By Steve Hopkins

‘It’s all clear’

First Dates bartender Merlin Griffiths has revealed he’s been given the all-clear from bowel cancer. The Channel 4 reality dating show star revealed his diagnosis in 2021 and has been updating fans and supporters throughout his fight on social media. The 48-year-old underwent surgery to remove his Stage Three tumour last year, but due to complications, required another operation. In a post on Instagram earlier this week, Merlin announced he had been given the all-clear, and included a screenshot of an email from his doctor. The message states: “Hi Merlin, Hope you are well. Your CT scan has just come through. All looks good, there are no signs of any reoccurrence. Hope this is reassuring.” Marlin captioned the post: “Final Year 1 scan results are in, and it’s ALL CLEAR for now. Nice. Thank you #NHS #bowelcancerawareness.” Fans of First Dates were quick to congratulate Merlin on his recovery and to share details of their own cancer battle. “Smashed that cancer to smithereens. Nice job,” one person wrote. Another said: “Brilliant news Merlin am thrilled for you.” Someone still in the thick of their cancer fight, wrote: “Still in the thick of it here. Rolling through chemo with my stoma, Winnie The Poo. She’s a pesky little sh*t but she’s my pesky little sh*t! Here’s to being cancer-free & forever talking shite!” Another commenter added: “Amazing news! I had my 2-year scan results at the weekend! Like you, all clear! Always such a relief!” Merlin noted that while he has underground chemotherapy to shrink the tumour, had two operations to remove it, he is still living with cancer. He told The Sun: “That’s an important distinction to make. Just because you have an operation to remove the tumour doesn’t mean that all of a sudden you are cancer free. “They used to call it remission, now they call it NED, which means no evidence of disease.” Merlin explained that it will be five more years until doctors can officially say there’s “no evidence of disease”. “From there you’ll still have more regular checkups than most and then it’s ten years, you’re off the list from ten years. That’s as far as it goes,” Merlin said. “If there’s no recurrence of disease after ten years, then you are technically cured.”

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