John Cleese Complains That He Can’t Afford to Live in Luxury Anymore

If there’s one thing the surviving members of Monty Python love, other than comedy and petty social media beefs, it’s publicly complaining about the state of their personal funds.

Last year, Eric Idle made headlines for revealing that he is unable to retire because Monty Python’s finances are a “disaster,” allegedly due to the group’s current business manager, and also the lack of royalties and residual payments that get paid out in the streaming era.

While Idle’s complaints about the Monty Python brand’s financial decisions aren’t shared by his fellow Pythons, John Cleese recently made a similar admission concerning his bank account. In a new interview with The Times, per The Daily Express, Cleese claimed that his three divorces have depleted his resources. “The third wife got two properties, one was in London and one was in New York, and we had to sell the other three,” explained. “I’ve actually given the flat behind Peter Jones to (current wife Jennifer Wade), so I don’t have a house, I don’t have a car.” 

Of course, giving one of your houses away to your wife isn’t quite the same as not having a house, but Cleese went on to blame his latest ex for his busy schedule. After being asked about the constant live shows, including this year’s Monty the Python and the Holy Grail screening tour, despite being in his mid-80s, Cleese saltily added, “Well, you’re quite right, but there’s only one person responsible for that,” referring to his third wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger, who received a $20 million settlement when the couple divorced in 2008.  

“Can you believe when I met her, I had a beautiful house in Holland Park and no mortgage, and when I broke up with her, I had a flat in Sloane Square and a full mortgage? How they figured out she was worth $20 million, I have no idea,” Cleese complained. 

Now Cleese simply “lives in hotel rooms” while touring and says that he has “lost his nest egg.” It’s unclear how much exactly that nest egg was, but The Daily Express pointed out that he still has an “estimated net worth of around £8 million,” yet similarly claimed that he is “surprisingly poor” in an interview just last year.

As The Independent pointed out, it was this split that inspired Cleese to embark on the not-so-subtle “Alimony Tour” in 2010, which found him charging fans money to come see him complain about his divorce on stage, occasionally mocking paparazzi photos of his ex-wife. 

As Terry Jones once revealed, Cleese’s alimony payments were also a big reason why the Fawlty Towers star agreed to participate in the Monty Python’s lucrative series of reunion shows in 2014.

Although he may not have a house or a car, somehow Cleese still has the financial resources to bankroll scientists looking into the possibility of an afterlife, and presumably, whether or not he’ll still have to make alimony payments once he gets there.