Monty Python's Eric Idle says Nigel Farage being ‘taken seriously is appalling'
The 82-year-old comedian told the PA news agency he had now applied for a talent visa in France, where he has a home, in the hope it will help him avoid a similar issue happening again.
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Claiming Brexit rules limited his options, he told PA: 'Eight years ago, we could go and live in any country in Europe we wanted to and work, and I wasn't even allowed to vote (in the EU referendum) because I lived here (in the US).
'I mean, (Brexit) was just a terrible con, it was a real con, and (the fact) that Nigel Farago (Farage) still exists anywhere and is taken seriously is appalling to me.
'I was with somebody… she said, 'I hope I never see him in a room, because I want to punch him'.'
Idle said he was only able to spend three months a year at the home he built in Provence as a result of Brexit, in a recent interview with The Guardian.
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He told PA: 'I've applied for a talent visa in France, they have a little talent visa, and I feel I'm due one, because last year Spamalot won the Moliere, which is the equivalent of their Tony from Paris.
'And they love their Monty Python here (in France), we won that, we won the Jury Prize for The Meaning Of Life at the Cannes Film Festival, so they do know Python.
Eric Idle will head out on a UK tour in September (Eric Idle/Note by Note Media)
'So I'm hopeful that I'll get a little bit of an extension so I don't have to get kicked out, because I was kicked out two years ago, I had to leave, and I couldn't go and see the opening in Paris because I didn't have another day.
'I wrote to Monsieur Macron, and offered him a ticket if he'd let me in, and I said, 'only one ticket, because I don't want to be accused of bribery', but I never heard back.'
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Spamalot is the stage adaptation of the Monty Python film Holy Grail (1975), which has previously seen acclaimed productions on Broadway and London's West End.
Idle now lives in Los Angeles in the US and thinks he could also be made to leave that country if he jokes about US President Donald Trump.
He said: 'I think it's quite likely – I'm only a green card holder – that I will be given the boot.'
The comedian will return to the UK in September for a solo tour, which will see him perform at venues including London's Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and Glasgow's Armadillo.
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He is best known for his appearances in the Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series alongside Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam, and its spin-off films Holy Grail, Life Of Brian (1979) and The Meaning Of Life (1983).
Idle also created The Rutles with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's Neil Innes, a parody band of The Beatles, which featured in two mockumentaries in All You Need Is Cash (1978) and The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2003).
Mr Farage's Reform UK party have been contacted for comment.
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