John Cleese feels "free" now that he's paid off his ex-wife.
John Cleese
The 76-year-old comedian - the creative genius behind 'Fawlty Towers' and 'Monty Python' - has been paying his third spouse, American psychotherapist Alyce Faye Eichelberger, £600,000-a-year for seven years since they divorced in 2008 after 16 years of marriage.
Cleese no longer has to give Alyce - who was awarded a total of £12 million in finance and assets - any money and he is delighted doesn't have to take on any more work that doesn't "interest" him just to pay her.
He famously went on the road with his 'Alimony Tour' in 2011 to raise cash for Alyce's settlement and he admitted the divorce bill was one of the main motivations for him to rejoin the Pythons for a series of live shows.
Asked what's in store for the future, he mused: "The past seven years I've been earning to pay off the alimony. But I'm now free to do things that interest me. I've adapted a Georges Feydeau farce called 'Bang Bang'. There's a good chance it will be on in the West End. It will get a terrible review in the Mail of course."
Cleese got remarried in 2012 to Jennifer Wade in the exotic location of Mustique, and despite her being 28 years his junior and encouraging him to stay on top of modern culture, he still worries about losing touch with what's relevant as he ages.
He said: "One of the things about getting old is that you lose touch with the contemporary scene. I find it rather amusing that I'm still managing to earn a living despite the fact that I have no idea why anybody would use Facebook."
Cleese was married twice before his union to Alyce.
He was wed to his 'Fawlty Towers' co-star Connie Booth from 1968 to 1978 and then to American actress Barbara Trentham from 1981 to 1990.
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