Davina McCall: I feel very French
The presenter has spoken about her heritage.
Davina McCall has said she feels “very French” and culturally split.
The TV presenter is the daughter of an English father and a French mother, and feels at home across the Channel.
She said her children mock her for going “full French” when she visits her mother’s homeland.
The 51-year-old revealed that she does nothing to refute rumours that she once performed at the Moulin Rouge, and embraces the French side of her character.
She told BBC Radio 3’s Classical Fix that her Gallic cultural heritage is “very important”.
“Culturally I think I feel very split down the middle. I do feel very French,” she said.
“When I go to France I feel very at home.
“My kids always laugh at me whenever we go to France. They also say I go a bit French from the minute I get on the plane, and by the time I’ve landed I’ve gone full French.
“Full French is a way that I hold myself. They even say that my mouth moves differently.
“I gesticulate more with my hands, I’m more expressive.”
McCall said that when she was 18 she spent six months as a singing waitress in Paris.
This led to the rumours that she worked at the Moulin Rouge, a story she is proud to perpetuate.
She said: “I have done nothing to quash that rumour.”
Classical Fix is available now on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds.
