Davina McCall made health plea with fans months before brain tumour diagnosis

Davina McCall took to her Instagram page to reveal her brain tumour diagnosis (Image: Getty)

TV presenter Davina McCall has revealed she has been diagnosed with a rare brain tumour and is set to undergo surgery.

The 57-year-old, from London, shared the news with her 1.8 million Instagram followers, explaining that the tumour, a colloid cyst, was discovered during a health scan a few months ago.

Davina McCall wrote: "Hi, so I'm posting this it will be Friday morning. I'm posting it because 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, but it turned out I had a benign brain tumour called a colloid cyst, which is very rare."

She added: "Three in a million! So I slightly put my head in the sand for a while, and then I saw quite a few neurosurgeons, I got lots of opinions. I realised that I have to get it taken out." The tumour, which is 14mm wide, needs to be removed as it could cause problems if it grows.

This health scare comes just months after Davina urged her fans to take advantage of a free health check provided by the government for women over 40, while also campaigning for menopause to be included in the check.

Davina McCall had previously expressed her frustration that women are not informed about the menopause during their free NHS health check at 40, stating: "Ok. So every woman in the UK is given a health check for free on the NHS at 40 (this is GREAT! ) ... they talk about every single illness known to man that you might come across ... but the one thing that every single woman is 100% gonna go through is not discussed why are women not told about the MENOPAUSE at their free NHS health check at 40...it's 100% coming for them... no one avoids the menopause... we deserve to know."

She urged her followers to sign a petition to make this happen, saying: "Please scan this QR code and sign the petition to make this happen if not for you for the next generation of young girls coming into their 40s. Thank you, you are amazing."

Davina has been open about her own menopause journey, crediting HRT as her "secret weapon" and even hosting a Channel 4 show on the subject, 'Davina McCall: Sex, Myths and the Menopause'.

In her latest Instagram post, Davina discussed her upcoming surgery to remove a brain tumour, explaining that it would involve a craniotomy, where surgeons would access the tumour through the top of her head and between the two halves of her brain.

She said: "It will be removed via a craniotomy they go through the top of my head here, and through the two halves of my brain to the middle, get the cyst, empty it, take it out, and Bob's your uncle. So say a prayer for me. I am in good spirits."

Davina McCall's partner, Michael Douglas, has appeared alongside her in a recent video to reassure their followers, saying: "Just letting people know that I will have my eye on her throughout this procedure! In fact I offered to do the operation, just to make sure it was done properly! They wouldn't let me. She's in very good hands."

The TV icon also spoke about the recovery process post-surgery, informing fans: "The recovery, I'm going to be in hospital for about nine days, and then I'm going to be going home, but I'm gonna be off my phone for a while. So Michael might fill you in."

Further setting her fans' minds at ease, Davina noted that Michael would 'let fans know how she's doing', and added: "I don't want you to worry about me, I'm doing that enough as it is."