Rhod Gilbert reveals clear cancer scan
As comic says he's 'not sorry' he had the disease
Rhod Gilbert has received his first clear cancer scan since undergoing treatment.
He broke the news in an interview to promote his new documentary about the disease, saying that discovering his cancer had not spread had been ‘the best day of my life’.
The 55-year-old announced he had cancer in July last year, and underwent surgery for metastatic cancer of the head and neck, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
And now he told Radio Times: ‘I was back on the road earlier this year when I got a call to say my latest scan had shown the cancer was in the areas they knew about, but it wasn't in my lungs or my brain.’
The news was later followed by his first clear scan. ‘The best thing was that the tumour had gone, and it was once again an ordinary blood vessel,’ he said.
Yesterday Chortle reported how Gilbert has made a documentary about his illness, A Pain In The Neck, which will air as part of Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer programming – as well as hosting a televised comedians’ roast battle to help raise funds.
In his Radio Times interview, the stand-up added: ‘I’m not sorry I’ve had cancer. It’s an odd thing to say and I feel sorry for my wife. But I feel I can help other people…
‘I think this documentary can help a lot of other people, and I like having a sense of purpose.’
He also spoke about using humour to help him though, saying: ‘It’s in my nature to see the joke, to put punchlines on things. And because I had cameras with me, I was probably putting on a bit of a performance.
‘But that’s what humans do. That’s our armour. We try to disarm the whole thing by making ourselves and others laugh. Cancer is a lot less scary if your oncologist is laughing with you.’
He also said he would be speaking about some of the worst things well-meaning people said to him in his next stand-up tour.
‘People tie themselves up in knots trying not to say the wrong thing,’ he said, ‘which inevitably means they put their foot in it.’
And he said of his experience: ‘All I’ve seen is love and care and kindness and it makes me more hopeful for humanity.’
Rhod Gilbert: A Pain In The Neck will be screened at 9pm on Monday with the main Stand Up To Cancer telethon being broadcast on Friday next week, including the SU2C Comedy Roast.
Published: 24 Oct 2023
