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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Katherine Heslop

Lorraine leads tributes to Deborah James in emotional BBC documentary The Last Dance

Dame Deborah James' friends, including Lorraine Kelly lead heart-wrenching tributes to the campaigner in a documentary which airs this evening.

The broadcaster died this week aged 40 after a six-year battle with bowel cancer, and having raised millions for Cancer Research UK.

In tonight's documentary on BBC, activist Lauren Mahon, who presented You, Me and the Big C podcast with Deborah, breaks down in tears and says: "We can't lose anymore Debs."

Dame Deborah: The Last Dance chronicles the mum-of-two's life with cancer, hearing from close friends who supported her and witnessed her bravery.

While the much-loved star had continued to maintain a positive outlook amid her cancer battle, she took to social media in May to reveal that she no longer knew how long she had left as she opened up about her stage 4 cancer.

Dame Deborah's life and legacy will be reflected on in a documentary this evening (BBC)

Dame Deborah said that although she had been fighting her illness for five years, it was still not easy to accept and say goodbye.

In her final weeks, the mum-of-two revealed she was receiving end-of-life care at her home in Surrey.

Since her death, Deborah's Bowelbabe Fund has topped £7m for cancer research.

Her passing prompted tributes from The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and famous faces she met while campaigning.

Lorraine Kelly pays tribute to her friend in the Dame Deborah James: The Last Dance (BBC)
Lauren Mahon wipes away a tear and says: "I just love her so much", in the documentary (bbc)

TV presenter Lorraine launched the No Butts campaign with Deborah and remembers her friend's tenacious spirit in the programme, which airs at 8.30pm.

"All she wanted to do was get this message across, make sure nobody else went through the same thing as her, make sure that everybody had the information that they needed and to stop people being stupid about their bottoms," Lorraine said.

"That's what struck me. We started talking about bottoms and poo probably after 45 seconds when we met each other and I really just thought: 'I really like you, you're my kind of woman, you're a smasher.'"

Dame Deborah fearlessly chronicled her battle with cancer (BBC)

"The thing about it is, and the thing that's so hard, is that she always bounced back, and I always thought that she would.

"And that's been very difficult because we just always thought she'd be here," the presenter added.

Lauren and Steve Bland, widower of Dame Deborah's former podcast host Rachael Bland, remembered their "best friend" and said they were "incredibly grateful to have had her at all."

Lauren said she wished Deborah could see what she meant to so many people, adding: "I just love her so much. We need to keep raising money because we cant lose any more Debs."

In an emotional tribute, the broadcaster said: "Deb just has this ferocity in her to make a difference and to make sure nobody else suffers the same fate.

"Most people would just runaway from that, but Deb wanted to tell her story so it wouldn't be anyone's story.

"I'm really proud that we now talk about bums and poos on every channel."

Dame Deborah James : The Last Dance airs on BBC One at 8.30pm.

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