Davina McCall tells Woman the reason she’s changed her attitude towards exercise and how her mindset has shifted when it comes to her body
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
It may be the era of Ozempic, but you certainly won’t find presenter, author and fitness guru Davina McCall jumping on any of the latest weight-loss fads. ‘Health and fitness need to be a long-term thing that you can enjoy, not something you do for a couple of months a year and then give up on. I’ve never believed in quick fixes because I know they don’t work,’ she says.
The mum of three also advises people to look to the future when it comes to staying fit. ‘If you want to stay younger for longer, exercise. How you look and feel in middle age is a really good indicator of how you’ll feel when you’re older and what kind of physical ability you’ll have. The sooner you start the process of getting fit, the better. I look at amazing women like Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren for inspiration.
‘I want to be around for as long as possible and that’s why exercise is so important. It’s the biggest factor for me these days, rather than it being about how I look. I want to feel great, too. Being able to leap out of bed in the morning is a massive bonus too, even if it does drive my son Chester a bit mad!’
Feeling free
Like most of us, the 56-year-old has always focused on parts of her body she would like to improve, whether that’s toning up her legs or having more defined arms. But she’s put all that behind her now, and says the most important thing is feeling comfortable in her skin and not giving herself a hard time about any perceived ‘imperfections’.
‘I have spent so long criticising myself and I refuse to do it any more,’ she says candidly. ‘What you say to yourself really matters and I’ve learnt to talk to myself differently. Everyone has times when they don’t feel their best because they’re a bit bloated or whatever, but I’m accepting of those days. I got bored of giving myself a hard time and it feels very freeing not to do that any more.’
The star joyfully embraces her ‘saggy and wobbly bits’ – not that we can see any! She also refuses to let herself be defined by what her bathroom scales say and says her body has balanced out since she began intermittent fasting in 2022. ‘I stop eating around 8pm and I start again at around 10am the following morning.
