Davina McCall's tearful seven-word confession about mum who abandoned her

Davina McCall may be known for reuniting relatives as part of Long Lost Family, but over the years she has opened up about her own family life and upbringing too. Having been born in London in 1967 to Andrew McCall and Florence Kock, Davina’s parents sadly went their separate ways when the Big Brother host was just three years old. Reflecting on their split on Who Do You Think You Are in 2009, Davina, now 57, described the effects of her parents divorce as ‘splitting’ her “in two”.

She said: “When you are the child of a divorced parent you are kind of split in two. I didn't just split in two, I had two countries. I kind of lost touch with a lot of my French family as well and I feel half a person in a funny sort of way.”. Following the divorce, Davina’s mum Florence, who was French, headed to Paris. In turn, the TV personality lived with her grandmother while she kept in contact with her dad Andrew.

In an Instagram live in 2020, Davina opened up on that period of her childhood. During one particularly emotional moment, the My Mum Your Dad presenter recalled how, at the age of four, her mum told her she was heading on a trip, never to come back. “Actually, the first time that I realised I was at my grannies and my mum left me at my grannies and said she was going on a two week ski trip, and she didn't know how to tell me that she wasn't coming back,” she explained.

“But that's how she put it to me, and that I hoped I'd forget. I was four. I remember the time I was in the kitchen. And I looked at my granny. I thought, I feel terrible, my mum hasn't come to pick me up yet.”. With her birth mum living abroad, Davina headed to France to visit Florence and previously explained how she was once left on her own in a nightclub aged 12 by her mother. In her 2016 memoir, Davina, who later moved to Paris in her early twenties, admitted that her relationship with her mother “really confused” her, though shone a light on the fond memories she had of Florence. “I believe that my mother loved me, thought I was hilarious, a bit mad and quite funny, and I really loved her and thought she was incredibly glamorous and beautiful, but our relationship really confused me,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, in an interview with The Times in 2023 she explained how her mother’s behaviour had shaped her own approach to life. “I don’t want to slag her off. She was my mum, warts and all. She wasn’t perfect. And she did make me, in so many ways, who I am,” she said. “She was party central, but also, I’m at pains to say, along with being quite a chaotic parent, she was really f****** fun. She was spontaneous. I'm not very good at that. I feel like I'm such a wild woman when I'm spontaneous because I'm a planner.

“I like to be organised because my mum was very chaotic. So it makes me feel safe when I go: 'OK, next Christmas we'll...' And I do that in January.”. In 2008, Florence died. Davina did not attend the funeral. “My mother died last year and we were sort of estranged. It was just very sad,” she said on Who Do You Think You Are. She added: “She probably shouldn't have had kids because she was still a big kid herself.”.

15 years after her mother’s passing, Davina revealed that she’d started an application to get a French passport, after what she described as a “complicated” relationship with Florence. “Yesterday was a huge day. I went to the French embassy to start the process of getting my French passport,” she wrote on Instagram. “This isn’t about just trying to make my life easier. It was a very emotional day. Culturally this feels huge for me. I’ve always felt a huge affinity with France, but I had a complicated relationship with my French mum and I can’t explain why but this feels very healing. Like I’m acknowledging I am half her. And it feels good x Vive la France.”.

Over the years, Davina has spoken about the close bond she has with her stepmum Gaby, who was married to her father. When she was 13 years old, the Masked Singer star moved in with Gaby and her dad and has described how she gave her some “very much needed stability”. In a sweet Instagram post in 2019, she wrote: “Mothers come in all guises. They don’t have to be biologically connected to you. My birth mother wasn’t a mum to me. But two women filled that role. Pippy, my grandma and this lady. This is Gaby. She is my step mum, she has been since I was six.

“Being a stepmum has its challenges... but for me .. ( my real mum was an alcoholic ) she was my very much needed stability. I went to live with Gaby and my Dad when I was 13 and a couple of years later , started going off the rails. She was always there, solid, a rock.... and has continued to be throughout my life. “She gave me my gorgeous little sis and is the most phenomenal wife to my Dad (who has Alzheimer's) So Gaby, I'm so proud to call you mum. Thank you for everything i love you. @gabbamccall.”.