Dame Deborah James warned husband Sebastien he ‘couldn’t hook up with’ certain women after she died

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Dame Deborah James jokingly gave her husband Sebastien Bowen a list of women he wasn’t allowed to “hook up with” after her death. Before she died last June, after six years of living with bowel cancer, James told Bowen she would “do my damned hardest to come and haunt him” if he began dating the women on the list once she was gone. “I’m going to be very frank, because I think one of the biggest problems is that people are not frank enough about the symptoms that led to their diagnosis, and then as a result it holds up their diagnosis.” Before she died, James set up her Bowelbabe cancer research fund, which exceeded its initial target of £250,000 within 12 hours of launching it. Earlier this year, Bowen urged people to get involved in the NHS’s new free bowel cancer screening programme and said: “I know Deborah would be telling anyone that would listen: ‘Check your poo’.”