Eric Idle on Restoring a Provence Home and the Secret to His 49-Year Marriage
The Monty Python star opens up on Live with Kelly and Mark about his memoir and famous friends.
Eric Idle used a stop on LIVE WITH KELLY AND MARK to open up about the restoration of a home in Provence, the notable visitors it attracted over the years, and, in a separate conversation, the long-running marriage he credits with keeping him grounded through decades in show business. The two appearances gave hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos a chance to move from Idle's writing life to his personal one, with the comedian and author covering both in detail.
In the first clip, Idle talks about his new book "Idle in Provence," describing the process of restoring the property and recounting some of the famous houseguests who passed through it. His comments center the home itself as a kind of gathering place, with the book apparently built around the stories those visits generated over time.
The second appearance shifts away from the book entirely, with Idle recounting how he met his wife and reflecting on what has kept the marriage going for 49 years. Rather than treating the milestone as a punchline, he uses the segment to walk through the actual circumstances of their meeting, giving the hosts a straightforward account rather than a rehearsed anecdote.
Taken together, the two segments offer a fuller picture of Idle's current focus, split between a writing project rooted in a specific place and a personal history he was willing to detail on air. Both conversations stayed anchored in specifics, whether it was the guests who once passed through his Provence home or the origin story behind a nearly five-decade marriage.
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