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In May the 73-year-old, pictured left, ruffled feathers among his old comedy colleagues after admitting he found the idea of them re-forming “depressing”, adding that they had “sold out”.
With the lucrative 10-show run having come to an end at London’s O2 Arena last weekend the veteran director – who had even remarked that he hoped the performances would be “cancelled” –
concedes he has changed his view. “When I was interviewed before, I was in the middle of rehearsing an opera and I was to shoot a film in the autumn. So this ******** up my plans. I was not
a happy boy,” he explains. Admitting he had enjoyed doing the shows he adds: “Even my wife, who had thought it was a bad idea, thought it was wonderful. “So I take back everything I said.”
The shows were the first Monty Python stage performances in more than 30 years. Gilliam’s fellow Pythons had previously made little secret of the fact that money was a driving factor and
they are now expected to pocket £2.2million each. John Cleese, 74, has long highlighted his financial woes after a costly divorce from third wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger, while Terry Jones,
72, admitted he needed the money to pay off a mortgage. A tongue-in-cheek Gilliam adds: “It is what we deserve. Aren’t we legendary? I keep reading this in the press.”