Comedian Matt Forde reveals he’s had a stoma bag fitted after life-changing surgery following devastating bone cancer diagnosis

Comedian Matt Forde has revealed he has had a stoma bag fitted after he had life-changing surgery after being diagnose with bone cancer. 

Just three months after his wedding to wife Laura, the performer and radio host, 41, was told by doctors he had a tumour called a chordoma at the bottom of his spine in August, 2023.

After a grueling 13-hour surgery and ten weeks in the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, he was discharged with a colostomy bag and stoma.

In the months coming up to August, Matt was performing at the Pleasance Courtyard, where he was ‘high as a kite’ due to a suspected slipped disc. 

When the comedian visited the doctor over excruciating back pain, they prescribed him codeine, diazepam, and an MRI scan. 

The performer, 41, was diagnosed with bone cancer. A tumor called a chordoma was discovered at the bottom of his spine after an MRI scan in August, 2023

An MRI scan later revealed that his ‘slipped disc’ was, in fact, a cancerous tumour, called Chordoma, on his spine.

Speaking to The Times about his upcoming tour, The End Of An Era Tour, he said when he heard the C word in the doctors, it was ‘like a lift going down quickly from the bottom of his lungs to his belly button’.

He said: ‘It was a good job I was sitting down because I think my legs probably would’ve buckled.’

Matt immediately went into survival mode. ‘I would have done anything I could to live — literally sacrificed anything,’ he said.

‘The doctors could have carved off any part of me that they needed to, so that I could have an extra second on this planet with my wife, that was the main thing.’

During his time in the hospital, the comedian underwent intense recovery, which saw him bed-bound and needing regular four-hour turns.

To help him recover, his wife had a sweet idea to help him stay motivated in his recovery.

She placed two photographs on opposite sides of the hospital room, one of Ben Stokes after he’d scored his century at Headingley and on the other side a picture of Stuart Pearce celebrating his penalty against Spain.

After a grueling 13-hour surgery and ten weeks in the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, he was discharged with a colostomy bag and stoma

‘So matter what side I was on, I had a patriotic individual who’d overcome pain and strife roaring me on every four hours’, he revealed.

Before becoming a comedian, Matt worked for the Labour Party, which prompted a visit from the current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

While Matt is cancer-free, he has had life-long changes to his bladder and bowel functions.

He has to use a stoma and a colostomy bag and will need to self-catheterise.

Matt’s The End Of An Era tour will start on October 2, beginning in Norwich, Playhouse, and will end on March 12, 2025, at Glasgow’s Glee Club.