Eric Idle cried when he got all-clear from cancer
Monty Python star Eric Idle broke down in tears when his cancer doctor told him he was going to live.
The 79-year-old has revealed he remained stoic when he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three years ago - insisting he "just got on with it" - but after undergoing surgery and several rounds of check-ups he was finally given the all clear.
Eric told the Guardian: "I didn’t cry till I knew I was going to live. I just got on with it. I’m British! You try not to show emotions in the face of danger."
After a five-hour surgery to remove the cancer from his pancreas, Eric had to go back to his doctor every six months for a check-up and Eric said his most recent appointment was when he got the real shock.
He explained: "I’ve been living six months to six months on tests. I didn’t know how much longer I had. I saw my doctor recently, and that’s when I got the real shock. I asked him how long I had left, and he said: 10 years. He also said: ‘Had you been two weeks later you wouldn’t have got to see the surgery; you would have been straight into chemo’, which is unpleasant and not much use at that stage."
Later in the interview, Eric lifted the mood by describing his friendship with King Charles - revealing they were close in the 2000s when he was Prince of Wales but they haven't seen each other in a while.
He said of the new monarch: "He’d come over for dinner and we’d rip his ass, and he just loved it. He just loved it. Imagine you’ve got sycophantic people around you all day and now a bunch of comedians are ripping you apart. It must feel so healthy finally.”
