Davina McCall joked that she’s “growing old disgracefully” as she made her red carpet comeback after undergoing brain surgery last year.
The Masked Singer panellist, 57, had a successful operation to remove a rare benign tumour, known as a colloid cyst, from her brain in November 2024.
The 14mm-wide tumour was discovered after the former Big Brother host underwent a health check-up.
Colloid cysts are small fluid-filled sacs in the brain that affect one in three million people every year. If they are left untreated, they can become dangerous.
McCall posed on the red carpet at the Brit Awards on Saturday (1 March) wearing a dramatic sheer gown made from black lace, layered over black underwear.
The Long Lost Family host explained the inspiration behind the jaw-dropping look in an interview with MailOnline.
“I just thought, ‘How disgraceful can I look?’ McCall said. “I’m growing old disgracefully.
“I thought, ‘What should I do?’ And I thought, ‘Go see through.’”
The TV host added that she was “feeling amazing” after recovering from surgery, adding: “Brace yourselves, I’m back.”
The star revealed her diagnosis in an Instagram post shared in November on the day of her surgery.
“A few months ago I did a menopause talk for a company and they offered me a health scan in return, which I thought I was going to ace,” she told her followers.
“But it turned out I had a benign brain tumour called a colloid cyst, which is very rare.
“I realised that I have to get it taken out. It’s big for the space – it fills the space. It’s 14mm wide. And it needs to come out because if it grows it would be bad.”
Reflecting on the surgery in an episode of her Begin Again podcast released last month, McCall revealed that she had written letters to her children ahead of the procedure in case she did not survive.
She said that the experience had left her wanting to fully embrace life, telling listeners: “If there’s something that you want to do, do it. Write your bucket list now.”
She also cleared up some misconceptions around benign brain tumours, noting that she has “newfound enormous sympathy” for others with this condition.
“I have had so many people say to me, ‘Well, at least it was benign,’” she admitted. “And you think, ‘You have no idea that benign brain tumours can still kill you.’
“It’s just you don’t know when it’s going to happen. It could happen tomorrow, it could happen in years’ time. It’s different to cancer, but it is also awful.”
