BBC Radio 5 Live will pay tribute to You, Me and The Big C podcast, and its founder and former 5 Live host Rachael Bland, with a full day of powerful programming on 3 February ahead of World Cancer Day a day later.
The station will also release a brand‑new episode of the much‑loved award-winning podcast, celebrating the impact and legacy of its late original podcast hosts, Rachael Bland and Dame Deborah James.
Eight years ago, Radio 5 Live launched a podcast which changed conversations around cancer. ‘You, Me and the Big C’ shared real and heart-warming stories, bringing solidarity and hope to people affected by cancer. Now 5 Live wants that legacy to live on in 2026.
The new episode of You, Me and the Big C will feature longstanding and original presenter, Lauren Mahon, Steve Bland, who was Rachael Bland’s husband, and 5 Live presenter Tony Livesey.
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The podcast hosts will be joined by special guests including social media star and comedy creator, Shell Rowe, who at the age of 20, was diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2019, but she has been cancer-free for almost four years, plus broadcaster and chat-show host, Trisha Goddard, who talks about living with stage 4 breast cancer.
Rachael Bland, founder of You, Me and the Big C, alongside co‑presenters Dame Deborah James and Lauren Mahon, left an extraordinary legacy that transformed public understanding of cancer. A BBC Radio 5 Live journalist, she died in 2018 from breast cancer, prompting an outpouring of support from listeners who had followed her honest and groundbreaking storytelling about living with the disease.
Four years later, Dame Deborah James, known to many as Bowelbabe, died in 2022 at the age of 40 after living with stage 4 bowel cancer for six years. In the final weeks of her life, Deborah launched the Bowelbabe Fund, which has now raised over £19 million for charity, inspiring millions through her campaigning, humour and “rebellious hope”. Together, Deborah, Rachael and Lauren reshaped cancer conversations in the UK—breaking taboos, empowering patients, and creating a community whose impact continues far beyond the podcast.
Talking about the podcast, Lauren Mahon said: “I am so excited to be back behind the mic with Steve Bland to host a special episode of our ground‑breaking podcast You, Me and The Big C. Ahead of World Cancer Day, we’re looking at the pod’s legacy – changing the conversation around cancer and smashing stigmas with humour and honesty. I really hope that Dame Deborah James and Rachael Bland would be as proud of the amazing things that the pod has achieved as we are. It blows my mind that after eight years You, Me and The Big C is still supporting people through the cancer experience, helping them to feel less alone, and proving time and time again that there is still much fun to be had and a full life to be lived beyond and alongside a cancer diagnosis.”
Alongside the brand new episode of the podcast, 5 Live will broadcast a You, Me and The Big C legacy day on Tuesday 3 February, featuring a range of interviews, listener moments and expert conversations exploring cancer care, treatment, and the lived experience, whilst celebrating the impact of the podcast.
Scheduled highlights include an exclusive interview with Heather James and Gayna Hodges, mothers of Dame Deborah James and Rachael Bland, as they are brought together for the first time on 5 Live Breakfast, a special 5 Live listener phone-in with Nicky Campbell featuring You, Me and the Big C Stars and Naga Munchetty will be live from a Cancer hospital in Liverpool, speaking with doctors, patients and staff. Plus Matt Chorley will be live in Westminster talking to ex-MPs about their own cancer journeys.
