Eric Idle, 83, hospitalised for second time in three days as Monty Python star shares health concern
Monty Python star Eric Idle has been hospitalised twice in three days with suspected gastroenteritis, the 83-year-old comedian revealed on social media.
The British-born performer, who now lives in Los Angeles, thanked medical staff at Cedars-Sinai hospital in a post on X.
“So I’d like to thank all the doctors nurses and staff in the Cedars GI ward for their kindness and help to me today. The second time in three days. I think I’m suffering from Gastroenteritis. I love you people,” Idle wrote.
Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, typically caused by a viral or bacterial infection.
According to the NHS, the condition tends to be self-limiting with most people recovering without complications after rest and hydration.
Fans responded to Idle’s health update with messages of support, with followers writing “Get well quickly”, “Praying for you sir” and “Get well soon Eric”.
The health scare comes as Idle prepares for an eight-date UK tour this autumn titled Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, Live.
The tour includes performances in Birmingham, Brighton, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bournemouth and Liverpool.
A highlight will be his appearance at London’s Royal Albert Hall on September 28. The Liverpool Empire Theatre will host him on September 14.
The shows are billed as featuring “rude songs, some singalongs, inappropriate remarks, reminiscences of fame, fortune and rare footage, plus a Virtual Band and surprise guests”. It marks his first solo UK performances since 2012.
Last year, Idle revealed he “shouldn’t be alive” after surviving pancreatic cancer. The comedian underwent surgery in 2019 following an early diagnosis.
“Oh, I shouldn’t be alive. I’m a lucky b****** and I enjoy every moment,” he told The Times newspaper when asked if cancer had changed him.
The diagnosis came with an eerie coincidence. Years earlier, while working on a project called Death: The Musical, Idle had asked his doctor which cancer could realistically kill off a character.
“He said, ‘Pancreatic cancer, it can finish people off in three weeks,'” Idle recalled.
A decade later, during routine tests with the same doctor, he queried an ominous blood result.
“He said, ‘Pancreatic cancer’ and I burst out laughing because I thought he must be joking,” the comedian added.
Idle, who co-created Monty Python in 1969 alongside Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, has been working as a comedian since 1963.
Earlier this year, the 82-year-old revealed he was struggling financially and had been forced to sell his house and continue working well past retirement age.
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He criticised Holly Gilliam, daughter of fellow Python Terry Gilliam, who took over the Python brand in 2013.
“I have to work for my living. I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously,” Idle wrote on social media.
His daughter Lily publicly supported him, writing on X: “I’m so proud of my dad for finally finally finally starting to share the truth.”