'We're both happy and healthy, but that might not last forever': Davina McCall's plans to retire revealed

Davina’s husband, Michael Douglas, shared when Davina might bow out of television presenting

Davina McCall and Michael Douglas attend the Lady Garden Foundation's Silent No More Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show on May 22, 2026
(Image credit: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

She’s been a mainstay on TV for decades, but Davina McCall does have a timeline for when she plans to retire - and it’s not too far away.

Her husband, hairdresser and woman&home contributor Michael Douglas, revealed that he and Davina plan to retire in the next five years, when it’s "time for us to relax and enjoy all of that hard work".

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Michael confirmed that the pair are planning to retire, stating, "We've got five years of hard work left in us… Davina will be about 62 and I’ll be around 58."

Michael Douglas (L) and Davina McCall attend the Royal Television Society Programme Awards 2026

(Image credit: Grant Buchanan/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

He added, "There comes a point where you think, when do we actually sit back and enjoy everything we've worked so hard for? We're both happy and healthy individuals, but that might not last forever."

Davina in particular has faced a tough few years in terms of health battles. In 2024, the Long Lost Family host underwent surgery to remove a rare brain tumour after doctors found a colloid cyst during a health check-up as part of her menopause advocacy work.

In November 2025, she also revealed she’d undergone a lumpectomy after catching the signs of breast cancer very early.

"I had a biopsy, and I found out it was indeed breast cancer," Davina shared at the time. "I'm so relieved to have had it removed, and to know that it hasn't spread".

At the time, she revealed she was “very angry" on receiving a cancer diagnosis but learnt to “let go” and focus on the positives.

"I'm the happiest I have ever been. I’m in such a good space," she told Hello!, adding, "It’s age that’s given me that. You don’t get the experience without ageing. It’s taken me until my fifties to learn enough to make myself feel really, deeply content.”

Touching on the journey they’ve gone on together, Michael opened up on the pair’s shared podcast, Making the Cut, revealing the past few years had left him “very, very low.”

He said, “The back end of last year [I] was very down, very, very low. Of course, far as to say, the lowest I've ever felt. It was a mixture of things going on.

!I had some kind of emotional family stuff that was weighing me down a little bit. Business was quite tough last year. I was carrying, shouldering, a lot of responsibility. We had a very tough year. You had breast cancer.”

Davina added that her memory issues after the brain surgery had an impact, saying, “Also my memory was really difficult and that was very difficult. I couldn't remember, but it was hard on you, I know that.”

Despite the health battles, Davina and Michael have had many a reason to celebrate over the past few years, too. Earlier this summer, the pair hosted a second wedding party at their home in Kent, less than a year after officially tying the knot in a December wedding.

Jack Slater
Freelance writer

Jack Slater is not the Last Action Hero, but that's what comes up first when you Google him. Preferring a much more sedentary life, Jack gets his thrills by covering news, entertainment, celebrity, film and culture for woman&home, and other digital publications.


Having written for various print and online publications—ranging from national syndicates to niche magazines—Jack has written about nearly everything there is to write about, covering LGBTQ+ news, celebrity features, TV and film scoops, reviewing the latest theatre shows lighting up London’s West End and the most pressing of SEO based stories.

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