Davina McCall 'a little bit disappointed' as she slams BBC documentary for 'scaremongering'

Davina McCall has blasted the BBC for airing a documentary that she thinks will deter women from seeking hormone replacement therapy.

On Monday night, a special Panorama episode titled The Menopause Industry Uncovered aired on BBC One which looked into treatments and methods of helping women during menopause. The show spotlighted one GP who was accused of prescribing excessively high doses of HRT - a treatment that replaces hormones when the body is not producing at a sufficient level.

But Davina hit out at the special on social media and slammed the show. Highlighting the fact that October is menopause awareness month, the 56-year-old My Mum, Your Dad host blasted the national broadcaster for presenting HRT in a negative light.

Davina herself has praised the treatment and said she supports other women making informed decisions on their own. In a lengthy video post shared via Instagram on Tuesday, the TV star declared: "I'm quickly going to say to everybody, happy menopause awareness month. And I quickly wanted to mention Panorama program last night that was on the menopause, and give my thoughts on it."

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Addressing the host of the show, she continued: "Firstly, I just want to say how much I love and respect Kirsty Wark. She did a documentary in 2017 about menopause. I often name check her as being one of the OG warriors. So Big up to Kirsty."

But then rounding on the show, she went on: "I think my overall feeling was I was a little bit disappointed, because I felt like, once again, it was designed to kind of put us off trying to take hormone replacement therapy, and whilst I wholly advocate lifestyle choices as being very important, food, exercise, sleep, all of these things really important for some women, and we heard from quite a few people in the show how debilitating menopause can be for some HRT can be a lifeline, or for people with osteoporosis, or for people just with bad symptoms like I had, it was a lifeline for me."

Davina then went on to name the GP that the BBC had criticised as the same person who inspired her to begin her own HRT journey. Urging others to be cautious on their own journey, she said: "I do understand all the nerves about over prescribing or going over the license limit and how there need to be sort of precautions in place to make sure that women are safeguarded. Their health is safeguarded at this time. But quite a few doctors, GPS and private doctors have prescribed over the licensed amount when somebody does not absorb estrogen through the skin very well."

She went on to share the story of one of her own friends who said her doctor frequently ran tests on her to ensure the HRT treatment was being received properly. Continuing her criticism of the BBC show, Davina added: "Investigating one doctor doesn't mean that everyone is wrong."

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