Davina McCall breaks down in tears as she reveals the moment she decided she must have brain surgery on her tumour while out on a run

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Davina McCall became emotional while sharing that a song by a Canadian artist prompted her to make the difficult choice to undergo brain surgery. She explained that hearing the song was the deciding factor in her decision.

I was so worried about Davina, 57, when I learned she was dealing with a colloid cyst. She hadn’t shared it with the public yet, and she was in such a difficult position. She had to choose between risky, complicated surgery or living with the condition, knowing it could potentially cause a sudden death if it grew. It was an agonising choice for her, and I was just hoping she’d make the right decision for herself. You can read more about colloid cysts here.

She’d asked several people for advice and was still unsure of her next steps, but while she was running, she heard the song ‘You Can Do It’ by Caribou.

Davina said she was completely shocked and started to cry. When the song’s lyrics shifted from ‘You can do it’ to simply ‘Do it’ during the song, she made up her mind: ‘I’m going to do it’.

She kept listening to the song throughout 2024, even right before her surgery in November of that year.

Caribou is the stage name of a talented Canadian musician named Dan Snaith. I discovered the song ‘You Can Do It’ while listening to other tracks by Caribou,” she explained.

At that moment, I learned I had a brain tumor and was trying to decide how to handle it.

This is a deeply personal choice – one that only you can make. You need to be brave and take ownership of this decision. I really had to search within myself to figure things out.

‘And this song came on and I was out on a run. It poleaxed me.’

Davina went on to say: ‘The amusing thing is, it’s simply the same words repeated multiple times – specifically, ‘you can do it, you can do it, you can do it, you can do it’.

‘I really felt like he was talking to me, and I was doing my euphoric running.

‘I started running with my hands out to my side.

I was out in the countryside, completely alone. No one was around to see me, and I was just running and crying, repeatedly telling myself, ‘I can do this – I can make this decision, I just need to go through with it.’ I kept asking myself what was necessary to move forward. I realized I needed to reset everything.

I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is the greatest song ever,’ and then about halfway through, it repeats ‘Do it….Do it.’ That made me think, ‘I’m going to go for it’ – I’m going to do it.

‘And then I just listened to it every single day for the whole of 2024.

It turned into a reliance, something I depended on. I needed to hear it to convince myself that I would succeed.

So, this is a fun story! Caribou – you might know him as Caribou – actually reached out to *me* after I publicly complimented his music. It was so cool! The funny thing is, I hadn’t yet shared with anyone – not even him – just how much I was struggling with my health at the time. It was a bit of a secret I was keeping, even from someone whose work I really admired. It just goes to show you never know what people are going through, even when they seem to be doing great!

On the BBC’s Inheritance Tracks, where she explained her desire to share the song with those who come after us, Davina became emotional and continued: ‘Later, Dan Snaith reached out to me on Instagram and simply said, ‘just want to say thanks’. 

I sent him a message saying, ‘Please keep this private, but I’ve been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Because of your support – you showed me I could face this – I’ve decided to have surgery to remove it’.

‘And he said ‘We’d love you to come to a concert after your op’.

That revealed a couple of things to me. First, he’s a genuinely good person, and secondly, he believed in my potential for success.

‘So I was like ‘Brilliant, we’ll come’.

I remember listening to that song right before my hospital operation, and I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to get through this’ and I smiled.

‘It was like encouraging, it was nudging, powerful, like a freight train. Bang. And I did it.’

This follows Instagram users being impressed by Davina, who showed that age is truly just a number during a workout session on Wednesday afternoon.

The TV presenter, 57, who recently got engaged, was back in her crop top and shorts for another workout video. This time, she was promoting a new five minute fitness challenge.

Honestly, everyone was way more focused on her amazing abs than on all the hard work she was putting in! She started with some step-ups, but let’s be real, nobody was paying attention to the exercise, just those incredible abs! I’ve been screenshotting everything, of course. It’s just… obsessed is an understatement. I need to know her routine!

While filming a workout tutorial at home, Davina showcased her impressively fit body, wearing a pink vest and high-waisted gym shorts.

One impressed fan praised Davina’s appearance, writing: ‘Love Davina! Fit body goals she is amazing.’ [sic]

A second added: ‘You look incredible!!!’

She created a new ‘no pressure’ fitness challenge with Good Housekeeping magazine to ‘lift mood and boost health’. It works by dividing exercise routines into short, simple sets, making it easier to fit activity into your day.

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2025-10-05 11:51