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Davina McCall reveals why she is attending AA meetings

The presenter has suffered from addiction in the past

While from the outside it might look as though Davina McCall has totally moved on from her past addictions to alcohol, cocaine and heroin, she still takes her recovery as a day-to-day process.

Davina told The Sunday People this weekend that she even still attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings – and won’t ever quit them.

“I’ll definitely never be recovered,” she explained. “I love going to my AA meetings and don’t think I will ever stop.

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“They are very welcoming. All my mates are there, it’s a social thing and they inspire me.”

Davina has always been open about the fact that she was addicted to alcohol, cocaine and heroin for six years before becoming famous.

After getting clean, she got a job on MTV, before going on to present shows like Big Brother and The Jump.

While she’s now hugely successful with a happy home life, married to husband Matthew with three children, Davina thinks it’s important to speak openly about issues like addiction.

Which is why she’s always been so open.

“I started talking about it a long time ago because I wanted to tell people in my own words,” she says.

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“I’m talking 25 years ago so it was especially shocking back then. I was the only presenter who had been an addict.”

And while the meetings may be more of a ‘social thing’ now, Davina admits that in the early days the meetings had a very different function.

“I remember going to my first meeting and someone was three days clean and I couldn’t believe it, I was like ‘how did you manage that?’” she says.

“They probably thought they were nothing because they had only ­managed three days but to me it ­hugely helped knowing they had been clean for three days.”

Davina – and all her mates at AA – what a massive inspiration you all are.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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