SIR Billy Connolly delighted fans today during an appearance on Lorraine’s chat show to plug his new book.
Viewers raced to Twitter to cheer on the comedy icon, 78, who chatted about his revealing autobiography from his home in Florida.
Billy, who retired from live performance in 2018, has been the subject of two books by his wife, Pamela Stephenson, a psychotherapist and former comedian.
But his autobiography, Windswept and Interesting, is out this week.
One viewer said: “Shock horror! A book that I’m definitely buying. Love Billy, looking great!”
Another Lorraine viewer wrote: “Billy Connolly, what a legend!!”
And one more said: “I was putting the kettle on but I think I heard Lorraine #lorraine say she’s got Billy Connolly on”
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease nine years ago after a doctor spotted him walking strangely through a hotel lobby in Los Angeles.
The Big Yin told Lorraine there are “good days and bad days” now, adding: “The good days outnumber the bad days.
“So I’ve got nothing to complain about, someone once told me if you’re not feeling well think of the kids in the cancer ward.”
Within the pages of his new book Billy reveals how a nude bungee jump in New Zealand and stripping off in the Arctic Circle rank among his top life experiences.
He penned: “I like being naked in public.
“I discovered this made me happy when I was only four years old. It wasn’t so much the willypointing more a lovely sense of naked freedom.”
The Glasgow-born comic added: “As an adult I have danced naked all over the world.
“Over a hundred million viewers have seen my willy. Not many people can say that.
“I have a close relationship with my willy, but I still never minded sharing it with strangers.”
The Scottish legend recently admitted he would be “cancelled” if he was starting out as a comic now because of woke culture.
He said he feared his material would be too edgy and hit out at TV bosses for bowing to political correctness.
Asked if he would face a backlash over his classic routines in today’s climate, he said: “Absolutely. You can’t decide to be fearless, you’re either fearless or you’re not and you go about it. Because of political correctness people have pulled in the horns.
“I couldn’t have started today with the talent I had then. There’s a show in America with all black comedians, men and women.
“They are totally ruthless and without political correctness.
“They have me on the floor howling with laughter. It’s just the cheek of them and the bravery of it.” But he added: “There was a comedian who had a television series and the suits were going to take it off at the first commercial break.
“They have no bravery. We need people who give people time and a chance to develop and all of that stuff.”
Glasgow-born Connolly shot to fame in the 1970s but upset religious groups with routines like the Last Supper and Crucifixion, where Jesus begins his last days with a booze-up in a pub in the city’s Gallowgate.
Sir Billy was speaking to Kiwi radio station Newstalk ZB to promote his autobiography Windswept and Interesting, which is out tomorrow.
He told how revisiting his childhood abuse for the book left him depressed, and said of writing about it: “I don’t know if it helps but you’re as well to get it off your shoulder.”
Connolly retired from stand-up in 2018 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but is filming new TV series Billy Connolly Does… for the Gold channel.
