The Ultimate Masterclass Festival (UMF) returned to the Music Hall on Thursday for an evening with Davina McCall.
The British TV icon and women’s health guru was interviewed by Aberdeen’s own Fiona Stalker on recovering from her addiction to heroin, launching her TV career through sheer persistence, and a number of issues surrounding menopause.
Davina has received widespread praise for her in-depth documentaries on menopause, dispelling a series of myths around treatment and short-falls in how women’s health had been handled by medical professionals.
She also shared a special Aberdonian anecdote about one of the shows which launched her career; Streetmate.
Her appearance on stage was preceeded by psychiatrist and TV doctor Dr Tharaka Gunarathne (known affectionately as Dr T) who helped the 1,300-strong sold-out audience improve their memory, as well as dispelling other myths regarding ‘brain fog’ while going through menopause.
Dealing with addiction
Davina has always been open about her battles with heroin in her younger years, prior to her big break on TV, which came as she was six-months clean.
She told the engrossed audience how she swapped addiction to drugs for addition to Narcotics Anonymous meetings to ger her life back on track.
“At the end of the first meeting they asked if there was anyone new to introduce themselves, and the whole room looked at me.
“I had to say it out loud. Everyone introduced themselves at these meetings with their first name and then ‘and I’m and addict’.
“I can still feel it now, the fear of saying those words out loud meant that I could never go backwards, I couldn’t leave again and pretend I wasn’t an addict. If I said it out loud it was like admitting to myself that I would never be able to take drugs happily again.
“It (heroin) felt safe, this is what’s so weird about. It was so fleeting and then all the feelings of emptiness would come back."
Davina told the audience it was regular Narcotics Anonymous meetings that filled the emptiness.
“I became addicted to meetings – much rather that than drugs,” she laughed.
“I went to them for fear of dying quite a lot of the time.
“One thing I saw from those meetings was that when somebody relapsed, it was hard for them to come back because of the shame.
“We would be so welcoming, open-armed, no judgement, but it was hard for the people to go back.
“I just thought, I don’t want to be that person. So, I went everyday."
Dispelling the HRT myths
The interview, hosted expertly by Fiona, moved on to menopause and an in-depth discussion on hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Davina made clear at the start that HRT doesn’t work for everyone, but having the right information on it - something she sought to find in her documentary - is key.
“If you are going to go in (to your GP) and talk about menopause ask for a double appointment, because you’re going to need a bit more time.
“Then what you need to do is log all of your symptoms, write them all down. If you are over 45, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines are what the doctors read for your illness or condition.
“They say, if you are 45 and you present with anxiety, depression, aching joints, et cetera, HRT is an option.
“Unfortunately, if you’re 43, like I was when I went through it, they look it up and say you’re too young. But I see a lot of women who start a bit earlier.
“The GPs that haven’t learnt about HRT at university are terrified.
“Lots of people say to me ‘I’ve got high blood pressure, I can’t go on HRT’. But actually, HRT is good for blood pressure.
“HRT is good for bone strength and bone density, and I didn’t know HRT was good for anything. I just thought it was bad.”
What would you say to your younger self?
To finish an extraordinary near-90-minute interview with one of Britain’s most recognisable faces, Davina was asked what advice she’d give to her younger self.
“The one thing that I would say is ‘it’s all going to be okay’.
“I didn’t believe that, I didn’t believe it was all going to be okay.
“I always thought that something was going to happen, but now, I think forwards and I think ‘what is the worst thing that’s going to happen?’ And I’d still be okay.
“We will all go through s*** and it’s going to be really painful, people will leave you, people will betray you, you might do something terrible.
“But the way that I’ve got through life is rather than letting that be another burden for me to carry on my shoulder to weigh me down, I’ve always thought ‘okay, this is awful, but what can I learn from it?’
“I’m not perfect, I can’t preach that, but I’m always learning.
“I always feel like I’ve got room for improvement which is a positive thing. Never give up.”