
The hosts of You, Me, and the Big C have announced that they will be leaving the podcast.
The trailblazing podcast, which debuted on BBC 5 Live in 2018, is about living with cancer and was originally presented by Lauren Mahon, Rachael Bland, and Dame Deborah James, but after Bland’s death, her widower Steve Bland joined the show.
However, Lauren and Steve have now revealed that the podcast’s subject matter has begun to ‘take a toll’ after the loss of Dame Deborah last June.
Bland died of breast cancer six months after the podcast’s inception, at the age of 40, while Dame Deborah died last year, also at the age of 40.
Dame Deborah was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016, and she battled the disease for nearly six years.
Lauren, 37, and Steve, 41, revealed their departure from the podcast on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday, but voiced hope that You, Me, and the Big C would find new hosts.


Lauren – who has been cancer-free for five years – told broadcasters John Kay and Sally Nugent that she and Steve have had ‘many talks’ about whether to continue presenting the podcast, seeing as Me and the Big C is a ‘public service’.
However, according to The Mirror, she noted: ‘[But] we don’t feel like it’s for us to continue it.’
‘How do we get back into that studio without these two remarkable women that began this podcast?’ Lauren added.
‘People are getting diagnosed everyday – that’s not going to change. The world of cancer changes. So I think it would be more appropriate and probably more poignant and relevant to get people that are going through it now.’
The podcasters also stated that a live version of You, Me, and the Big C has been in the works for a while and that Dame Deborah was enthused about the idea.
The pandemic, however, put the live programme on hold, and the hosts never got around to recording it before Dame Deborah died.
‘It was a big deal for Deb, actually, particularly. Deborah was really excited about it,’ said Steve.
‘She was so looking forward to it, planning all the outfits and all the different areas to go.’
Lauren and Steve announced their intention to continue with the live programme and stated that this would be their final episode.
Touching upon the emotional toll hosting the podcast has taken on them, Steve explained: ‘It just takes a toll and it’s heavy and it’s hard to kind of keep talking about this stuff – particularly when we’ve had to deal with obviously Rachel and Deborah over the last few years.’
Expressing his wishes for You, Me and the Big C to continue with a new host, he pointed out: ‘It’s a really important thing for so many people.’
Lauren was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 when she was just 31.
Lauren celebrated her fifth year cancer-free last year, and she and her late co-stars were honoured at the British Podcast Awards this summer.
Lauren honoured Rachael and Dame Deborah as she accepted the trophy for You, Me, and the Big C, telling the audience: ‘Me and Deb made a little joke when Rachael died that I couldn’t just do the podcast by myself because I couldn’t call it Me, Me, and the Big C.
‘The podcast is our happy place. It’s a bit surreal to be standing here without both my girls. We knew this was a risk, that some of us would die when we started it, but we wanted to continue to champion it.
‘There’ is more work to be done. I don’t know what it looks like, but the podcast has always been a service.’
Macmillan cancer support
If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.
You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.