Billy Connolly admits he has begun to believe in life after death
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Sir Billy Connolly has revealed he has started to believe in life after death.
The 78-year-old retired comedian, actor and musician – who has previously admitted to offending “most religions” in his comedy – confessed he can't accept that death will be the end of him.
Sir Billy told The Observer: "I’m sure there’s something. I’m sure there’s something."
Read more: Sir Billy Connolly 'I'd be cancelled if I started out in comedy today'
Asked why he added: “I don’t know, in recent years, I’ve just got a feeling that there is. That we don’t just turn to s**te. Maybe this is my refusal to accept something so mundane...
"That I’ll be squashed, like any other garden mite, and that’ll be the end. Well that can’t be what happens, can it?”
The Scottish star – who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and prostate cancer in 2013 – said that while he is not scared of death, he does resent the idea of his life coming to an end.
He said: "I do feel that. Cheated, in a way? But it hasn’t happened yet. So how can I have been cheated? And who knows? It might be so lovely on the other side that you don’t ever think about that.”
Sir Billy – who officially resigned from stand-up comedy in 2016 – revealed in a BBC documentary in 2019 that his struggle with Parkinson’s disease was starting to impact on all aspects of his life as a performer.
The Glasgow-born comic admitted the disease – a neurological condition that affects body movement – made even little things like getting up out of an armchair a challenge.
He said: “What works on a Monday, to get you out of a chair, doesn’t always work by Wednesday. It can be a cruel disease.”
Read more: Sir Billy Connolly set to release first autobiography
But Sir Billy – who lives in Florida with his wife of 22 years Pamela Stephenson – revealed he is still able to enjoy drawing and fishing, adding: “Can you go fishing for ever? Maybe you can.”
Watch: Billy Connolly admits he is losing his battle with Parkinson's disease