John Sessions’ agony as his mum died just weeks after he was outed as gay
Comedian John Sessions was outed as gay by a newspaper when his parents didn’t know, with his mum dying six weeks later
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Tributes have been flooding in for John Sessions, a comedic legend best known for Spitting Image, Have I Got News For You and Whose Line Is It Anyway?.
He died after suffering a heart attack on Monday at the age of 67, his agent confirmed.
John previously opened up about his painful childhood, and revealed he’d never been able to share his sexuality with his parents.
Chatting with The Guardian back in 2017, John recalled that he’d been outed as gay by a newspaper in the 1990s.
And just six weeks later, his mum suddenly died and his father developed dementia.
John said: “My parents never knew I was gay. Actually, I think my mother probably did. When I was 18, I got very drunk and let it all hang out but I was so panicked by her reaction – horror – that I backtracked.”
He added that in 1994, he had been starring in a production of My Night with Reg, much of which is about homosexuality.
“I was interviewed by the London Evening Standard,” John continued, “and asked very robustly: ‘Are you gay?’ I said, ‘Yes I am, but my parents don’t know and I don’t want them to find out by picking up a copy of the Evening Standard.’
“The journalist said she thought I should tell them and outed me. My mother died unexpectedly six weeks later and my father quickly developed dementia. It was never mentioned.”
During The Guardian interview, John described his mother as a “more tender creature than my father”, with whom he had a “terrible relationship”.
“He could be very funny but was often dour and melancholy,” he explained. “He could be taciturn or chatty. He could be very wise, but also chauvinist, antisemitic and racist. You never quite knew who you were going to get.”
Some of comedy’s biggest names have shared tributes to John.
Peep Show’s Robert Webb reflected on losing two of the comedy greats within days of each other.
He wrote: “Bobby Ball and now John Sessions! Two very different performers who both absolutely inspired and delighted me at different times. Lovely, funny men.”
Impressionists star Charlie Condou penned: “Unbelievably sad news about John Sessions. He was a wonderful friend and mentor to me when I was starting my career. RIP XXX.”
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