Emmerdale's Malandra Burrows calls Deborah James her 'inspiration' through cancer battle

Watch: Malandra Burrows calls Deborah James an ‘inspiration’

Appearing on Wednesday's Lorraine, actor Malandra Burrows said she feels inspired by Deborah James after recently sharing her own cancer diagnosis.

The former Emmerdale star thanked the You, Me And The Big C presenter, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 and recently moved to end-of-life hospice care where she is surrounded by her family.

Speaking of her cancer journey Burrows said on the ITV chatshow: "I’m straight into battle mode...

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"I have to mention, my other great inspiration [other than Teddy] has to be the wonderful, incredibly amazing Deborah James.

Burrows announced last month that she was receiving treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer in February and is about to go into radiotherapy.

She ended her message to James with: "Lots of love to you sweetheart, we’re all thinking about you. And thank you for the inspiration that you’ve given me. Thank you."

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Host Lorraine Kelly replied to the actor, who played Kathy Glover on Emmerdale from 1985 to 2005: "Aw Malandra, that’s so lovely. I know that will mean the world to her as well.

"You know her campaigning has just been astonishing and life-saving...

"That’s the thing as well, you can use… you know Deborah has used that. You can use the fact that everybody knows and loves you from Emmerdale, of course you’re a fixture in that show for so, so many years, and you can use that to help other people," she added.

James, 40, who recently revealed she "could have weeks to live at most" on the final episode of You, Me and the Big C podcast, set up a fundraiser called the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK, which has raised £2.6million in donations from over 150,000 supporters.

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In a filmed interview, the presenter cried as she spoke about the difficult conversations she’s had with her children about her death Hugo, 14, and Eloise, 12..

"I have a really loving family who I adore and couldn’t… they’re just incredible," she said of her husband, Sebastien Bowen.

"And all I knew I wanted was to come here and be able to relax, knowing that everything was okay."

Watch: Deborah James talks to Kate Thornton about her cancer battle in lockdown