Dame Deborah James is said to have received cruel messages from trolls who thought that she "had it easy", a colleague has revealed in a newly-released documentary about her.
The late podcast host – who had been diagnosed with bowel cancer five years ago – passed away earlier this week, aged 40, with the news prompting an outpouring of tributes.
This has included in a new BBC documentary about her life and legacy, titled The Last Dance, that aired on Thursday night, in which those who knew Deborah shared stories about her.
During the heartwarming doc Steve Bland, 41 – who hosted the You, Me and the Big C podcast with her – opened up about some of the messages she received, including people thinking she "had it easy".
Steve is the widower of the late Rachael Bland, who was an original co-host of the podcast with Deborah and Lauren Mahon, 37. Following Rachael's death in 2018, Steve joined.
Speaking about his late colleague, he said in the newly-released documentary: "Deb would tell you that she used to get messages from people thinking that she had it easy."
"They could see her dancing on Instagram and thought 'how can this person be dying?' or 'how can that person have incurable cancer'?," he added.
Further discussing the way in which some people used to respond to podcast host Deborah, he explained: "They didn't always understand, you know, how difficult it was for her."
Deborah had candidly documented her experience with cancer, which saw her undergo surgeries and chemotherapy. She'd been receiving end-of-life care in recent weeks.
Other participants in the documentary include fellow You, Me and the Big C podcast host Lauren Mahon, 37 – who emotionally discussed her feelings over losing Deborah.
She commented: "Having relationships [with others who have cancer is] really hard, because you lose people. I can't help but feel incredibly grateful that I had her at all."
Prior to her death, Deborah had launched the Bowelbabe Fund, which she had established in a bid to raise money and awareness for cancer research.
It was set up in collaboration with Cancer Research UK and despite an initial target of £250,000, it has already raised more than £7 million – which will support various projects for the charity.
Dame Deborah James: The Last Dance is on BBC iPlayer.
