Male bravado meant I ignored cancer warning sign – don’t make my mistake, says First Dates star Merlin Griffiths
"PLEASE learn from my mistakes - get tested and don’t be embarrassed,” First Dates barman Merlin Griffiths, tells the Sun. Laughing down the phone, the Channel 4 star has lost none of that charm he radiates through our screens on the dating show - despite his grim diagnosis. Merlin says: “You never really realise how common cancer is until it happens to you.” The 46-year-old bartender - who chats to the daters while they wait at the bar for their match in the hit show - was diagnosed with bowel cancer in August 2021. Bowel cancer is the second deadliest form of the disease in the UK, claiming 16,000 lives every year.