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So your body looks better now than
it did in your 30s – that’s impressive.
Yeah it does, it’s fit but I’ve got a bit
more flesh on my body now. My
stomach now looks a bit elastic –
after three babies, it’s stretched.
Are you strict about what you eat?
No. I do love crisps but I try to ration
myself because they have no
nutritional value. I’d rather eat
chocolate, which has something in it
that’s going to be good for me. And
I try to eat one healthy meal a day.
If I’m at home I’ll have a cooked lunch
with Chester. And I like doing a stir-fry
or something quite light in the evening.
Do you think you take care of yourself
now because you didn’t look after
yourself as well in your 20s?
Bizarrely, it was actually the time when
I got clean and stopped smoking that
had such a profound effect on my
weight. I know it’s not a great advert
for people to stop smoking but it took
me five years to get my metabolism
into sync again.
You seemed rather excited about the
clothes on today’s shoot.
My stylist has encouraged me to try
new things. She got me into skinny
“WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT
BIG BROTHER?” MCCALL IS THE
SHOW’S MOST STAUNCH SUPPORTER
jeans and took me to Liberty to meet
their personal shopper, Lee, who is so
good and he got me into the shoe-boot.
I don’t want to be a total trend follower
but I do care what people say about
what I’m wearing – I’m vain enough to
not want to be on the What Were You
Thinking? page.
When you get dressed do you take
that into consideration?
I find really super-skinny jeans that
go in at the bottom are good. Pencil
skirts are good for me because I have
a little waist, big bum and my legs
aren’t great so I wouldn’t generally
wear a mini. Matthew likes me in
anything hippy-ish. He loves me in
my dungarees and my vest and
flip-flops. Most importantly, he likes
me to wear nice matching underwear.
He cannot stand nude-coloured T-shirt
bras. I have just thrown away the old
T-shirt I used to wear in bed and
bought three pretty Elle Macpherson
nighties from Liberty.
You’ve been married for 10 years. How
do you keep things fresh and new?
Going out on your own together. It’s
easy to stay in, especially with young
kids, but it means a lot to Matthew if
I go to the trouble of getting dressed
up – it makes him feel loved. Women
can become very kids-centric. You’ve
got to remind your husband you still
love him and he’s still attractive to you.
You should remember the little notes
or “I love you” texts that take two
seconds but mean a lot. If someone
feels loved and cherished, they love
and cherish you back.
Have you enjoyed being a mum so far?
It’s the best thing ever. It’s so fulfilling
and funny but it’s a huge responsibility,
I keep wondering what things I do or
say now are going to affect them when
they’re 22. But having children has
contributed hugely to my well-being
and has made me a better person.
What do they do that makes you laugh?
Holly is such a performer, which I love
– it’s like looking at a mini-me. Tilly’s
got such an infectious giggle and
Chester thinks he’s in JLS. The minute
their music comes on he starts
break-dancing and he gets his really
serious break-dancing face on.
You had a difficult relationship with
your own mum [McCall’s mother
was an alcoholic who was absent for
much of her childhood]. Has that
shaped how you’ve been with your
own children?
I was lucky because I had two good
roles models – my granny and my
step-mum. Without them I would
have been flummoxed on how to
bring up a child. When your mum’s
an alcoholic you end up mothering
her and making sure nobody finds out
she’s drinking – it’s a screwed up way
of looking at things.
Do you feel any bitterness towards her?
No, because when I was a kid I loved
my mother and my mother loved
me. As a child growing up I never
resented going to see her [McCall
lived with her grandmother in Surrey
when her mother moved to France].
It was just completely mental, the
things that happened to me when
I was out there.
What kind of things?
My mum forgetting me, making citizen’s
arrests, streaking, leaving me outside
a sex shop in the red-light district
when I was 12. It was just mad. And
then I’d go back to my granny, Mrs
Security. I really loved Mummy and
she really loved me, it just wasn’t a
conventional childhood. But it made
DAVINA McCALL
me who I am. I can fit in to almost any
environment. If I was put in a room
with a bunch of alcoholics or junkies
I’d be fine because I know how they
operate. You can’t chuck anything at
me that I can’t handle.
What parts of yourself are you still
working on?
I’m quite bossy, but I’m getting better
in an argument. If I’m out with people
who’re getting a bit tipsy and
opinionated and I have a different
opinion, 10 years ago I would have
just offered that different opinion.
Now I try to bite my lip. I can be
really pedantic and I’m trying to rein
that in too. The thing that comes with
age is you know what your faults are,
but also that it’s OK not to be perfect.
What’s the Davina household like?
Shabby chic. We’re not OCD tidy –
with three children you can’t be. It’s
quite noisy. There’s usually music
playing and people are always
popping in to pick up their kids and
end up staying for supper. Every
Sunday, if I’m not working, there’s a
roast at our house or we all go en
masse to the pub down the road.
Do you have many hobbies?
I have a million hobbies that I want
to do but no time to actually do them.
This is how sad I am – I want to learn
how to knit a jumper. I want to do
tapestry and make cushions. I’d also
love to do some kind of book club.
I like reading and I love it when other
people introduce me to a book
I haven’t thought of reading.
It’s the last Big Brother this year.
How are you feeling?
I feel hugely nostalgic. I’ve got my
head around it but I was flabbergasted
when they told me because I know
they still make a lot of money when
it’s on. I’ve got no idea why Big
Brother became an enfant terrible of
“I’m not a trend follower but I’m
vain enough to not want to be on the
What Were You Thinking? pages”
TV, because it’s a brilliantly, skillfully
put together piece of entertainment
and the people who criticise it haven’t
really watched it.
And what’s next for you? I overheard
you saying you’d love to do something
with Claudia Winkleman…
We’re working on it, me and Clauds.
Possibly a culture chat show.
Watch this space.
Got To Dance, 6pm, Sundays on Sky 1
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