First Dates barman leaves hospital after life-saving 'robotic' surgery to remove tumour

First Dates barman Merlin Griffiths has updated fans and followers following life-saving surgery to have a tumour removed. In September last year the Channel Four star announced he had been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

The friendly face of the Manchester-based dating show who helps the aspiring couples to break the ice as they arrive at The Refinery retaurant at Spinningfields has been keeping fans informed and shared last week that it was time for his tumour to be removed. "Ready as I'll ever be. rumour removal time," he posted on Instagram with a photo of himself in his hospital bed.

Hours later the 46-year-old thanked the NHS for their life-saving work with a selfie a picture of a machine used for his surgery. "Thank you #NHS for literally saving my life,’ he tweeted on Friday. And over on Instagram he wrote: "2am. Tubes outta everywhere. Aches and pains. But no tumour!"

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On Monday afternoon he posted another hospital bed selfie as he gave a cheery thumbs up to camera and a smile. "Almost there. Another day and then off home," he captioned the photo. He added the hash tags "#bowelcancer" and "#stoma" as well as a tongue-in-cheek "#alive."

Today (Wednesday April 20) Merlin, who has been a bartender and mixologist for more than 20 years, shared another smiling photo of himself enjoying the outdoors as he praised his amazing 'robotic' surgery. "And breathe. 6 days, start to finish. Now for real #cancer recovery," he wrote.

"I've had open laparotomies before and the recovery was six weeks in hospital before robotic surgery!! Amazing," he said. And he added: "#nhs #davincisurgicalsystem #bowelcancerawarenessmonth