'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' Season 2: Andy Whitfield is cancer free and in training

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/06/spartacus-blood-and-sand-season-2-andy-whitfield-is-cancer-free-and-in-training.html

"Spartacus: Blood and Sand" Season 2 is a go! Star Andy Whitfield's diagnosis of Stage 1 non-Hodgkin lymphoma put production of Season 2 on hold. Instead, producers greenlit a 6-episode "Spartacus" prequel series starring Lucy Lawless and John Hannah.

Whitfield announced to Deadline that he is now cancer-free and has already begun training for his appearance in the prequel series. "I'm raring to go," he says, noting that his treatment was completed in mid-May.

"I was a healthy young man and had no idea that this could happen," Whitfield says of the initial shock. "It was frustrating that the first season was ending on such a high note and we could have been rolling into season 2."

Spartacus will be seen in two episodes of the prequel. Whitfield will begin filming his scenes in October, which gives him plenty of time for the rigorous boot-camp training he does for the physically demanding role. After the prequel series wraps the cast will immediately segue into the full Season 2 of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand."

Andy used the time off to "heal, stay in the now, and spend time with my family," he says, but he's looking forward to getting back into his gladiator sandals.

As for what the ordeal has taught him, Whitfield says he's learned to "stay in the now and enjoy every moment."