Michael Palin Shares Rare Positive Story About Monty Python Members

Monty Python has been in the news a lot lately, partly thanks to the 50th anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but mostly because the surviving members of the iconic comedy troupe just can’t stop publicly berating one another.

Eric Idle and John Cleese obviously have their long-running social media feud, which led to Cleese claiming that the Pythons “always loathed and despised each other” in a 2024 post (although he later walked this statement back, claiming that it was merely a joke).  

Cleese also randomly dunked on the “boring” Michael Palin in an interview, prompting his A Fish Called Wanda co-star to later defend himself during a talk show appearance. And when one interviewer asked Palin whether or not he can rely on the Pythons for emotional support, he offered a pretty dispiriting response. “No, I don’t anymore. Whether I ever did, I don’t know,” Palin stated. Similarly, Idle once claimed that the Pythons were never friends, only “colleagues” who “worked together very well.”

All of which makes it pretty surprising that Palin has bucked this trend and opted to publicly share a heartwarming story about his Monty Python pseudo-friends. 

Speaking with Radio Times, per The Daily Express, Palin underscored that the group isn’t really in touch anymore. "No, we don’t speak to each other very often. There’s no ex-Pythons WhatsApp group or anything,” Palin joked. 

But Palin also revealed that the Pythons were all there for him when his wife of 57 years, Helen Gibbons, passed away from kidney failure in 2023. “We are in touch, and their reactions to Helen’s death, from all of them, were very touching, very immediate and very sincere. I really appreciated that."

While the Pythons have obviously had their ups and downs over the years, the one situation where they all seem to come together is in response to tragedy. Prior to offering their support to Palin, the surviving Pythons paid their collective respects when Terry Jones passed away in 2020. And the only project that they’ve all agreed on in recent years was the campaign to raise funds for a statue of Jones in his hometown of Colwyn Bay, Wales.

Making Idle’s claim that the Pythons were never friends even more questionable is Palin’s heartbreaking account of Graham Chapman’s passing in 1989. As documented in his published diaries, Palin joined Cleese at the hospital when Chapman was in his final hours. And Palin happened to be the only one in the room when Chapman drew his last breath. He held his hand and told Chapman “quite loudly, that we all love him.”

If the Pythons are still there for each other during these crucial moments, but they continue to bicker and snipe at each other the rest of the time, instead of “friends” or “colleagues” maybe the best descriptor we can use for them is “family.”