Davina McCall experienced Alzheimer's-like symptoms after brain tumour surgery

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 12:20 · Archive

TV presenter Davina McCall experienced severe memory loss following surgery to remove a benign brain tumour in November 2024.

TV presenter Davina McCall has revealed she experienced severe memory loss following brain surgery to remove a benign tumour in November 2024. Speaking on Paloma Faith's podcast Mad, Sad and Bad, the 58-year-old said she had symptoms similar to 'advanced Alzheimer's' and could not remember anything after the operation.

McCall described not knowing she had undergone surgery when she woke up. Hospital staff would ask her daily if she could remember their names, to which she said she would reply 'I don't know'. She could not watch films for six months because she could not recall events from fifteen minutes earlier, and reading was equally challenging as she could not remember the previous page.

Her partner Michael Douglas visited her in hospital for two-hour sessions, but McCall said that when he returned from the toilet she would not remember he had been there. She described 2025 as 'the hardest year' for both of them. Music proved beneficial to her recovery, acting as her 'mind physio'. By October 2025, over a year after the surgery, she woke up and could remember what she had done the previous day for the first time since the operation.

How it is being reported

• Davina McCall says she had 'advanced Alzheimer's' symptoms after brain surgeryThe TV presenter says she suffered memory loss following her operation to remove a benign tumour.BBC News · 14 Oct, 11:48
• Davina McCall had ‘advanced Alzheimer’s’ symptoms following brain tumour surgeryShe called 2025 'the hardest year'.Metro · 14 Oct, 07:43

In this story: Davina McCall · Michael Douglas · Paloma Faith · Big Brother · The Masked Singer

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem