Rhod Gilbert planning 2024 comedy tour after receiving stage four cancer treatment

Welsh stand-up revealed he had been diagnosed with head and neck cancer last year

Rhod Gilbert has announced that he is planning to start touring again next year, after receiving treatment for cancer.

The Welsh comedian, 54, revealed last July that he had stage four head and neck cancer.

In a new interview on BBC Radio Wales on Friday (1 September), Gilbert said he was very grateful to the NHS and Velindre Cancer Centre for “getting me back on my feet”.

He said: “My new attitude is that life’s too short, you’ve got to crack on and do these things.”

Gilbert’s last tour, Book of John, ran over the course of four years, from 2019 until June this year, due to interruptions to do with the pandemic and his health.

“I’ve been scribbling away, I’ve got a few ideas and I’ve been trying some stuff out,” he said in his radio interview. “I think I’m going to tour again next year… It’s all taking shape at the moment.”

In the interview, Gilbert also said he hopes to be “well enough” to go on his planned fundraising trek next month.

He will lead a trek to Mount Toubkal, in Morocco, to raise money for Velindre Cancer Centre. “I’ve got a bit of training to do,” he conceded.

Gilbert received his cancer treatment at the centre but he also happens to have been a patron of Velindre for the past decade, since before he discovered he had cancer.

Over the years, Gilbert has raised more than £1.8m for Velindre through treks.

“I’ve been in Velindre when they’ve been rubbing my feet, while I’m having chemotherapy, having reflexology and all those little extras that aren’t necessarily NHS. That’s where the money goes,” he said.

“So I’ve seen first-hand what a difference that money makes.

“I’m very proud of my association with Velindre – I didn’t realise that it would go this way but I’m very proud of it nonetheless.”

In February this year, Gilbert joked about the fact he has been doing cancer fundraising for years, saying: “So imagine my surprise when I was diagnosed with cancer. Which p***ed me off no end, because I thought I’d have life-long immunity! Apparently not.”

The new series of Rhod Gilbert’s Growing Pains is airing now on Comedy Central.