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You, Me And The Big C hosts stepping down after deaths of Deborah James and Rachael Bland

The podcast about dealing with cancer was launched in 2018 by Dame Deborah James, Rachael Bland and Lauren Mahon

BBC Radio 5 live presenter Deborah (BowelBabe) James form the podcast You, Me and the Big C
Dame Deborah James died in 2022. (PA Images/Alamy)

The presenters of the You, Me & The Big C podcast have said they are ready to step down following the deaths of original hosts Rachael Bland and Dame Deborah James.

The podcast, which is a candid look at dealing with cancer and all that it entails, launched in 2018 and was hosted by James, Bland and Lauren Mahon.

Bland died later that year after battling breast cancer, and James passed away last June after fighting bowel cancer.

Read more: Lorraine Kelly celebrates life of 'dear friend' Dame Deborah James

Mahon and Bland's husband Steve continued without them but have now said they are ready to "hang up their headphones" and pass it on to someone else.

L-R: Rachael Bland, Lauren Mahon, Deborah James, presenters of <i>You, Me & the Big C</i>. (BBC/Claire Wood)
Rachael Bland, Lauren Mahon, Deborah James started You, Me & the Big C. (BBC)

Steve told BBC Breakfast that he wanted it to continue without them as it is so important, but he admitted it had taken a "toll".

"It's hard to kind of keep talking about this stuff – particularly when we've had to deal with obviously Rachael and Deborah over the last few years," he said.

"There aren't many people doing podcasts where two people have died from the subject matter."

"It's a tough thing to keep talking about," he added.

Deborah James, Steve Bland and Lauren Mahon attending the British Podcast Awards, at King's Place in London. Picture date: Saturday May 18, 2019. Photo credit should read: Matt Crossick/Empics
Steve Bland at an awards ceremony with Deborah James and Lauren Mahon. (Empics)

Mahon - who has now been clear of cancer for five years – told BBC North West Tonight: "I have struggled over the last year getting back in that studio without their seats being filled."

"How do we get back into that studio without these two remarkable women that began this podcast?" she added.

Read more: White Wine Question Time meets You, Me & the Big C

Mahon said that people are getting diagnosed everyday and that the world of cancer changes.

So she said she thought it would be "more appropriate and probably more poignant and relevant" if people going through it now took over the podcast.

Watch: Dame Deborah James' posthumous book reaches number one