John Cleese Says His New Romance Is A "Disgrace"
John Cleese The 70-year-old is dating 39-year-old Jennifer Wade. The pair were introduced at the end of last year and have been together ever since, with John saying he is blissfully happy.
“I’ve found someone who is very age inappropriate. Jenny is 39 – making it 31 years' difference – which is a disgrace,” he said on British programme The Graham Norton Show. “We’ve only been together three or four months – but she is the most... playful creature.”
John was in a wheelchair while on the show, after hurting his knee. He told the host he first injured it while dining with Michael Palin, who he worked with on sketch programme Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
“I was having dinner last night with Michael and, I do not know why, but I got up to go to the loo and I could hardly move. I was grabbing on to things to try and get there,” he explained. “It was a very, very painful experience. I’ve had people in today trying to figure out what I’ve done but the great thing is I’m having knee replacement surgery. I was going to have it replaced anyway so it doesn’t matter what happens to it now. That’s the thing about getting old. Things drop off.”
John has been married three times before. His union with Alyce Faye Eichelberger last 16 years but ended in 2008, and they wrangled over their divorce for many months. John was ordered to pay Alyce £12.5 million, made up of £8 million in cash and assets and £612,000 every 12 months for the next seven years.
To make money for the agreement John went on tour with a show entitled A Ludicrous Evening With John Cleese…or How To Finance Your Divorce.
John has spoken of his anger at the divorce decision, but admitted there are some positive aspects to it on the TV show. “One thing we know about Jenny is, she’s not after my money,” he said.