Rachael Bland’s widower Steve has revealed he’s found love again with a woman his son Freddie ‘thinks the world of’ 18 months after his wife’s death.
Steve, from Cheshire, lost his wife Rachael to breast cancer in September 2018 after a two-year public battle with cancer, which she documented on her BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C.
Eighteen months after her death, the podcast producer and presenter has found love again, and praised his ‘Wonder Woman’ girlfriend Amy for ‘taking on all that Freddie, 5, and I bring’.
Posting an Instagram message online for his partner, Steve wrote: ‘I’m finding that, while it’s not always easy, there is plenty of happiness to be found if you go looking for it. And I reckon I’ve found it.’
Steve Bland, from Cheshire, has revealed he has found love again with ‘Wonder Woman’ girlfriend Amy 18 months after his wife Rachael died from breast cancer
Sharing a snap alongside Amy, he wrote: ‘I know I did this on stories a couple of weeks ago but they come and go in a flash. With a bit of luck this Wonder Woman will stick with us for a bit longer than that.’
Steve explained: ‘Someone once told me that the issue of dating for widows and widowers is something that divides people right down the middle. And that’s fine.
‘Some people want to wear their wedding rings forever, and some want to find a new happiness. Either way, it’s your decision.
He went on to say that he had found happiness with his new girlfriend, adding: ‘Even if she does tell me (in jest I hope) that she’s only with me because of Freddie.’
Steve’s wife and the mother of his son Rachael died in September 2018 after a two-year public battle with cancer, which she documented on her BBC podcast You, Me and the Big C (pictured, Freddie, Rachael and Steve)
Steve wrote a lengthy Instagram post praising his new girlfriend Amy, revealing he and Freddie ‘think the world’ of her
He finished the post by thanking her for ‘taking on’ him and his son, before adding: ‘We both think the world of you.’
Steve had spoken about being open to love in September, one year after his wife passed away.,
Speaking on the You, Me and the Big C podcast his wife co-hosted with friends Deborah James and Lauren Mahon, Steve admitted he would consider a new relationship if the right person came along.
Steve , pictured with his late wife Rachael, has spoken frankly in the past about the difficult subject of dating after losing a partner
He said: ‘You only know about these things if you give them a crack. And if it’s not right I’ll soon know about it. I’ll know very obviously if I’m jumping the gun, I’ll know very soon if it’s not the right person.
‘I’m only 39. Hopefully I’ve got 35, 40 years left in me it would be pretty sad to have that on my own wouldn’t it?’
Rachael died on September 4 last year surrounded by her family.
Shortly before her death she told the world she only had days to live and announced the heartbreaking final arrangements made for her family as she bravely faced death.
She revealed she had wrapped 18 years worth of birthday presents for son Freddie, so he had a gift from her until he was 21.
She also wroter her memoirs – simply called ‘For Freddie’ – which she had written just for him so he could remember her.
The BBC 5 Live newsreader had also built up a collection of handwritten notebooks, perfume and other personal items so the little boy grows up knowing how his mummy wrote, smelled and sounded.
Rachael documented her fight against the disease in a blog called Big C Little Me since she was diagnosed in November 2016.
The Welsh-born journalist also hosted a podcast series called You Me & The Big C where she discussed the highs and lows of battling the illness.
Her positive BBC podcast explored the disease with frank wit, and occupied the top spot of the UK podcast charts.