The Great Celebrity Bake Off fans thrilled to see Rhod Gilbert on TV

Rhod Gilbert broke down in tears as he detailed his cancer battle on The Great Celebrity Bake Off Stand Up To Cancer special on Sunday.

While fans were thrilled to see him return to TV alongside Danny Dyer, Leigh Francis and Yinka Bokinni, viewers become teary-eyed as the comedian, 55, got visibly emotional when expressing how ‘lucky’ he is to be here.

Rhod battled the ‘brutal’ disease and got the all clear in October 2023 after being diagnosed with head and neck cancer in 2022. 

During the episode, he said: ‘For me, It’s really really emotional to be here. There was a point where I didn’t really know what the future held. Just to be here, to be anywhere, is pretty good. Amazing, yeah.’

He added: ‘I’m lucky to be here at all. I realised when I got cancer that I had been plodding through life thinking “other people get cancer”.’

As he made his courageous appearance on the Channel 4 celebrity special, fans were in awe of Rhod and expressed how ‘well’ he was looking.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, some wrote: ‘So happy we get to see Rhod Gilbert back on telly again #GBBO‘ 

‘The best thing about tonight’s Bake Off is that you can tell that the charity is close to Rhod Gilbert’s heart. It’s simply amazing the amount of charity work he does. #GBBO’ 

‘Loving this ep of #celebritybakeoff, Danny’s always good entertainment and it’s also so good to see Rhod Gilbert back and looking well. #standuptocancer #su2c’

‘Rhod Gilbert on #GBBO ❤️ If you haven’t seen his extremely moving documentary ‘A Pain in the Neck for SU2C’ I urge you to watch it.’ 

‘Anyone else thinking it should be #Rhodgilbert who wins? #GBBO #SU2C’ 

‘Rhod Gilbert is one of my favourite comedians, and having him alongside Danny Dyer is gonna be pure chaos.’ 

Over the last 10 years Rhod has raised almost £2 million for cancer care and research.

During a fundraising trek he noticed a few symptoms which later turned out to be head and neck cancer.

Rhod’s experience has been captured in his upcoming Channel 4 documentary Rhod Gilbert: A Pain In The Neck.

The programme follows the Welshman from his diagnosis and treatment through intimate video diaries.

Describing the decision to film his cancer journey, Rhod said: ‘I was lying in bed on the Friday, with my treatment due to start the following Monday.

‘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?”

‘It was partly for me. I’d cancelled all my TV work and tours, and I wanted to have something other than “cancer” in my diary.

‘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”.’

Earlier this year, Rhod revealed that he ‘ironically’ first found the tumour in his neck while he was in Cuba on a trek to fundraise for Velindre Cancer Centre charity, where he then became a patient.

He returned to screens for the first time since his diagnosis in February as he made a moving speech during the National Comedy Awards, which was in aid of Stand Up 2 Cancer.

Speaking in the pre-recorded segment from his home, he revealed he struggled to ‘speak or breathe’ after finding a lump on his neck. 

Rhod said: ‘I couldn’t speak or breathe and I was postponing and cancelling tour shows, I had terrible spasms in my face and a lot of tightness in my muscles. 

‘Couldn’t get to the bottom of it, turns out after a biopsy of this lump in my neck that I have something called head and neck cancer, cancer of the head, sounded pretty serious.’

Rhod admitted that his diagnosis ‘p***ed him off’ as he joked he thought he would have ‘life-long immunity’ after spending 10 years as a patron for a cancer centre.

He said: ‘I’ve led five fundraising treks all over the world, I do stand-up comedy nights to raise money, I hosted quizzes… it’s been a big part of my life for the last 10 years, 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. 

‘Apparently you’re just as likely to get cancer even if you spend your time fundraising for a cancer hospital. Anyway, I did get it, and it turns out it can come for anybody.’