Monty Python star Eric Idle says Nigel Farage being ‘taken seriously is appalling'
Actor Eric Idle has said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage being "taken seriously is appalling" as he fears voters being swayed. The Monty Python comic, 82, shared how post-Brexit issues left him unable to get to Paris to see his Spamalot musical opening.
Due to the struggles since Brexit, Eric has now applied for a talent visa in France, where he also has a home. He hopes it will allow him to avoid a similar issue in the future.
'Eight years ago, we could go and live in any country in Europe we wanted to and work, and I wasn't even allowed to vote (in the EU referendum) because I lived here (in the US)," Eric said.
The iconic star turned his attention to Farage as he added: 'I mean, (Brexit) was just a terrible con, it was a real con, and (the fact) that Nigel Farago (Farage) still exists anywhere and is taken seriously is appalling to me.
'I was with somebody… she said, 'I hope I never see him in a room, because I want to punch him'.' Eric explained to PA news agency that he is now only able to spend three months a year at the home he built in Provence due to Brexit.
Sharing the extent of his issues, Eric added: 'I've applied for a talent visa in France, they have a little talent visa, and I feel I'm due one, because last year Spamalot won the Moliere, which is the equivalent of their Tony from Paris.
'And they love their Monty Python here (in France), we won that, we won the Jury Prize for The Meaning Of Life at the Cannes Film Festival, so they do know Python.
'So I'm hopeful that I'll get a little bit of an extension so I don't have to get kicked out, because I was kicked out two years ago, I had to leave, and I couldn't go and see the opening in Paris because I didn't have another day.
'I wrote to Monsieur Macron, and offered him a ticket if he'd let me in, and I said, 'only one ticket, because I don't want to be accused of bribery', but I never heard back.'
Eric currently lives in the US, but has been frank about his future there as well due to President Donald Trump. 'I think it's quite likely – I'm only a green card holder – that I will be given the boot," he confessed.
Despite his living situation being up in the air, Eric recently shared how he's had a "reprieve" following his cancer diagnosis. He was given an early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in 2019 and was successfully treated for the illness.
In a heartfelt 'Letter To My Younger Self' for the Big Issue, he wrote: "I miss a lot of people. Great people like Mike Nichols [director of The Graduate]. I will find myself thinking of a funny line and thinking, you must tell Mike that.
"Or Jonathan Miller [a British public thinker and former comedian]. So many of my heroes have gone, like Robin Williams. I still kind of occasionally speak to Billy Connolly, but I really miss him.
"You've got to find other people, you know, because there are still other funny people you can have dinner with or play guitar with. I got lucky, because I had to, I survived pancreatic cancer. So I feel that since 2019 I've had a reprieve. So I don't know or care what people say about me, I'm lucky every single day."
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