Rhodri Paul Gilbert (born 18 October 1968) is a Welsh comedian and television and radio presenter who was nominated in 2005 for the Perrier Best Newcomer Award. In 2008 he was nominated for the main comedy award (as the Edinburgh Comedy Awards were then branded). Gilbert appears on television and radio panel shows, has performed stand-up on the Royal Variety Performance, and hosted a weekly show on BBC Radio Wales. 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, although the show ended in May 2015. Early life Gilbert was born in Carmarthen, Wales, one of three siblings to two teacher parents, his father hailing from Ebbw Vale and his mother from Abertillery. He attended Maridunum Comprehensive School and went on to study languages at Exeter University. For the first three weeks, such was his painful shyness that Gilbert was unable to eat with other students in the canteen or even make friends with the student in the next room. 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. He later worked as a qualitative researcher for several market research agencies in London. Career Stand-up comedy Gilbert got into professional comedy in 2002, after taking part in the Amused Moose Stand Up and Deliver course, but only "thanks to a girlfriend’s constant nagging". Within 18 months, Gilbert had already won several different talent competitions and was nominated for the Perrier Newcomer award for his first solo show in 2005 at Edinburgh Fringe entitled 1984. He has since performed worldwide. Many of Gilbert's stories are drawn from real life events, and his life in the wholly fictionalised village of Llanbobl. In 2008, Gilbert wrote a sitcom about life in Llanbobl, which featured on BBC Radio 2. In his 2006 Edinburgh Fringe show Knocking on Heaven's Door, Gilbert told stories from his life, weighing up whether he would be admitted to heaven. His 2007 show, Who's Eaten Gilbert's Grape?, saw Gilbert return to Llanbobl and pick up the story following the 1984 show narrative. His 2008 show, Rhod Gilbert and the Award-Winning Mince Pie, saw Gilbert question his sanity, his career and his life after suffering a mental breakdown brought on by the award-winning mince pie at