Away from the tricky topics his next live show, Gilbert has some more light-hearted fare in his latest TV show, Growing Pains, featuring a host of fellow celebrities opening up about their cringingly embarrassing teenage years.Gilbert himself had suffered crippling shyness throughout his childhood and teens, lasting into adulthood - despite his attention-grabbing choice of career.
So, what happened between his unsuccessful performance of Oh What A Lovely War and becoming one of the country's best loved stand ups?"I had a girlfriend who just thought I could do it and just kept on at me and just kept encouraging, kept nagging, whatever way you want to say it for about eight years, she kept on at me and in the end, I went, 'Alright, I'll give it a go'.
"I owe her everything... without her, I would never, ever, ever in a million years entertain the idea of doing this. It wasn't in my head one jot."