First Dates barman Merlin Griffiths gives update after undergoing life-saving surgery to remove tumour

First Dates barman Merlin Griffiths has shared an update after he underwent life-saving ‘robotic’ surgery to remove a tumour.

Merlin, who rose to fame as the friendly bartender on the Channel 4 dating show, announced that he had been diagnosed with bowel cancer in September last year after doctors unearthed a stage three tumour.

The forty-six-year old vowed to not let the disease get the better of him and immediately began treatment, with him sharing regular updates with fans on social media.

And last week, Merlin shared the news that he was undergoing robotic surgery to fully remove his tumour, posting a selfie from hospital and writing: “Ready as I’ll ever be. Tumour removal time.”

He provided an update a couple of hours later post-surgery, explaining that there were ‘tubes outta everywhere’ and ‘aches and pains’ but, miraculously, ‘no tumour!’.

And yesterday, six days on from the surgery, Merlin gave another update on his recovery, where he shared his amazement at how quickly he had got back up on his feet.

Sharing a smiling selfie from outside, Merlin wrote: “And breathe. 6 days, start to finish. Now for real #cancer recovery. I’ve had open laparotomies before and the recovery was 6 weeks in hospital before robotic surgery!! Amazing.”

Merlin was diagnosed with the disease after experiencing pain he initially believed to be caused from an injury he had suffered at the age of twenty.

Merlin told The Mirror of the devastating diagnosis at the time: “I thought, as most people must when they get a diagnosis, ‘Oh f**k, I’ve got cancer’. When I saw my tumour on a screen I could see this big, alien-like fleshy constriction. The doctors said, ‘It looks like a malignant tumour’.

“I knew what that meant – it was still alive and growing. But I was also relieved. I’d spent three months telling doctors something’s wrong. No one could give me an answer until now.

“I also wanted to know, what are my chances of surviving? It’s terrifying – of course I want to live. I’ve shed a tear in private. But you can choose ‘to do’ or ‘not to do’.

“I chose to lead my life as normal, to stick to the facts about it, and to keep putting one step in front of the other.”