Comedian Rhod Gilbert has opened up on the joy he's felt after receiving an all-clear scan following his treatment for cancer.
Gilbert has been treated at the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, a place close to his heart given his fundraising efforts for it over the years.
After doctors discovered metastatic cancer of the head and neck, Gilbert underwent surgery as well as sessions of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Gilbert - who has since returned to the stand-up circuit and announced a new tour earlier this year - received the call he's been waiting for while he was "on the road".
Branding it “the best day of my life”, Gilbert said: "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."
Soon after the news the cancer hadn't spread, the good news kept coming as he explained to Radio Times: "The best thing was that the tumour had gone, and it was once again an ordinary blood vessel."
Rhod Gilbert was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year
gbnewsGilbert has kept much of his treatment and journey private and away from his social media over the past few months.
However, fans will be able to witness Gilbert's journey from his first treatment all the way to the all-clear in a new documentary.
Gilbert, who had to cancel all of his work plans following his diagnosis, decided just days before first receiving treatment that he'd reach out to a TV team to document his journey.
"I was lying in bed on the Friday, with my treatment due to start the following Monday,” he explained to the Radio Times.
Rhod Gilbert was speaking in this week's Radio Times
RADIO TIMES“I rang the team I knew – there was no broadcaster on board, it was all on spec – and I asked, ‘How would you fancy joining me on this journey?’"
Delving into the exact reasons why, Gilbert admitted it was only "partly" for his own benefit so he'd have something to take his mind off of just "cancer in the diary".
He continued: "I knew I wouldn’t be well enough to go on stage or TV, but I thought I might be well enough to lie in bed and talk to a documentary team about how ill I was.
"I thought, ‘It will give me something to do’."
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It's the same attitude Gilbert has applied to his stand-up tour which is set to kick off next year.
Gilbert has openly admitted he'll use his cancer journey to provide material for his routine, writing in the official tour announcement: "After the year I’ve had, it’s wonderful to be alive and going back on the road.
"I can’t wait to get back on stage and I’m ready to get way too personal about life’s recent ups and downs.
"When life gives you lemons, you have to squeeze them ’til the comedy juice flows, so prepare for some dark but funny s***."
