Comedian John Cleese has shocked the presenters of the Australian version of The Project by asking host Waleed Aly "what kind of a name is Waleed" during a live interview on the show.
Cleese, who is in Australia for a series of appearances, had stopped by the show and was asked to talk about Fawlty Towers by Aly, a fan of the series.
"We can't let you go without talking about Fawlty Towers – at least I can't, because I think it's one of the greatest shows…" Aly said, before Cleese interrupted.
"I don't want to talk about Fawlty Towers," he said.
"Yeah but, you know what – it's not all about you, is it? I mean, I can ask you about Fawlty Towers?" Aly asked.
"You can talk about Fawlty Towers," Cleese told him - seconds later, he turned his back and faced away from the hosts drinking some water.
But he turned back round and shocked the show's hosts asking: "What kind of a name is Waleed, anyway? Is it an anagram?"
"No. It's just Arabic. I take it your Arabic's not great?" Aly said, clearly taken aback.
"No. I tried to learn it once. There's about four h's and two k's or something," Cleese replied.
"Do you know what John is in Arabic? Yahya. I bet you can't say that either," The Project host hit back.
The interview continued for a little longer, with Cleese embracing his Arabic name and even revealing his real surname is Cheese.
