Comedy icon John Cleese says new doco will reveal side of himself ‘PR team work day and night to hide’

He’s at it again.

Comedy star and one-man-war-against-woke John Cleese will show a very “different side” of himself in a new documentary that goes behind the scenes of what may be his last tour.

The 85-year-old Monty Python legend said viewers will be able to see him as “decrepit, addled, nasty old geriatric” in the new movie that covers his six-week, 23-date European tour.

Called John Cleese Packs It In, the 90-minute documentary will show the star battle various ailments, encounter chaotic travel and grapple with his own stubbornness.

Speaking about the film, Cleese joked it will finally allow fans to see an alternative to his “dashing, devil-may-care” public persona.

“For the first time, audiences will see a different side to me – not just the dashing, devil-may-care, devastatingly handsome bon viveur, but also the decrepit, addled, nasty old geriatric that my PR team work day and night to hide from the public,” he said.

“You will see with your own eyes what it’s really like for a moribund 85 year old to struggle through a 23-city European tour, desperately trying to squeeze a few laughs from audiences who are clearly disappointed that they’ve wasted their hard-earned cash on over-priced tickets.

“This hatchet job is not just shocking, it’s also hilarious, as audiences everywhere laugh, not with me, but at me.”

The documentary will also feature the Faulty Towers star reflecting on his decades long career, which began in 1963, as well as fame, life and growing older in the public eye.

While he may be happy to have a documentary crew follow him around for weeks, there is one accolade the acclaimed star would refuse outright – a knighthood.

Cleese is adamant that if King Charles selected him for the most prestigious accolade to make him “Sir John Cleese”, he would say no to the title because he does not need or want the validation.

“I would. I simply don’t need that sort of validation,” Cleese said, asked if he would turn down a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List.

“It’s enough for me to know – because people often tell me – that I’ve helped them through difficult times by making them laugh.

“They come home, turn on an episode of Fawlty Towers, and the world doesn’t seem quite so bleak. That’s my reward.

“Frankly, I think those things are rather silly.”

-with BANG.