Michael Palin heartbreakingly admitted that he misses the “comfort” his late wife Helen Gibbins gave him during an appearance on Tuesday’s episode of Lorraine.
The Monty Python star, 80, announced that Helen had sadly passed away following a battle with chronic pain and kidney failure on May 2 last year, just weeks after they celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary.
He described her as the “foundation of my life” and said her death was an “indescribable loss” to him and their three children: Thomas, 55, William, 53, and Rachel, 49.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly, Michael said: ‘It would have been our 58th anniversary. I find myself seeking reassurance that she was awfully good at telling me what to do and what not to do.
“She knew what I liked and when I was happy with the work, rather than getting me involved in something I didn’t like, so I miss that.”
Michael Palin, 80, heartbreakingly admitted that he misses the “comfort” his late wife Helen Gibbins gave him during an appearance on Tuesday’s episode of Lorraine.
The Monty Python star announced that Helen had passed away following a battle with chronic pain and kidney failure on May 2 last year, weeks after their 57th wedding anniversary (pictured in 2015).
The actor continued: ‘I miss the jokes we used to have together. I mean it would be our 58th anniversary and every anniversary we tried to do something with more and more disbelief… That humor, I miss it a lot.
‘I knew Helen for 60 years and no one in my life had known her for that long. In that time she accumulates so many experiences, so many mutual experiences, that it is not necessary to give it much importance.
The childhood sweethearts met when they were 16 and married in 1966, celebrating their 57th wedding anniversary weeks before Helen died.
Michael and Helen met when they were both on summer holidays in Southwold, Suffolk, where they were staying in neighboring cottages with their families.
Speaking ahead of his new Channel 5 show Michael Palin in Nigeria, he explained that he felt he “had to keep working” because Helen would have wanted him to leave.
He continued: ‘You can’t say: “Everything stops now, I’m just going to live for the past”, you have to move on. I’m lucky because I get some work and I can travel around the world and get paid for it, which is fantastic, and I want to keep doing that if I can.
‘It puts you in touch with human life but it also gives me physical and mental energy which is really important for your morale.
‘We would love to take another trip. In reality, I would go with the small group anywhere.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly, Michael said: ‘It would have been our 58th anniversary. I find myself seeking reassurance that she was awfully good at telling me what she should do and what she shouldn’t do.
‘She knew what I liked and when I was happy with the work, rather than getting into something I didn’t like. I also really miss her humor,” she added.
Last week, Michael admitted he still struggles with the “forever” of life without his childhood sweetheart Helen.
He said he struggles with “eternity” and said life without his longtime partner feels “unreal.”
He said Mirror: ‘We were both 16 and married when we were in our early 20s… Helen was the foundation of my life. ‘Her sound judgment influenced all my decisions and her humor and practicality were at the center of our life together.’
He continued: ‘It’s like dealing with your eternity. Which is forever.’
He described Helen as a “vision of rebellion” when he met her and admitted their romance blossomed quickly, according to The Telegraph.
Michael was living in Sheffield at the time while Helen was in Cambridgeshire, but the couple stayed in touch by writing letters and met again the following summer.
They then met on Michael’s first day at Oxford University, where Helen was visiting her friend for the weekend, and fate brought them together once again.
Recalling the meeting, Michael said: “You can see that fate was squeezing us very hard at that time.”
The Monty Python star told how Helen had been suffering from chronic pain for some years and had been diagnosed with kidney failure before her death.
Announcing the news on his blog last year, Michael shared a selfie of them together and wrote: “My beloved wife Helen died peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
“For several years he had been suffering from chronic pain, which a few years ago was aggravated by the diagnosis of kidney failure.”
The childhood sweethearts met when they were 16 and married in 1966, marking their 57th wedding anniversary weeks before Helen died.
Announcing her death last year, he described her as the “foundation of my life” and said her death was an “indescribable loss” to him and his three children.
He continued: ‘We met during a summer holiday on the Suffolk coast when we were both sixteen and married in our early twenties. Two and a half weeks ago we celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary.
‘His death is an indescribable loss for me, our three children and our four grandchildren.
‘Helen was the foundation of my life. Her calm and wise judgment influenced all my decisions and her humor and good practicality were at the heart of our life together.
‘The family asks that their privacy be respected at this time.’
Watch Lorraine weekdays from 9am on ITV1 and ITVX.
