Monty Python’s Flying Circus may have featured a giant foot at the end of its opening credits, but that doesn’t mean that people want to see any aging Python members’ bare feet on their TV sets first thing in the morning.
John Cleese recently appeared on the U.K. morning show BBC Breakfast for an extended interview in which he touched on a number of different topics. For starters, he reflected on the recent passing of Prunella Scales, who, of course, played Sybil Fawlty on Fawlty Towers.
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Cleese admitted that he originally asked someone else to play the part, but the unnamed actress turned the sitcom down because she “didn’t think it was funny.” Scales was then recommended to Cleese and Connie Booth. “She came in on the first day and read it through,” Cleese recalled. “And Connie and I thought, ‘I don’t know that’s right.’ And then the second day, we thought, ‘Oh no, no that’s very right.’ And she was wonderful from then on.”
He also discussed the time he accidentally concussed Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel, with a frying pan during filming. “When you’re doing this kind of physical comedy, it’s like playing football, you’re going to get banged now and then,” he told the actor who “never stopped complaining about it.”
The BBC hosts brought up the upcoming documentary John Cleese Packs It In, which chronicles the comedian’s European 2025 tour. Judging from the trailer, a not insubstantial portion of the movie is devoted to Cleese’s assorted medical issues.
One such issue, apparently, involves his feet. After BBC Breakfast’s Jon Kay mentioned this during the show, Cleese fired back, “You want to see my feet?” Before Kay had a chance to respond (likely with a “no”) Cleese began removing his shoes and socks. He then placed his bare foot on the set’s glass coffee table, nearly knocking over a mug in the process, and seemingly weirding out Kay and co-host Sally Nugent.
“I’ve had six years of this,” the 86-year-old declared. “You see, it’s still bandaged. Can you believe that? After six years it’s still bandaged because I had a bone spur cut out of me. It won’t heal.”
The U.K.’s Daily Express noted that some viewers were “horrified” by the sight of Cleese’s foot. “Make yourself at home, John Cleese,” one person joked on social media. “OK time to say bye to John Cleese and his big toe,” another added. “WTF was that foot moment,” someone else questioned. “Did he know the interview was going out live?”
Hey, at least he managed to sit for an entire interview without once picking a fight with his former co-stars.
