EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Eric Idle Faces Bullying Accusations from Monty Python Co-Stars

Feuding between members of celebrated comedy troupe Monty Python has been no laughing matter for some time. But now it’s turned really nasty, with Eric Idle accused of bullying.

Incensed by estranged colleague Idle publicly criticising their management by fellow Python Terry Gilliam’s daughter Holly, John Cleese fumes: ‘Very upset to see that Eric Idle is once again attacking Holly Gilliam . . . I want to make it clear that Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and I are totally satisfied with Holly’s work.

‘He has bullied her for several years, and we all think it’s shameful.’

On current communication with Idle, whose British tour begins on Wednesday, Cleese cuttingly adds: ‘He only communicates with us through his lawyer.’

Speaking in recent days, Idle, 82, labelled Cleese, 85 ‘bonkers’ and remarked: ‘I don’t think the company has been as well looked after as it might have been . . .

‘I always want an older manager, someone who’s wise – and not related to Terry Gilliam. So I walked away.’

At the height of the pair’s spat last year, Cleese said he and Idle have ‘always loathed and despised each other’.

According to Idle, Cleese fired the troupe’s former manager, his old friend Jim Beach, and hired Holly, 44, instead. Idle has since claimed that Holly is the reason he has to continue to work and make money over the age of 80.

However, Cleese responded to this claim in September last year, calling the narrative ‘an invention’.

Idle said of Cleese: ‘We don’t disagree about comedy – this is only about money. This is only about business.

‘I mean, a fool and his money are easily parted – six of us, much more quickly.

‘There’s no right or wrong way to deal with business, and if somebody has one view of it, and somebody doesn’t, and somebody has another, those can lead to very bad arguments.’

Cleese has endorsed Holly’s management, calling her ‘very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant to have dealings with’.

Ramsay’s girl is getting super-fit for her big day

Gordon Ramsay’s daughter Holly is getting ready to wed Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty – and she’s already looking the part of an athlete herself.

The 25-year- old ‘influencer’ posted a video online showing off her sculpted abs while posing in a crop top and Miu Miu skirt.

She regularly attends reformer Pilates sessions with Peaty, 30, the greatest men’s breaststroke swimmer in history, boasting three Olympic gold medals and eight world titles.

The couple’s big day is in December. Gordon Ramsay confirmed: ‘It’s going to be a Christmas wedding – they’re looking at venues.’

Mum Amy’s natural charm 

Model and actress Amy Jackson, who gave birth to a son, Oscar, with Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick in March, says society’s obsession with shedding baby weight is toxic.

‘I hate the term bounce back – there is no bounce back,’ the 33-year-old Bollywood star tells me. ‘I’m just rolling into a new form of myself, and no mother should be forced to lose her post-baby weight to keep up appearances. It’s unhealthy.’

Amy, speaking at the launch party for the Peanut app’s debut book, It Takes A Village, at The Roof Gardens in Kensington, West London, has an older son, Andreas, from her previous relationship with businessman George Panayiotou.

Benedict’s ‘hissy fit’ confession

He may come across as a mild-mannered, public school-educated English gentleman, but Benedict Cumberbatch admits even he struggles to keep his cool sometimes.

The actor, 49, is prone to having ‘meltdowns’ when overcome by a ‘crashing sense of inadequacy or fear’ on set. 

‘I’m always very all over the place after I have any kind of loss of composure – usually to do with insecurity,’ the Old Harrovian confesses. 

In a fight scene while shooting Marvel’s Doctor Strange, conflicting instructions from assistant directors prompted him to snap: ‘I need the director here now!’

Benedict adds: ‘He sorted it out. He knew I was having a bit of a hissy and I needed to have my knickers untwisted.’

Amanda Barrie, who memorably tried to slap Gordon Ramsay on his Hell’s Kitchen show, is still fighting fit ahead of her 90th birthday this month.

The former Coronation Street star gave an insight into her dedication to learning her lines at The Oldie literary lunch on Monday. 

‘I had no idea how much concentration that learning had taken until one night in Joe Allen [the West End restaurant] we were sitting around and suddenly everyone said, ‘Amanda, would you mind ordering? We’re all waiting for you,’ and I realised I’d been learning the menu.’

Thirty years on from Hugh Grant’s arrest for lewd conduct with prostitute Divine Brown in LA, film-maker Chris Columbus still rues the effect it had on the box office of Nine Months, his comedy starring Grant. Its release coincided with the tawdry episode.

‘Unfortunately, it put a bit of a stain on the film,’ the director reflects. ‘We did OK at the box office but I really think we would have done a lot better had that not happened.’

The NHS may be struggling but King Charles’s own health service is expanding. He first established a ‘royal NHS’ at Dumfries House, his stately home in Ayrshire, where the King’s Foundation offers mindfulness classes, as well as services such as chronic pain management and healthy-eating advice. 

Now, I hear, it’s opening a branch at Highgrove, the monarch’s private retreat in Gloucestershire. Among the jobs being advertised there is an ‘early career researcher’. 

His face is familiar to millions thanks to his role as Lady Edith’s husband, Bertie, in Downton Abbey, but now Harry Hadden-Paton wants to move behind the camera.

I hear that the Eton-educated actor, 44, whose godmother is Sarah, Duchess of York, is to show off his skills as a director of the forthcoming film Legacy.

Starring James Purefoy, the short film is a dark comedy about clashing social classes and marks the first project for Harry since setting up his own production company, Symphony Films, with his wife, actress Rebecca Night.