TV presenter Davina McCall has revealed she is to walk down the aisle — a month after declaring she’d never marry again.
The star, 57, and celebrity hairdresser Michael Douglas, 52, secretly got engaged this summer after seven years.
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He has been a rock during her recovery from a life-saving brain op, and a friend said: “Everyone is so thrilled for them.”
The couple, together seven years, then flew to the Burning Man festival in Nevada, US, three weeks ago to celebrate.
They have revealed the happy news only to their innermost circle.
Davina is recovering from an op to remove a benign brain cyst last November and a friend said: “To say it has been a rollercoaster year for her is an understatement.
“Whilst surgery was, of course, traumatic, she made peace with a lot in the days and weeks leading up to it.
“Then, having survived, she had a new lease of life — as so many do who have been in similar situations.
“Michael was her absolute rock throughout her recovery.
“If you see them together, genuinely they are like lovesick teenagers.
“Their chemistry is insane.
“Basically Davina thought ‘f*** it, life is short’, and decided it was time to, as the kids say, lock in the love of her life.”
The pair met on Big Brother in the early 2000s when he styled her hair.
They stayed friends for years but only began dating after she finalised her divorce from Matthew Robertson in early 2018.
It is not known when Davina and Michael will but is unlikely to be until after May next year when Davina is expected to be fully recovered from her brain op.
The pal added: “She has a ring but is only wearing it in private.
“It is wonderful news and everyone who knows them is just so thrilled.
“They really do make the most gorgeous couple.”
Yesterday mum-of-three Davina detailed her post-op journey to Radio 2’s Scott Mills, and, without mentioning her engagement, said she had never been happier.
She said: “After my operation they said it will take a year to 18 months to get as good as you’re going to get.
“I keep thinking that next May I’m going to go out for dinner with Michael and say, ‘I hope this version of me is all right as this is what you’re going to get’.
“I don’t know if you think I see any difference but I am so happy.
“It is mad. I guess I am just super-grateful to be here, alive.
“I can’t believe the sliding doors that happened to get me here are magical.
“It’s been a massive journey and some has been incredibly hard.”
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Davina, currently hosting two shows — Long Lost Family and Stranded On Honeymoon Island — told last November how a colloid cyst was found that month during a check-up as part of her menopause advocacy work.
The star had the surgery in a London hospital with neurosurgeon Kevin O’Neill.
She was in intensive care after the craniotomy, which involved part of her skull being removed to reach the tumour.
She described the scare as the “hardest thing” she had been through, revealing she briefly lost all short-term memory.
Davina is one of Britain’s most successful broadcasters and was awarded an MBE in 2023.
She also received a special recognition award at last year’s National Television Awards.
Michael has styled her locks for years and created a glam beehive hairdo for her appearance at Wednesday night’s NTAs at the O2 in London.
He runs his own award-winning brand, MD London and co-hosts popular podcast Making The Cut.
Davina, who once hosted dating show Streetmate, last month insisted they’d never tie the knot.
She said: “We go on honeymoons all the time but without getting married.
“We’re in the honeymoon period even after all these years.
“I couldn’t be more happy. And sometimes there’s an idea of, why change anything?’”
But in another recent interview she praised Michael for his support.
She said: “I want to just big up Michael for a minute, because you and I have been through something mega, and I want to say out loud, just thank you.
“It’s been really difficult for both of us, and I love you with all of my heart.
“You are everything to me, you’re my soulmate.
“We are more than married!”
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Davina was married to TV adventurer Matthew Robertson for 17 years, and the couple have children Holly, Chester, and Tilly.
Davina wed then-shop manager Andrew Leggett in 1997.
But they fell out after a few months and the marriage ended in 1999.
After realising their feelings for one another, Davina and Michael went public with their relationship in 2018, and by January 2023 had moved in together.
Last autumn doctors discovered a 14mm tumour after Davina had a scan as part of a deal with One Welbeck, a private healthcare facility for whom she had given a talk on the menopause for.
The presenter explained: “In my head, I was literally the healthiest person in the world.
“I had this head-to-toe scan.
“And they came back and they went, ‘Okay, we’ve got your results. Um… we’d like to talk to you’.
“They said, ‘You’ve got a benign cyst in your brain.’
“The doctor explained it’s called a colloid cyst.
“And a colloid cyst is a three in a million thing, and it can also cause… very, very rarely, but it can also cause sudden death.”
Speaking to podcaster Steven Bartlett, Davina said she faced the diagnosis head on with Michael, with the pair discussing what might happen if something went wrong during the surgery.
She added: “I said, ‘Look, I’ve got to plan for it if it doesn’t go according to plan.’
“When I’d spoken to the doctors, they talked about things like stroke, epilepsy, these being risks.
“Nicking an artery or a blood vessel in the brain and having a bleed… so there were a lot of things that could be a risk.
“And obviously, because of my age, you know, I’m 57. That was another thing that mattered to me. I was thinking, you know.
“Would you rather have brain surgery now, or if it grew in eight years’ time, would you want to have it in your mid-to-late 60s?
“Would it not be better to get it done now while you’re fit and healthy in every other way?”
After speaking to her children and closest family, Davina said she immediately set about sorting her affairs — including updating her will.
Following the surgery, Michael updated Davina’s followers and said she was recovering well.
The brave star returned to TV on The Masked Singer and thrilled fans by wearing a peroxide blonde, pixie-cut wig.
A spokesman for Davina last night declined to comment.
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Teen-like lovebirds make us all happy
By Clemmie Moodie
I DEFY you to name a more loved-up couple than Davina McCall and Michael Douglas.
Seeing them in the flesh is like witnessing teenagers in the first flush of intoxicating, all-consuming, hormonal-heavy love. Minus the angst.
News of their engagement is the bit of cheer we all needed at a time when so much else in the world is unrelentingly grim.
Davina is one of the kindest, most genuine celebrities in Britain.
Michael is a bundle of high energy fun.
He is as deeply in love with his fiancée as he is rightly proud of her.
Whilst their public lives are deeply entwined thanks to a successful podcast and his artful rendering of her locks, they are also deeply successful, and independent, in their own right.
A few years ago I bumped into Michael at London’s Soho House.
He came over to say hi; he drinks (moderately, not in a lush way) whereas six-packed, uber-fit Davina is famously teetotal.
He was lovely, unguarded and deeply complimentary of his then-girlfriend.
Michael invariably accompanies her on set and, granted, they’re not snogging unprofessionally between takes, but their chemistry is palpable.
Their decision to marry, having insisted they would never want to rock the boat, will give dog-obsessed spinsters like me hope.
Evidently Davina’s recent trauma, which she so powerfully documented to help others experiencing similar, has given her fresh perspective. Life is short; celebrate those you love.
For a woman so synonymous with menopause awareness, how lovely another M word “marriage” is now what we are all talking about.
I wish them a lifetime of happiness.