First Dates star Merlin Griffiths has revealed he is back in hospital after suffering bowel cancer complications.
The television personality, 46, announced last year he had been diagnosed with bowel cancer with doctors discovering he had a 4.5cm stage three tumour.
Back in April, Merlin underwent surgery to remove the tumour and was discharged from the hospital six days later.
Taking to Instagram on Monday afternoon, an exhausted-looking Merlin posted a selfie from his hospital bed and wrote: "Oh... Squibwibble. #complications. # nhs. #BowelCancerAwareness."
Fans and friends took to the comment section to wish him well, with one user writing: "Sending you so much love, hope it gets better soon xx."
"Sending love merl," one added while another said: "Sending positive vibes and wishing you better. You got this!"
One follower posted: "Oh no so sorry to see this. Sending a million positive vibes."
After his surgery in April, he thanked the NHS at the time, posting: "And home again. 6 days from surgery. #NHS #davincisurgicalsystem is quite something.
"It’s taken weeks off hospitalisation time! Road to recovery next. #cancer #bowelcancer #stoma."
Last year, the father-of-one was told by doctors he has a 75% chance of living beyond five years.
Merlin revealed his diagnosis in an interview with Sunday Mirror last September, explaining that he was facing a year of treatment while vowing: "I won't let it get the better of me."
He described the difficult moment he had to explain his diagnosis to his seven-year-old daughter Alix.
He recalled: “I said, ‘Dad’s got cancer’. She said, ‘Is that bad, Dad?’
“I said, ‘Yes, it’s very serious but I think it should be OK. Modern medicine’s great and if anything changes I’ll let you know.'
“She understands that people can die but I told her cancer comes in different varieties and in different ways too – and that many people come through it.”
The TV bartender, who also owns a pub in Lancashire, started getting feeling pain in June that year, but thought it was caused by scar tissue in his stomach from a car accident when he was 20.
Merlin said: “I thought, as most people must when they get a diagnosis, ‘Oh f***, I’ve got cancer’.
“I also wanted to know, what are my chances of surviving? It’s terrifying – of course I want to live.
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“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.”
He shared the heartbreaking news to his partner Lucile, 40, and then his friends on BAFTA-winning show First Dates.
They included French maitre d’hotel Fred Sirieix, and waiters Grant Urquhart and CiCi Coleman.
Merlin, originally from Cheltenham, Gloucs, says: “Lucile was working the day I got my diagnosis. I called her in the car on the way home from the hospital.
“I said, ‘Listen sweetie, we’ve found out what it is. It’s a malignant tumour and I need chemo.
“Of course she was incredibly upset. A week later I called some close friends. Fred was lovely and encouraging. He asked me how it has changed my life.
“I told him, ‘You either let it or you don’t. If you let it, it can take you down some pretty dark places’".
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