Celebrity

‘My life is slipping away’: Billy Connolly opens up on Parkinson’s disease

Jan 03, 2019

In scenes to air in a documentary in the UK on Friday, Billy Connolly will reveal the true extent of his Parkinson's and the impact it's had on his life. Source: Getty

Scottish comedian Billy Connolly has spoken candidly about his Parkinson’s disease in the past and now the 75-year-old has opened up about reaching the end of his life.

On Friday, fans across the UK will be able to see Connolly in the second episode of Made in Scotland, a two-part series about Billy’s life, and according to an exclusive report by British publication The Daily Mirror, the Debt Collector star talks openly about death in the next episode.

“My Parkinson’s is not going to go away and it’s going to get worse,” he says, according to The Mirror. “My life is slipping away.”

The A Series of Unfortunate Events star reportedly explains that he’s “at the wrong end of the telescope” and that his life will end soon. Still, according to the Mirror, he’s not afraid of death.

“My life, it’s slipping away and I can feel it and I should.” he reportedly says on the program. “I’m 75, I’m near the end. I’m a damn sight nearer the end than I am the beginning.

“But it doesn’t frighten me, it’s an adventure and it is quite interesting to see myself slipping away.”

According to a statement from the BBC, the series is built around a series of intimate interviews, with Billy himself providing a unique insight into his early influences and motivations. Part one, which aired in the UK last Friday, included interviews from the likes of Eddie Izzard, Ross Noble, Micky Flanagan, Lord Greade and Tracey Ullman.

“This second and last part of an intimate insight into the uniquely talented comedian Billy Connolly explores the influences and motivations that made him the comic legend that he is today,” BBC said in a statement. “Weaved around personal accounts and interviews from famous faces, Billy’s life is revealed in all its glory – a shaggy dog story approach to his work and one that has turned him from Billy Connolly the welder into Billy Connolly The Big Yin.”

In addition to talking about his health condition during the episode, Billy will also head back to the Scotland of his childhood and reflect on his upbringing. A clip released by the BBC also shows the star talking about the poetry of swearing in the Scottish city of Glasgow.

"That's poetry whether you like it or naw"

Billy Connolly on the poetry of swearing in Glasgow.

Warning: contains poetry and swearing.

Watch #BillyConnolly Made in Scotland Friday at 9pm on BBC Two Scotland https://t.co/nQRqgVTsvO pic.twitter.com/VBxI2lrtpW

— BBC Scotland (@BBCScotland) January 2, 2019

Billy had previous revealed that a fan, who happened to be a doctor, alerted him to his Parkinson’s. According to an extract of his Made in Scotland book, published by the Daily Mail, the fan noticed him walking with a “strange gait” and told him he thought he had the early onset of Parkinson’s.

Sadly, the official diagnosis came the same week he found out he had prostate cancer and that he’d gone deaf. While he admitted to taking medication to control the condition, he said simple activities such as getting out of chairs can be difficult.

Meanwhile, he was forced to defend himself last year after TV legend Michael Parkinson suggested Billy had been severely impacted by Parkinson’s. Michael said Billy’s “wonderful brain has dulled” and that he struggles to recognise close friends.

Both Connolly and his wife Pamela Stephenson blasted the claims and even branded Michael “a daft old fart”.

“I would recognise Parky if he was standing behind me – in a diving suit,” Connolly told The Mirror.

Meanwhile, his 69-year-old-wife said her husband was doing great and that Parkinson didn’t know anything about the current state of her husband’s health.

“Mike Parkinson is a daft old fart – doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” she said. “Billy’s doing great and still funny as hell.”