Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Eric Idle thought his pancreatic cancer diagnosis was a “joke”.
The Monty Python star, 83, was diagnosed with the deadly condition in 2019 but he underwent treatment and made a good recovery – however, Idle has now revealed he initially didn’t take his diagnosis seriously because his doctor had previously suggested the same illness would be a suitable way to kill off a character in a stage show called Death: The Musical he was writing.
Idle explained to The Sunday Times newspaper: “I laughed [when I was given the diagnosis] because I thought it was a joke. But I survived! Basically I shouldn’t f****** be here. Every day is extra time for me. I just hope there aren’t any penalties at the end.”
The actor/comedian previously admitted he felt like he’d been given a “reprieve” since surviving cancer and he thinks people should appreciate being in good health and not worry about ageing because “there’s not much you can do about it”.
He told The Big Issue magazine: “Ageing – there’s not much you can do about it. “think the thing is that you know you can get better at things like relationships.
“You can get better at marriages. You can get better about people and friends because in the end, that’s all that matters.
“And as you get older, sadly, you lose more and more friends. The older you get, the less you think, ‘Oh gosh, I hope this never ends.’
“You’ve got physical problems, and all these things happen. You’ve just got to feel lucky that you’re alive.
“I miss a lot of people. Great people like Mike Nichols. I will find myself thinking of a funny line and thinking, ‘You must tell Mike that.’
“Or Jonathan Miller. 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.”
