The 40-year-old, dialling into the show from his home in Cheshire, said: 'It's one of the most common questions I get asked: 'Do I feel guilty? He said: “I might be wrong but I just feel that if Rachael had known how hard it was going to be, she might have wanted to go into a hospice or something else. And now, having felt that I got to know her after her death through her sharing of her story, I've read the story of her life as left to her little boy.

He also said that society needed to ‘break down the taboo’ of finding love again after being widowed for people to’ stop worrying about being judged for it’. The widower of BBC presenter Rachael Bland has revealed that he is expecting twins with his new wife. As this is directly written for Freddie, it sometimes felt like I shouldn't be reading it, like I was reading someones very personal letters and notes. In early 2018, she participated in a clinical trial of experimental treatment at the Christie Hospital, Manchester, that she hoped would prevent or postpone the cancer. However, I think that Rachael was a truly remarkable woman who normalised talking about cancer and dying through her podcast and her blog, and I think this will be a wonderful thing for her son to read one day.Steve Bland has now spoken for the first time since her death, appearing on the podcast You, Me And The Big C, which was created and presented by his wife. Bland competed as a triathlete, including the 2010 London Triathlon, raising funds for Breast Cancer Care.

Lauren says she feels “100%” sure that people spoke to her differently once they knew she had cancer. He said the pair talk openly about Rachael, and Amy has met with Rachael's family, saying the nurse practitioner has felt she is 'living in Rachael's shadow a bit. She continued to blog and run You, Me and the Big C, and hoped that she could do enough to give her son memories of her life. Steve says that Rachael’s pragmatic outlook, and in particular the way she communicated that outlook through her podcast, has helped many people: "We’ve had messages from oncologists and consultants saying that the podcast has changed the way they’re talking to patients and the way patients are looking at death. Despite having to arrange babysitters whenever he wants to pop out for a run, the widower is determined to cross the finishing line to raise as much as possible for Macmillan Cancer Support, who offered invaluable help to the family in Rachael's final weeks.Most of all, it is an enduring keepsake for Freddie and a lifetime reminder of his amazing mummy’s unconditional love.