Ben Cohen's ex-wife Abby Cohen has opened up about her recent cancer battle as she shares that her “cancer is now cured”, following a tough and emotional few months.

The 44 year old mum-of-two, who divorced rugby player Ben in 2016, revealed in July that she had been diagnosed with cancer, but that she was incredibly "lucky" to discover she had the disease when she did.

Abby said it was the "toughest" news to share, however, following surgery a month ago, Abby has now revealed to MailOnline that she is now cancer-free and is now back at home and recovering.

The mum revealed that when she first started experiencing symptoms, she thought of the late Dame Deborah James, who worked tirelessly to spread awareness of bowel cancer, getting people familiar with their toilet habits, and to keep an eye out for any changes.

Abby revealed she experienced tiredness and bloating before she felt an “intense pain” in her bottom which brought her to tears. She admitted Deborah James flashed into her mind and that she was the reason Abby acted so swiftly in getting checked out.

Abby told the publication: “Dame Deborah James has been on my mind. I followed her on social media and was a huge admirer of the way she campaigned so tirelessly to get people to be aware of symptoms. She certainly was the reason I acted so swiftly in seeing my GP”.

Dame Deborah, who set up the Bowelbabe cancer research fund, died last year at the age of 40 after suffering from bowel cancer. The former schoolteacher and BBC podcast host was first diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer in 2016 at the age of 35, before the disease sadly went on to become stage four.

Abby revealed that due to her public marriage breakdown, where her husband of 14 years Ben Cohen left her for Strictly’s Kristina Rihanoff, she felt like she was given a platform and wanted to share her experience with cancer to “help others”.

The mum revealed: “I'm one of the lucky ones, an example of someone who acted on a symptom fairly quickly. The cancer was caught early and at the stage where it was curable. Fingers crossed it's not going to come back. I want to show if you act quickly you can be all right.”

Abby says that when the surgeon told her “don’t worry, you’re cured”, they were the “nicest words” she had “ever heard”.

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