He was there on the other side of her salon chair for decades and listened to her woes.
But only recently has Davina McCall’s boyfriend, who is also her hairdresser, candidly admitted to finding her ‘annoying’ due to her experiencing short-term memory loss following a brain operation she had last year.
In an interview with Good Housekeeping UK, where she graces the cover, the 57-year-old shared: ‘Michael (Douglas) has been incredibly supportive during this time. Caring for someone who is so vulnerable and in need is quite exhausting.
She continued: ‘At one point, I thought his behaviour was a bit odd, but I couldn’t remember why it felt odd.
‘I said to him, “Michael, I’ve noticed you don’t want to be around me much. If you feel differently about me, it’s fine, I understand.”
‘He said, “It’s because you’re annoying at the moment,” and I’ve never been so relieved to be told that I’m annoying.
Davina McCall, at 57, discussed her life with partner Michael Douglas, who is 49, after having undergone brain surgery that resulted in short-term memory loss. She posed for an eye-catching new spread with Good Housekeeping UK.
The pair started dating in 2019 and made their relationship public in the same year, following Davina’s separation from her husband of 17 years, Matthew Robertson, in 2017 (Davina and Michael pictured in 2023).
‘I knew I was, because I’d repeat the same questions over and over again. We both laughed hard at that.’
Last November, the host of Long Lost Families had surgery to remove a non-cancerous colloid cyst from her brain, discovered during a check-up while she was promoting awareness about menopause health.
A medical scan identified a rare type of tumour that ‘very, very rarely’ could ’cause sudden death,’ leading to her successful surgery, which involved removing the tumour through a craniotomy.
But a side effect was temporary short-term memory loss, which she said was ‘improving every day’.
By April 2025, following a final MRI scan, she announced the tumour ‘is not coming back’
For her, it was a terrifying ordeal and she is incredibly grateful – and relieved – to have got through it.
Michael was at her bedside as she recovered and took to social media at the time to keep Davina’s fans updated with her progress.
But he has also been her rock for recovery, which she said included going back to work after three months convalescing.
But it’s only now that Davina’s hairdresser-turned-boyfriend feels he can be honest about finding her ‘annoying’ – since the TV presenter’s brain operation last year
Posing on the cover of Good Housekeeping UK, she told the publication: ‘Michael (Douglas) has been mega helpful with me on all of this. It’s exhausting looking after someone so vulnerable and needy’
She continued: ‘At one point, I thought his behaviour was a bit odd, but I couldn’t remember why it felt odd. I said to him, “Michael, I’ve noticed you don’t want to be around me much. If you feel differently about me, it’s fine, I understand”
She went on: ‘He said, “It’s because you’re annoying at the moment,” and I’ve never been so relieved to be told that I’m annoying. I knew I was, because I’d repeat the same questions over and over again. We both laughed hard at that’ (both pictured 2024)
As a self-confessed workaholic, Davina needed little encouragement to get back in front of the cameras as soon as possible.
And so after three months convalescing, she returned to film the ITV series, Long Lost Family. It was, she said, ‘like coming home’.
She told Daily Mail: ‘Michael knew it would help me, so he supported me in going back. It was a terrifying to go through, but Michael knew it would be what would make me happiest. He was absolutely right. I had three months off, but that was it.’
Michael and the BBC presenter became a couple in 2019 and publicly confirmed their relationship the same year after she had split from her husband of 17 years, Matthew Robertson, in 2017.
The My Mum, Your Dad host found love again with her hairdresser, and the pair look after the children she shares with her ex-husband – Holly, 23, Tilly, 21, and Chester, 18.
Davina previously told Daily Mail: ‘He knew everything about me before we got together.
‘We just told each other everything because we didn’t fancy each other, so you could be really honest, more honest than you would if you fancied someone.’
Davina’s full interview can be read now in the October issue of Good Housekeeping UK.
Last November, the TV presenter announced that she had been diagnosed with a colloid cyst, a rare type of benign brain tumour
She had a six-hour operation to remove a 14mmm colloid cyst from her brain on November 15, after a health check discovered the tumour
