Riders star Marcus Gilbert dies: Rupert Campbell-Black actor passes away following cancer battle aged 67… three years after finding love with co-star Lysette Anthony

Riders star Marcus Gilbert has passed away aged 67 following a three-year battle with throat cancer.

The Bristol-born actor, who was most famous for playing the swoonsome Rupert Campbell-Black in a 1993 TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Riders, passed away on Sunday. He is survived by his two children, son Maxi and daughter Aaliya, 29.

A fan site for Marcus, who was in a relationship with his A Ghost In Monte Carlo co-star Lysette Anthony, shared the news on Facebook, in a statement reading: ‘Today we have heard the very sad news that Marcus lost his battle against cancer on Sunday 11th January 2026…

‘We, along with his many fans worldwide, will mourn his loss, and remember the joy he gave us on screen, and in person. RIP Marcus.’

Marcus’ daughter revealed in 2020 that her famous father had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the same time as his wife Homaa Khan-Gilbert’s battle with pancreatic cancer. Homaa passed away in 2020 after 28 years of marriage.

Tributes poured in for the star with fans writing: ‘Gone home, in the arms of the angels and Homaa… Oh my goodness. RIP Marcus… So so sad.. Such sad news…

Riders star Marcus Gilbert has passed away aged 67 following a cancer battle (pictured with co-star Annabel Giles in the 1993 show)

Marcus is pictured with his partner and A Ghost In Monte Carlo co-star Lysette Anthony

Marcus is pictured in a steamy scene with Riders co-star Cecile Paoli

Adding to the tributes was actor Toby Hadoke, who shared a trio of images and added the caption: ‘Dashing, charming, and a strong actor with a bit of a twinkle’

Adding to the tributes was actor Toby Hadoke, who shared a trio of images and added the caption: ‘Dashing, charming, and a strong actor with a bit of a twinkle…

‘Very sorry to learn of the death, too young, of Marcus Gilbert with whom I had a lovely time in Liverpool about a decade ago…

‘He was also great in Doctor Who’s Battlefield and had a terrific role in Evil Dead 3: Army of Darkness…

‘He also told me how much he earned from being part of the second Gold Blend saga of commercials: eye watering! Lovely chap: wore his attributes lightly. :(‘.

Following his role as Ancelyn in the Doctor Who television story Battlefield, the programme’s showrunner Russell T Davies paid tribute himself, writing underneath Toby’s post: ‘Oh that’s sad news’.

Marcus’s doctor wife Homaa, with whom he shared his two children, passed away in 2020 after undergoing an operation to remove pancreatic cancer, leading to complications and a five-week stay in an Intensive Therapy Unit.

Marcus is pictured with his late wife Homaa on their wedding day

Marcus is pictured with Lysette when they starred together in A Ghost In Monte Carlo in 1990 – 23 years before becoming a couple

Marcus is survived by his two children, son Maximilian (pictured last year) and daughter Aaliya

Marcus is pictured with his beloved daughter Aaliya last year

Marcus’ passing comes after he found love with Lysette – hailed as the ‘face of the 1980s’ by photographer David Bailey – 33 years after they first kissed on-screen.

At the time it was revealed that twice-divorced Lysette fell ‘head over heels’.

A friend of the actress, whose last divorce was back in 2003, revealed at the time: ‘It’s a serious romance and has been going on for some time. They make an adorable couple. Lysette is head over heels with him.’

On social media Hollyoaks star Lysette posted pictures of the two of them together.

In May 2023 she intercut stills of them kissing in the 1990 film A Ghost In Monte Carlo – based on a 1951 Barbara Cartland potboiler which she starred in when she was 26 – with pictures of them together now.

The handsome star was made famous for his role in the bonkbuster

She captioned the Instagram post: ‘My Forever Love.’

The couple came to be after Marcus was informed that Lysette had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and they connected through her agent. They then met and their romance began, with Marcus helping with her diagnosis.

Lysette and Marcus first worked together on A Ghost In Monte Carlo in 1990.

Marcus also starred in the likes of Rambo III and Doctor Who, and was considered for the role of James Bond in the late 1980s, but lost out to Timothy Dalton.

Throughout his career, he made over 50 commercials, including one for Lee Jeans called Mean Jeans, directed by Willi Patterson, which won the best cinema commercial award in 1986.

Marcus’s passing comes after he found love with Lysette – hailed as the ‘face of the 1980s’ by photographer David Bailey – 33 years after they first kissed on-screen in A Ghost In Monte Carlo

Speaking about his work on adverts and commercials, Marcus previously said: ‘Any number of drink commercials. Bezique, Johnnie Walker, Harp Lager “the Vikings are coming” shot in County Galway was pretty funny. Gillette Blue II ” Into the Blue” shot in Kenya – one of my personal favourite…

‘I was lucky enough to have been sent to Kenya three days early to learn how to ride a jet ski on Turtle Bay. Thinking of it now, 3 degrees outside, I think I miss it…

‘Commercials were always a bonus, you travelled, usually had fun working, had the occasional fling & got paid for it … other commercials … were for financial services, coffees, drinks, electrical products & just about anything else you can think of…

‘Very little quality control as an actor … you just made any commercials for the money, they were never what you might call taxing – usually the bad ones were for abroad where they’d never be seen anyway!’