National treasure Michael Palin has described the year following the loss of his beloved wife of 57 years, Helen Gibbins, as “unreal”, admitting he feels incredibly alone. The couple were just days away from celebrating Michael’s 80th birthday, having already marked their 57th wedding anniversary when Helen died.
Despite being known and loved by many as a Monty Python star and popular travel television host, Michael, now 80, confessed that every reference point in his life is connected to Helen, who was not only his wife but also his childhood sweetheart and the mother of his three children.
Helen was 80 when she died on May 2, 2023, after a prolonged battle with kidney failure which caused her immense pain and required regular dialysis treatments. As Michael revealed, Helen decided alongside her children and doctors to “give it up” when her pain became unbearable.
Drawing a poignant picture of his loneliness, the actor told the Daily Mirror: “It’s not easy. It is an unreal world you enter. Someone you have been with so long…and suddenly they are not there, [but] you kind of fool yourself that they are there.”
The light-hearted Python, who met and married Helen in their early 20s, described his wife as “the bedrock of his life”, a heartening testament to the solidity and strength of their relationship spanning over five decades.
“Helen was the bedrock of my life. Her quietly wise judgment informed all my decisions and her humour and practical good sense was at the heart of our life together,” he commented.
Helen was always there for Michael throughout his career, which started with productions for Oxford Review, the theatre club at Oxford University where he studied with Terry Jones.
She was there when he and Jones met their fellow comedians: Cambridge graduates John Cleese, 84, Graham Chapman who died aged 48 in 1989, and Eric Idle, 81, as well as the only non-Oxbridge member, Terry Gilliam, 83.
Michael shared some insights on BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life, which is due to be broadcast on Thursday.
He noted their close friendship due to shared experiences, including finances, explaining: “We are still close as friends as we share so much including income which has to be worked out.”
Michael didn’t delve into the squabble between Eric and John, but he did touch on how the group isn’t as tight-knit as before: “We see each other but not as often,” he confessed. “I see Terry Gilliam as he lives close by. John lives in various parts of the world, I am not quite sure where, and Eric lives in America.”
“We are not that close, but when we get together, we talk about ‘that thing’ as if it was once a long affair from years ago, and we get rather tearful. Python is still selling around the world, not what it used to, [but] it achieved success that none of us would have dreamed of.”
