The Masked Singer star Davina McCall has spoken out about the time she was rushed to hospital following a drugs overdose in her 20s.
The 52-year-old presenter – who has spoken openly about her battle with heroin addiction in the past – knew she needed to “get clean or die” when she reached her lowest point after turning to narcotics to try to “escape” from herself.
Speaking to a group of teenage girls at the launch of The Sun on Sunday‘s International Women’s Day event, she said: “Drugs took me to a very, very, very dark place and, one night, I overdosed.
“It was very frightening as it was a very gradual overdose. I’d had a cocktail of drugs, because I didn’t want to feel normal.
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“I was constantly trying to escape myself – I was like a piece of fruit rotting from the inside.”
Explaining the next thing she knew about was waking up in hospital after ‘just taking’ a valium Davina turned to Narcotics Anonymous meetings – which she still occasionally attends – and quit drugs within a year, which helped her turn her life around.
Drugs took me to a very, very, very dark place.
She also said she was a person that people would have avoided in the street – but she “empowered” herself to change her situation and credits getting clean to bagging her dream job and improving her life.
The former Big Brother host also noted she learned a lot of valuable lessons from the meetings, including how to work hard.
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Last month Davina said she is making plans for a “fresh start” following her divorce from husband of 17 years Matthew Robertson.
The pair – who share kids Holly, 18, Tilly, 16, and Chester, 13 – split in 2017.
Speaking to Woman & Home, Davina revealed she’s devised a way for herself and the kids to stay positive after the sale of their family home.
She said: “I’m building a house! My kids and I have been renting and we were trying to find a plot of land. So we’re doing it together. This year is going to be super stressful, but really fun. It’s the next phase of our lives – a house that we’ve all built and everyone gets to choose how they want their bedrooms.”
Davina noted that it was “tough” for the kids when they sold the family home so “it’s nice to say fresh house, fresh start”.
Davina and Matthew tied the knot in 2000 and renewed their vows in 2015, only to sadly split just two years later.
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