‘I’ve got a feeling when I’ve got through all this there’ll be a show in it.’

Rhod Gilbert has revealed that he has stage 4 cancer, but is optimistic of recovery and is already planning a new stand-up show about his treatment.

‘I hope that 2023 is a better year and I can start having fun again,' he said in a new interview with BBC Radio Wales.

The comedian first announced that he was being treated for cancer in July, when he cancelled shows in his Book of John tour, but did not go into details.

He said he first noticed symptoms when recording his show in Cardiff's Millennium Centre in April, saying: ‘I had a terribly sore throat, tightness through my neck. I was having to cancel shows because I couldn't breathe. I was having all sorts of problems and we couldn't get to the bottom of it."

The comedian said his problems started to worsen while on a fundraising walk in Cuba for Velindre Cancer Hospital Centre in Cardiff – the charity that’s now giving him care.

‘In May, I noticed lumps started popping up in places they shouldn't be. It turns out I've got Stage 4 cancer,’ he said. ‘The irony of that! I went as a Velindre patron and came home as a patient.’

The 53-year-old comic said he has now undergone chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery but does not know yet if it has worked, but added: ‘I’m feeling happy, positive and optimistic. I’m feeling good and feel like I’m recovering day-by-day.

‘I’ve got a feeling when I’ve got through all this there’ll be a show in it.’

Gilbert has now released the recording of that Cardiff show as a DVD, prompting fellow comics including Jimmy Carr, Rob Brydon and Jason Manford  to rally round to urge fans to buy it.

Manford wrote on Twitter: ‘Grab #RhodGilbert’s new stand up show now! Ready for download, you could be watching it and laughing in five minutes,’ while Carr said: ‘I’ve got a new DVD – not one I’m in, one I’ve bought – it’s by my mate Rhod Gilbert and it’s bloody funny. (if you’ve got technology from 10 years ago knocking around the house get the DVD - if not download it like a normal person).’

• Click here to buy or download Rhod Gilbert’s The Book Of John

Published: 13 Dec 2022