They cut open my skull to remove my brain tumour, reveals CAPRICE. And this terrifying brush with death radically changed my life...

Caprice is feeling brave these days and she knows why. 'Oh my small person that I had close here,' she says, tapping her ain forehead lightly. 'My tumour. That was truly scary. That changes everything.'

The supermodel and entrepreneur is astir to prima successful a movie she's produced and financed herself: the lush, romanticist and precise snowy A European Christmas connected Channel 5. But Caprice says she would not person had the guts to commencement making movies connected her ain without the courageousness gained from surviving the worst days of her life. 

'It's specified a immense blessing. The bull**** doesn't mean thing to maine immoderate more. The parties, which I utilized to love, mean thing to me. It's each astir my household now. I bash what I emotion to bash arsenic work, and that's it. I'm not frightened immoderate more.'

Caprice was grooming for the wintertime sports world amusement The Jump 7 years agone erstwhile a scan revealed the unspeakable news. 'When idiosyncratic says you person a encephalon tumour you think, 'Oh my God, I'm gonna die. I person 2 three-year-olds and I'm gonna die.' That was awful, a pugnacious time.'

She has 2 sons, Jett and Jax, with her husband, the financier Ty Comfort. 'The doc said, 'It's not cancer but it's a grower.' That's conscionable arsenic dangerous, evidently. You could aftermath up 1 time and the full near broadside of your assemblage volition ne'er determination again, truthful you've got to get escaped of it.'

There were immense risks progressive successful the attraction for meningioma. 'This is encephalon surgery. There's a accidental you'll aftermath up and thing won't work, thing volition person gone wrong.' 

The cognition took 7 hours and progressive temporarily removing portion of her skull to region the tumour. Coming circular afterwards was bizarre, she says. 'I wasn't alert however utmost it would be. When I woke up determination were tubes coming retired of everything, I was successful the intensive attraction portion but it looked similar the Starship Enterprise.'

Nevertheless, her look lights up erstwhile she remembers the realisation she was going to beryllium OK. 'That was 1 of the happiest moments of my life. I said, 'Thank you God for giving maine this other shot.' I said convey you to my Dad, due to the fact that he's up successful eden looking aft me.'

Caprice Bourret was calved successful Hacienda Heights, a suburb of Los Angeles, successful 1971. She appeared connected the covers of hundreds of magazines during the 1990s and Noughties including Vogue, Playboy and Sports Illustrated. When lad mags were immense successful Britain, Caprice was their darling. After a fewer spot parts successful Hollywood she moved to London and acted successful Hollyoaks and spy thriller The Dream Team with Roger Moore, and appeared connected personage versions of Big Brother and Come Dine With Me, and connected Dancing On Ice.

She took power of her representation astatine the commencement of the century, forming her ain institution and launching a lingerie scope with Debenhams. She aboriginal bought backmost the licence and By Caprice expanded into homeware and different products. She inactive models her enactment of underwear with Peacocks. She's said to beryllium worthy astir £24million.

After years successful the gossip columns she met and settled down with financier Ty successful 2011. They unrecorded successful London but besides person a gorgeous villa successful Ibiza, which is wherever she is speaking today, retired connected the terrace successful the late-season sunshine the time aft celebrating her 53rd birthday.

Caprice says aft the cognition she began to reassess. 'Everything changed successful my nonrecreational life, my idiosyncratic life, with immoderate friends. I stopped going retired arsenic much. I conscionable wanted radical astir maine who meant thing to me, who brought thing to maine and I brought thing to them. It wasn't conscionable astir maine immoderate more,' she says. 'In the past it was ever me, me, me. I utilized to judge my ain BS. I'm the archetypal to admit it.'

What quality did this rethink make? 'I've done a batch much charities. It's astir giving backmost due to the fact that I was fixed a 2nd chance. That whitethorn dependable a spot cheesy, but it's existent erstwhile it happens to you.'

Making movies is portion of the caller approach, she says. 'I thought, 'I'm gonna marque this satellite a amended place.' It whitethorn not beryllium successful a monolithic mode but I bash person a platform, I'm gonna bash what I can.' That meant turning her backmost connected aged ways. 'I take not to bash world tv immoderate more; immoderate of it's precise toxic. I'm doing nice, cheesy, fantastic Christmas movies and romances that are precise formulaic. You cognize however it ends, but lad bash you consciousness bully aft you spot it.'

Why instrumentality connected the immense situation of financing, producing and starring successful the films? 'Nobody would instrumentality maine on,' she says with emblematic frankness. 'The supermodel stereotype. I couldn't adjacent get an acting agent. And I conscionable thought, 'You cognize what? S*d this, I'm gonna bash it myself.'

It's charming to perceive that precise British operation spoken successful an American accent. 'I'm successful the fortunate presumption I tin concern this, but it's inactive a batch of wealth and I wanted minimal risk. I surrounded myself with radical who person done a batch successful this space.'

A European Christmas stars Caprice arsenic Ivy, a shaper who erstwhile had a deed with a Christmas movie. Now she's struggling successful her beingness and vocation truthful she's trying to marque another, seeking to recapture the aged magic by tracking down the prima of the archetypal movie Hunter, played by Philip Boyd, who has retired from acting and returned to his autochthonal Serbia to bring up his 2 boys successful peace. As the catchline says, 'Can Ivy unfastened her bosom to emotion and rediscover the existent meaning of Christmas?'

The rights person sold astir the satellite and Caprice is preparing to sprout a Scottish festive movie successful Aviemore successful January, but wherefore absorption connected Christmas? 'Because it sells. I americium a businesswoman. I'm not astir to beryllium present and prevarication to you: I emotion making money. But immoderate I do, I person to person a passionateness and a emotion for it. And I'm obsessed with Christmas.'

What's the grounds for that then? 'We person 4 Christmas trees successful the house. I'm already listening to Christmas music. We deed my household successful Los Angeles first, past my husband's household successful Florida connected the 26th, past we besides person a solemnisation successful London aft New Year. So the kids emotion it. They get precise excited, those spoiled small rascals.'

Jett and Jax are 11 years aged now. One of them was calved to a surrogate aft respective failed attempts astatine IVF, portion the different was conceived people – to his mother's astonishment – and calved conscionable a period aft his brother. Caprice has ne'er said which is which but does say, 'I was truthful naive earlier I had children. I thought, 'My beingness isn't gonna change. I'll person nannies.' But erstwhile you person those kids, you don't privation the nannies. The unconditional, brainsick emotion you person for your kids is indescribable. You would instrumentality a slug for your children without adjacent reasoning astir it.'

The boys marque their acting debut successful this film. 'People deliberation the acting satellite is truthful glamorous. They said, 'We privation to get involved. We privation to instrumentality acting lessons.' I said, 'OK, wherefore don't you beryllium successful my adjacent movie?' They said, 'Oh my goodness, we could archer each our friends, we'll beryllium connected TV, we'll beryllium famous.' By the 2nd time they said, 'No, Mommy, we're gonna instrumentality with concern similar Daddy said.'

She sounds pleased by this. 'I told my husband, 'You see? There was a method to my madness.' Acting is hard work. They don't recognize unless they acquisition it. So they did, and present they're out. They're reasoning astir finance. Good choice. That's precise sensible.'

The different astonishing happening that happened aft the boys were calved and the tumour was removed was that she joined Ty, contempt years of resistance. 'I ever said, 'Why bash I request a portion of insubstantial to validate however I consciousness astir someone?' Then we had the boys and it became important to me. So we paid £45, went to the registrar with our kids, got joined and went backmost to enactment the aforesaid day.'

Was it worthy doing? 'It did consciousness different. How naive of maine to deliberation it would not person done. I americium truthful independent, but erstwhile you're joined it's truthful lovely. He's my champion friend, my husband, the emotion of my life. And it lone gets better,' she says. 'It's a batch of work. I'm not saying everything is astonishing each the time, it's enactment successful progress, you've got to enactment a batch into it, but I'm gladsome I waited to find the close one. I ne'er compromised, ever.'

She erstwhile famously said keeping a antheral blessed was simple. 'Honey, don't halt with the fireworks. All you person to bash is provender them, springiness them compliments and sex. That's it, we're good.' Isn't it a spot of a unit to deliberation you've got to beryllium having terrific enactment each the clip successful your fifties? She laughs and clarifies, 'I didn't accidental terrific sex. It doesn't person to beryllium terrific.' That's a relief.

A European Christmas is unashamedly romantic. 'There's a look to Christmas movies, you've got to person each the elements. These are wholesome movies.'

The determination was recommended by a person from Serbia and it's spectacular, but with a period to spell the forecast said determination would beryllium nary snow. 'That was the biggest play successful my life,' says Caprice, throwing up her hands successful mock horror. 'With Christmas movies you categorically person to person snow. I was freaking out, thinking, 'Oh my God, the movie is finished.'

'So for the 2nd clip successful 20 years I started praying. I was like, 'God, I committedness you x, y and z if you conscionable springiness maine snow.' And arsenic God is my witness, the lone 3 days it snowed successful the full play was erstwhile I was there. How brainsick is that?' She shakes her caput successful wonder. 'By the way, the snowfall melted 2 days later.'

Did she support her bargain? 'I did. The foundation I gave to was happy. And I stopped screaming arsenic overmuch astatine my kids. I'm biting my lingua erstwhile they thrust maine crazy.'

Caprice volition besides prima successful the Scottish movie, but lone enactment arsenic shaper successful others that follow. 'My full beingness I've had to deliberation astir however I look, truthful I'm carving retired different way [off screen] that could spell connected until I'm 90.'

Why does she adjacent request to work? 'I'm a grafter. It comes from having had thing increasing up. We aftermath up and we person goals and aspirations and passions. Can you ideate waking up with nary of that?'

Caprice can't assistance returning to a theme. 'Another crushed I enactment is that I similar making money, period. You could say, 'Oh, however gross. You're truthful American. That's truthful crass.' OK, whatever. But I stake you similar making wealth too,' she says with a wide smile. 'I similar my independency and being capable to marque a difference.'

She runs her fingers done her agelong blonde hairsbreadth and sits backmost successful the Ibizan sunshine, content. There's a infinitesimal successful her caller movie erstwhile her quality Ivy says, 'I cognize it took maine a while, but I figured it out… the blessed ending.' Is that existent successful her beingness too, aft each the scares of the past fewer years? '100 per cent,' says Caprice. 'Out of thing atrocious has travel thing truthful good, truthful rewarding.'

• A European Christmas airs aboriginal this period connected Channel 5.