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Davina McCall shares clip of her grandmother following Our Dementia Choir

She suffered dementia but found joy in singing

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Davina McCall moved thousands of fans last night after sharing her family’s experiences with dementia on social media.

The TV personality, 51, received an outpouring of love from many of her 2.77 million Twitter followers for tweeting about her father and grandmother’s struggles with the brain disease.

Her emotional posts seem to have been inspired by the screening of Our Dementia Choir on BBC One – and Davina tweeted a snap of her dad Andrew enjoying the programme in the direction of show presenter and Line of Duty star Vicky McClure.

Andrew was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the age of 73 in 2016. Davina has previously told how her family started noticing the tell-tale signs of Andrew’s condition following subtle changes in his behaviour and personality.

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“My dad has always been my rock. He’s way smarter than me, funnier, stronger. I’ve always slightly hero-worshipped him,” she said ahead of a 2017 memory walk in Brighton.

But sadly, Andrew isn’t the only member of Davina’s family to be blighted by the degenerative condition. Her late grandmother Pippy was also struck down.

However, Davina still celebrates her memories of her beloved grandmother she treasures – even from when she was unwell.

Sharing a personal video clip of her grandmother singing, Davina proudly noted how happy the elderly lady had been when correctly recalling the lyrics for When I Fall in Love by Nat King Cole.

Davina McCall dad (Credit: Twitter @ThisisDavina)
Davina’s dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016 (Credit: Twitter @ThisisDavina)

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She wrote alongside the clip: “After watching #dementiachoir wanted to post this… when my granny was really struggling with vascular dementia.. how chuffed she is about remembering all the words ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.”

Fans were blown away by video, with many going on to reveal how dementia has affected the lives of their own relatives.

“Oh gosh this made me tear up!” replied one.

Another commented: “I’ve worked in care for 26 years and singing with residents is so beneficial for them. Especially people with memory issues and people who have had strokes.

“They sometimes can’t speak a word, but you start singing a familiar song and they will be able to sing it ❤️.”

Davina McCall (Credit: Instagram @davinamccall)
Davina’s grandmother was also struck down by dementia (Credit: Instagram @davinamccall)

Someone else told Davina: “What an awesome granny you have xx treasure every moment.”

And the £100K Drop presenter replied: “She passed away last year.”

But despite her grandmother’s passing, it is clear Davina still takes comfort from her happy moment on film.

“I adore her wee wink at the end ❤️,” noted another follower.

“Me too! She’s like ‘I’ve so got this,'” replied Davina.

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Robert Leigh
Freelance writer