Rhodri Paul Gilbert[1] (born 18 October 1968) is a Welsh comedian and television and radio presenter who was nominated in 2005 for the Perrier Best Newcomer Award.
[3] In September 2014, Gilbert started presenting the BBC Two panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, ending a run of five series without a permanent host.
Gilbert was born in Carmarthen, Wales on 18 October 1968,[4] as one of three siblings to two teacher parents, his father came from Ebbw Vale and his mother from Abertillery.
[5] After graduating, Gilbert travelled for a year and a half around Australia and Asia before returning to Carmarthen and working as an admin assistant for the Welsh Office.
[3] Gilbert got into professional comedy in 2002, after taking part in the Amused Moose Stand Up and Deliver course,[7][8] but only "thanks to a girlfriend’s constant nagging".
[5] Within 18 months, Gilbert had already won several different talent competitions[6][9] and was nominated for the Perrier Newcomer award for his first solo show in 2005 at Edinburgh Fringe entitled 1984.
[14] The DVD also contains several special features, including his rant about lost luggage, outtakes from the performance, in which he chats with the audience and deals with hecklers and a mockumentary called Back to Llanbobl in which Gilbert shows the viewer around his fictional home town, filmed in Talgarth, Powys.
[3] He also presented BBC 2W's Rhod Gilbert's Teen Tribes, providing an insight into the worlds of "Emos", "Chavs" and "Goths".
Gilbert was Paramount Comedy's continuity writer and announcer between September 2004 and October 2005, providing end-credit voice-overs for their peak time programme schedule.
On 6 June 2009 Gilbert appeared as the headline act on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow on BBC One, and as a guest on 8 out of 10 Cats on 17 July 2009.
The show featured Gilbert, Greg Davies and Lloyd Langford answering random trivia questions, such as 'Who would win in a race, Usain Bolt or a grizzly bear?
It aired on BBC One Wales from 7 May 2012 and saw him take on jobs such as primary school teacher, zookeeper, drag artist and police officer.
In September 2014, Gilbert started presenting the BBC Two panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, ending a run of five series without a permanent host.
[24] In September 2018, Gilbert appeared as a contestant of the seventh series of Taskmaster alongside James Acaster, Jessica Knappett, Kerry Godliman and Phil Wang.
The second series of Jest a Minute was recorded in late 2008 in Cardiff's Glee Club, hosted by Gilbert and featuring regular team captains Chris Corcoran and Lloyd Langford, and guests from the comedy circuit such as Elis James, Greg Davies, Lucy Porter and Jon Richardson.
[32] Gilbert has also played badminton, including as a doubles partner with former gold medallist Anthony D. Jordan, relating his story on an episode of the BBC panel show Would I Lie to You?