Bowel Cancer Awareness campaign returns with Lorraine Kelly

Lorraine’s ‘No Butts’ campaign, which aims to encourage viewers to speak out about bowel cancer, is returning for its 4th year..

This year the campaign is supported by presenter Adele Roberts, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in October 2021 as well as Lorraine’s very own Dr Amir, Dr Hilary and Tyler West. The campaign, which encourages viewers to check their poo in hope of achieving life-saving early detection with their ‘Not feeling peachy downstairs?’ stickers, was first launched in 2021 by Lorraine and the late Dame Deborah James who was at the very heart of the campaign.

Speaking on Lorraine on Monday (15th April), the Mother of Dame Debroah James, Heather James said: “She [Deborah] would love the fact you’re continuing the No Butts campaign. With the legacy of the Bowelbabe campaign for Cancer Research, let’s see if we can get the research going… Let’s hope that one day we can find a cure for this awful disease, or at least with the awareness you’re doing as well, we will get people checked earlier.” 

Since its launch, the show has travelled all around the UK with a bright pink sofa to get bums on seats and encourage open conversations about bowel cancer. Unveiling some giant pants outside Television Centre in 2022 saw the nation ‘Dance for Debs’ and the campaign continues to save lives with countless people coming forward as a result of the campaign and from hearing Deborah’s diagnosis.

This year’s campaign launched this week on Lorraine, is supported by Bowel Cancer UK, will run for two weeks from the 15th April to coincide with April being Bowel Cancer Awareness Month.  Over the next two weeks, Dr Amir and Dr Anisha Patel will be reminding viewers the symptoms to look out for, while Tyler West will also be in B&Q finding out how much members of the public know about their poo whilst Adele Roberts finds herself in a giant inflatable bowel.

Speaking about this year’s campaign and the ‘No Butts’ loo roll, Lorraine Kelly said: “We’re getting our message into loos across the UK and we want your help to do the same. So you can write whatever you want on a loo roll and then leave it somewhere to encourage people to check their poo. That was always what Deborah said to me – “check your poo”. Deborah would have loved this because even towards the end she was campaigning for messaging on loo rolls. The legacy is astonishing, isn’t it? It’s wonderful.”

Over the last four years, ‘No Butts’ has teamed up with various famous faces to raise awareness for bowel cancer including the Prince of Wales who last year sent a message to Lorraine to say how proud the late Dame Deborah would be of her continued work on the campaign whilst encouraging people to read up on the symptoms.

Teaming up with gyms, hotels and retailers across the UK, the show has ensured that their stickers are visible in key places to get people feeling comfortable talking about their poo wherever they go. Using a cheeky peach emoji, the posters ask readers if they are “not feeling peachy downstairs?” before highlighting the main symptoms of the disease using the easy to remember acronym ‘BOWEL.’

Bowel cancer affects more than 43,000 people each year in the UK claiming more than 16,500 lives, making it the nation’s second biggest cancer killer. The disease is treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early and nearly everyone diagnosed at the earliest stage will survive bowel cancer. Early diagnosis really does save lives.

 Lorraine weekdays from 9am on ITV1 & ITVX