A bit like the menopause, everybody's experience of birth is different...

TV PRESENTER AND FITNESS QUEEN DAVINA MCCALL TALKS ABOUT THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF PARENTING, AND WHAT INSPIRED HER TO WRITE HER NEW BOOK BIRTHING. BY CAMILLA FOSTER

- BY CAMILLA FOSTER

BELOVED TV presenter and proud mum Davina McCall believes the most profound lesson in parenthood isn’t what you impart to your children, but what they teach you.

“If ever somebody's saying to me, ‘I don’t know whether to have kids or not,’ one of the reasons why I would say have kids is not because of what you can pass on, it's what they make you look at,” says the 57-year-old mum to Holly, 23, Tilly, 21, and Chester, 18.

“Tilly, my middle one, has been the greatest at teaching me to stop micromanaging. She is like, ‘no Mum, let me try this - don’t tell me what to do. I know what to do, and if it's a mistake, I'll still be OK’

“I think that's the big fear with parents, you think, ‘oh my God, I've got to lead you through this one. It’s going to be difficult, but they have to make mistakes.

“When I look at my life, the greatest gifts that I've been given have been all my catastrophes. I’ve learned most from the catastrophes and if you don’t let your kids have catastrophes, how are they going to learn?”

Another important lesson Davina has adopted is what she calls “radical honesty’.

“I think the other really big thing with kids is being honest,” says the star, known for hosting shows such as Big Brother and Long Lost Family, being a judge on The Masked Singer, her Begin Again podcast and her fitness empire.