barman has provided an update to his fans and followers as he recovers in hospital following surgery to have his tumour removed, joking that he was still ‘alive’.
In , the Channel 4 star announced he had been diagnosed with .
Since then, he has been keeping fans up to date with his journey, sharing earlier this week that it was time for his tumour to be removed.
Hours later, the 46-year-old updated fans and thanked the NHS .
‘Thank you #NHS for literally saving my life,’ he tweeted on Friday, alongside a selfie of him in his hospital bed and a picture of an operative machine used for surgery.
He had earlier posted a picture of himself in bed on Instagram, writing in the caption: ‘2am. Tubes outta everywhere. Aches and pains. But no tumour!’
On Monday afternoon, the reality star took to Twitter with another hospital bed selfie.
Wearing both a hospital gown and dressing gown, the reality star gave a cheery thumbs up to camera as he smiled.
‘Almost there. Another day and then off home,’ he captioned the photo, adding the hash tags ‘#bowelcancer’ and ‘#stoma’ as well as the rather tongue-in-cheek ‘#alive’.
One fan commented that they were ‘glad for’ Merlin as they shared their father had recently left hospital with a stoma.
‘Keep going, you got this,’ they added, to which Merlin replied: ‘Has he named his stoma? #BowelCancerAwarenessMonth.’
Bowel Cancer Awareness Month takes place in April, with the professional barman and pub owner having raised awareness for it in previous posts.
Merlin announced last month that he was preparing to have surgery, having explained that his stage three tumour was detected after he went to hospital with symptoms including bloating and nausea.
Sharing their support and love for the popular Channel 4 reality TV star, actress and former First Dates star Chrissie Wunna commented a series of hearts under his Instagram post, as did waitress Cici Coleman.
Fans also rushed to comment with support and well-wishes, with many sharing hearts and support for his recovery.
First Dates airs Thursdays at 10pm on Channel 4.
