”
Launching her own lingerie range is just one project – she’s still presenting ITV’S Long Lost Family and was recently a judge on The Masked Singer.
Away from the screen, life seems settled. Davina – who has three children with ex-husband, Pet Rescue presenter Matthew Robertson (they announced their divorce in 2017 after 17 years of marriage) – is dating best friend of 20 years hairdresser
Michael Douglas, and is in her “best place ever”.
Here, she tells us more...
I’D like to be a spokesperson for women in their 50s or approaching that milestone and tell them, ‘It’s going to be OK –
I’m having a blast and you can too!’ I’m proud of being 52. This is going to be my decade where I grab life by the horns.
When I was a kid, women in their 50s looked in their 70s and like it was all over.
It’s so different now. Getting older has made me looser, calmer and happier in my own skin. Embracing fitness has boosted my body confidence way higher than it was when I was 18, when my body was at its peak – because it has nothing to do with what your body looks like, and everything to do with how you feel.
DEFINITELY. I’m in a time where my kids are good, life is good, I’m proud of my work. I feel sort of happy where I am and with what I’ve got. In my 30s and 40s, I was always trying to get somewhere, achieve something.
I’ve looked at clips of myself in the late Nineties and it’s like looking at somebody else. I was so frantic and over-enthusiastic, but that was just who I was.
I think I was so excited because I felt I’d been given a second life after giving up drugs.
I notice now when I get together with my mates, we’re all more outrageous, funnier and more carefree than we were in our 40s.
GOING through a divorce is an emotional turmoil, but after two years we’ve come through it and are co-parenting happily.
Nothing can ever be as bad as losing Caroline (Davina’s sister died from cancer in 2012).
Remarkably, she supported me, even though she was the one dying, just like she supported me through life really.
She also taught me to not fear death. I admired her bravery so much.
It’s very hard to see my dad, Andrew, suffering from Alzheimer’s. It’s heartbreaking watching someone who was so active and intelligent and argumentative having to be helped with the most basic tasks.
We are losing him but he’s amazing, he still recognises my face and can smile and laugh when I’m there, even though he can’t really speak.
All these experiences have made me try harder to just live in the day, so each day brings its own joy, or trials or tribulations, but the next day is a clean slate and you start again.
IT’S a huge turning point for women. I started the perimenopause at 44 and had a couple of tough years. I chose the HRT route. It’s been a game-changer and helped me feel my old self again.
I realise it’s not for everyone – everyone has to do their due diligence and research – but I felt it was the best option for me.
I DO find, at 52, I’m exercising and eating the right food for a slightly different reason. I think about my health and longevity – my sister died at 50 from cancer, my mum had cancer, my granny got vascular dementia following a stroke.
I don’t want to start obsessing about it or driving myself nuts, but I try to do everything to be the healthiest I can be so I can take care of my kids for as long as possible, and also I want to feel good in myself.
I think being fit should be fun and not punishing and driven by unrealistic targets.
I only train three times a week, as I have to fit in work and family. Before going to bed, I may do some toning and stretching because it’s relaxing and helps me sleep. I watch my cholesterol, eat lots of fibre and try to avoid refined sugar.
THE mental health benefits of working out are amazing and that’s huge for me. It relieves stress, clears my head and sorts my mind out. I can’t imagine a time when I won’t do it.
I’d recommend any exercise – even a long walk – for anyone who’s feeling a bit down. It’s one of the reasons I got involved with Wellfest UK – an event where people can learn about healing through exercise and all the benefits you can gain from it.
What I find so heartening nowadays is that people can talk openly about mental health. When I got clean (from addiction) 27 years ago, talking