[Arneldo]

BIG Brother host Davina McCall is in anguish after her mum died of cancer before they could heal the sad rift that had kept them apart for EIGHT years.

Tragic Florence Kock, 62, went to her grave without ever having seen the TV star's three children.

Davina, 40, set to host BB9 in three weeks, could not bring herself to go to the funeral or send flowers.

But she emailed Florence's stepdaughter-in-law Helene Kock to say: "I'm sorry."

Helene told the News of the World: "Florence was still her mother. It doesn't matter what the relationship is like, it is a very emotional thing when a mother dies."

Helene, wed to the son of Florence's third husband Henry, went on: "I was with her in hospital and held her hand when she died. She was very sorry for everything she did wrong and she really wanted to talk to Davina. It's very sad."

The biggest hurt for ex-alcoholic Flor-ence—diagnosed with bone cancer last year—was she never met grandkids Holly, six, Tilly, four, and 18-month-old Chester.

Baby

Helene said Davina once sent photos of Holly but that was the only contact. Helene added: "When we walked in shops and Florence saw baby clothes, she started to cry."

Last week we revealed Davina is to quit Big Brother at the end of this series to be an actress—amid rumours that Channel 4 bosses thought the best of her presenting days were over.

She has also ditched long-time agent John Noel and hired Michael Foster—who helped transform Billie Piper's career.

A TV insider said last night: "Davina is going through one of the most difficult periods of her professional life—this news has compounded her woes."

For the last few years, millions of viewers have seen Davina chat on the phone to her "mum" in Garnier hair-dye ads. But the woman is really her stepmum Gaby.

Florence walked out leaving Davina, then three, with her grandparents, and moved to Paris. But they were fully reconciled after Davina left school and went to live in the French capital.

Then in 2000 the star banished Florence from her life for claiming in a newspaper interview that Davina's old drink-and-drugs demons had returned, and they'd been to counselling together.

But Helene insisted Florence was a "great person", who'd been sober for a decade and counselled other alcoholics— adding: "She touched a lot of people."

NOTW