John Cleese stuns Kate Garraway with VERY blunt divorce advice live on TV after paying out an eye-watering $20m to his ex wife
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John Cleese stunned Kate Garraway with some extremely blunt divorce advice live on TV on Tuesday's episode of Lorraine.
The Fawlty Towers star, 85, appeared on the ITV show to chat about his stage version of the sitcom with step-in host Kate, 57.
Kate brought up when she saw John was during his Alimony Tour in 2011 and the first thing he said on stage was: 'I'm doing this for the money, to pay for the exes.'
John - who played Basil Fawlty in the popular show - said: 'I had to give her $20million, the thing is, a bit of advice for people...
'If you're going to have an expensive divorce, have it when you're 40, not when you're 70!'
An awkward Kate replied: 'Right, then you have to keep working at a time where you'd, perhaps, rather be relaxing.'
John confessed: 'Well, you're just doing nothing, which is my favourite way of passing the time.'
The actor has tied the knot a number of times over the years and is currently married to Jennifer Wade.
He was married to Alyce Faye Cleese between 1992 and 2008, and Barbara Trentham between 1981 and 1990.
His first marriage was to Connie Booth in 1968 and lasted a decade.
Back in 2023 John claimed that he was still paying his £15m settlement to his ex-wife Alyce.
She was awarded $20million (£15.5million) in a settlement in 2008, and the comic has previously complained that the deal left him worse off than her.
In the opening moments of his one-man show in Singapore, John told the 1,200-strong audience that he had been ‘forced’ to take to the stage.
He said: ‘I know what you’re thinking: What is an elderly English comedian doing here in Singapore when he should be back in his old oxygen tent in London, resting.
'Well, I’ll tell you the reason. I’ll show it to you.’
Projecting a picture of his ex-wife on a giant screen, he went on: ‘This is my ex-wife on her regular morning stroll, going to collect her alimony.
‘Do you know I had to pay her $20million?
'Can you believe that? Twenty! No children. Twenty million.
'The awful thing about that is that you give them ten, then you’ve still got another ten to go.
‘Look at it like this. If only she’d been satisfied with a mere $15million, I’d be going to bed in half an hour.
'Instead, I am forced to go on being a huge international megastar, a comedy icon, a national institution, a living legend.’
Back in July last year John admitted he was 'very worried' about the success of the Fawlty Towers stage show because the auditions were 'so awful'.
Despite his initial skepticism about revisiting the iconic show, having turned down a musical and TV show, the writer finally accepted an offer in 2015.
Speaking to hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond, John joked: 'I was very worried because the auditions had been so awful.
'I was disappointed with rehearsal. Somehow we fooled the critics because they're not very good these guys.'
Lorraine airs weekdays from 9am on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
