Deborah James: You, Me and the Big C podcast host 'in cancer-free place'

One of the hosts of BBC Radio 5 Live's podcast You, Me and the Big C has revealed she is now "in a cancer-free place" after three years of treatment.

"It's a bit bonkers... but right now I have no evidence of cancer in my body," Deborah James said on Instagram.

James, who was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in 2016, told her 91,000 followers she was "beyond grateful".

"I never ever thought we would be here," she told BBC Breakfast on Wednesday. "It's only just sinking in."

The former deputy headteacher said she "sat and cried" when she heard the news, but was not taking anything for granted.

"Nobody knows what the future holds," she said, adding that she would continue treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

"Essentially nothing changes for me," she told BBC Breakfast's Naga Munchetty. "Why change something when it's working?"

Yet she said she would "raise a glass at least" and would now prepare to run a marathon to raise funds for the London hospital.

What are bowel cancer symptoms?

• A persistent change in bowel habit - going more often, with looser stools and sometimes tummy pain

• Blood in the stools without other symptoms, such as piles

• Abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating - sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss

Source: NHS UK

James, 38, began co-presenting You, Me and the Big C with Lauren Mahon and Rachael Bland in 2018.

Their frank discussions about cancer earned them praise and saw the podcast named best new show at the 2018 Aria Awards.

Bland died in September that year at the age of 40, two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Since her death, the podcast has also been occasionally co-presented by her widower Steve Bland.