Matt ‘Hans’ Gilbertson finally ready for trip home after cruise ship fall

Adelaide’s favourite international cabaret star is packing his bags for home after months in overseas hospitals.

Adelaide’s beloved international cabaret star Hans is finally preparing to return to South Australia after spending months in overseas hospitals following an accident while performing on a cruise ship.

Former Sunday Mail columnist Matt Gilbertson – who performs across the globe as Hans, a camp accordion-playing German – sustained five fractures to his spine and shattered his foot and ankle when he fell 4m into the orchestra pit during a show off the coast of Turkey in late August.

He spent two painstaking weeks in the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, before being flown to London for surgery.

During the week he used social media to update fans on his recovery, saying his return flight had been booked for this Tuesday.

Matt Gilbertson with his doctor Lucky Jeyaseelan. Picture: Facebook

Matt Gilbertson in London after his surgery. Picture Facebook

Gilbertson posted a picture of himself with his British orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeon Lucky Jeyaseelan introducing the specialist in classic Hans style.

“Introducing the man who helped put Humpty Dumpty back together … my foot specialist here in London,” he wrote.

“I won’t go into all the details but … all good news after our final visit today with the cast being replaced with a boot and it looks like I will be able to move up to full weight-bearing in (December).”

The smiling Gilbertson said: “Spinal specialist also gave the thumbs up and I am out of the brace in a few weeks.

“I’m so lucky and eternally grateful to have been looked after so well here by everyone from the specialists to the hospital staff and even here at the hotel. Everyone has just been brilliant.”

Gilbertson said he was due to return to Adelaide on Friday night, adding he “cannot wait to finally see everyone”.

Matt Gilbertson seeing ABBA in London. Picture Facebook

Matt “Hans” Gilbertson performs a concert in Hindmarsh Square. Picture: Russell Millard

“Prepare yourself for some no doubt dramatic posts over the next few days,” he said.

Despite the frivolity, Gilbertson has faced some serious challenges in the past eight weeks.

His manager David Wilson, speaking soon after the accident, said it should never have happened.

“While he was performing facing the crowd and working the show … he dances backwards into what should have been and what always is another 4m of solid level stage,” Mr Wilson said.

“Someone had pushed a wrong button, or it could have been a malfunction, and that section had dropped down 4m. That’s like falling off the roof of a two-storey house.

“He was airborne and fell straight down on his feet vertically – his foot and his spine took all the shock.”

Gilbertson shot to global fame in America’s Got Talent in 2018.