Lorraine Kelly has said she was 'honoured' to attend the funeral of Dame Deborah James.
The podcast host and mother-of-two, who became known as Bowel Babe, her social media handle, died last month aged 40 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016. A private service was held in her memory yesterday, on Wednesday July 20, where only close friends and family were expected to attend.
Today, on Lorraine's ITV show, the Scottish host spoke about the 'beautiful' service, which the Dame had pre-planned herself before she passed away. Deborah's heartbroken son Hugo, 14, helped carry his mother's wicket casket to St Mary's church in Barnes as her devastated husband Sebastien led the procession along with her daughter, Eloise, 12.
READ MORE: Dame Deborah James dies aged 40 after cancer battle
Lorraine said: "I was very honoured to be there with some of her team. It was a beautiful, beautiful send off. It was so lovely and it was sad but it was also a celebration of an amazing, amazing woman."
Dr Hilary, who was appearing as a guest on the show, said: "She was unique, she was extraordinary. And whilst her life was cruelly curtailed at 40, she crammed so much in to that life."
He added: "She crammed it with verve, with love, with energy, with passion, with so many wonderful things and that's why we celebrated her life. Her legacy lives on. She's raised £7.4m and she's saved lives and will continue to save lives as a result of that."
Lorraine later revealed that several people who were close to the Dame will be getting matching 'rebellious hope' tattoos in honour of Deborah. Before her death, In The Style fashion brand put the campaigners slogan on a T-shirt.
The No Butts campaign that Deborah was at the heart of will be also be continuing. Lorraine revealed that she will be working on the campaign in the next year to help people become more aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer.
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