That’s a wrap on the ‘Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit’ Tour

In April 2022 I started to cough, choke and have difficulty swallowing.  

In June 2022, I was diagnosed with Head and Neck Cancer.  

I was treated with surgery, chemo and radiotherapy at the wonderful Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff, where I had been a patron for many years.  I owe my life to the skill and dedication of everyone at Velindre and the ENT dept at UHW Cardiff.

11 months later, May 2023, I was given my first ‘All Clear’.  Every three months I go back for checks.

While I recovered I wrote a stand up show about it and started ‘works in progress’.

In Jan 2024 I started touring the show across the UK and Ireland.

Over two years later, 180 performances, tons of laughs, tears, anxiety, doubts about what I was doing and support from those around me, and audiences up and down the country, we finished the tour in March 2026.

We filmed the final two performances at the beautiful Park and Dare Theatre in Treorchy.  

To all the venues, support acts, and everyone behind the scenes who made it all happen, thank you.  

To everyone who bought a ticket, thank you.

To the wonderful Cancer Research UK and Velindre volunteers for donating their time to help us to raise money and awareness, thank you.

To all those audience members who threw money in their buckets, raising over £300,000 for these fantastic cancer charities, thank you.

To the cancer patients and families who joined in from the audience, sharing their stories, to those who waited at stage door for a chat or took the time to email me after the show, thank you.

To those going through cancer or supporting a loved one who is, and to those coming to terms with the loss of a loved one, my thoughts are with you.  

These last 4 years have been the most significant and profound of my life and I wouldn’t change a minute of it.  I’ve laughed and cried all the way and been inspired by so many amazing people and stories.

A special  thank you to my agent Charlotte Smith and tour manager Simon Mason. And last,  and definitely not least, my wife Sian who’s been by my side throughout. 

As I said on stage every night, I sincerely hope this is the only show I ever do about cancer, but I am going to miss it (the show, not the cancer).  I’m off to do the recycling now and enjoy my John Lewis sofa.

Thanks again.

Rhod x