Rhod Gilbert returns to the stage after cancer treatment

Rhod Gilbert said it was "lovely to be alive and lovely to be back on tour"

Comedian Rhod Gilbert said it was wonderful to be back on stage after undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer.

The 54-year-old stand-up performed at Swansea Arena on Friday for the first time in a year.

Gilbert announced last July that he was being treated for stage four cancer.

The Swansea gig was the first in the final seven of his rescheduled Book of John tour dates.

Originally due to be performed in the summer of 2022, the tour will next see him perform in Bath before finishing in Cardiff in October.

After the event, Gilbert shared a video of himself signing the wall at Swansea Arena.

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"It is wonderful being back doing stand up again for the first time in a year," he said.

"Lovely to be here, lovely to be back in Swansea, lovely to be alive and lovely to be back on tour."

Swansea Arena said it was "thrilled to see Rhod Gilbert back doing what he does brilliantly".

After being a patron at the Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff for more than 10 years, Gilbert said last July that he would be treated there.

"I know better than anyone that I am in the best possible hands," he said in a Facebook post at the time.

In a pre-recorded video message for Channel 4's The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer, Gilbert explained he was in Cuba on a fundraising trek when he noticed a lump in his neck.

"I had a sore throat and I couldn't speak and I couldn't breathe and I was postponing and cancelling tour shows. And I had terrible spasms in my face and a lot of tightness in the muscles," he said.

A biopsy revealed Gilbert had head and neck cancer and he began having daily sessions of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

He described his treatment as "faultless" and said he was "coming back" to his former self.