July 17, 2013 | Arts / Entertainment

Dame Edna Everage announces retirement

It's a very sad day for possums around the world, as Dame Edna Everage has announced that her next UK tour will be her last.

The 79-year-old, portrayed by Australian comedian Barry Humphreys, said it was time to say goodbye.

"I shall be saying farewell to my English possums," she told The Guardian. "I cannot go on giving, giving, giving, giving. My gynaecologist looked up this morning and said why do you give as much as you do?"

She later told the Evening Standard: "I’ve done a lot of market research and I feel the love. Another person, and I’m not going to name names, would give a gathering like this and who’d come? Nobody. Would they? Between you and me, I was thinking of Cilla Black. How many people would turn up to that? I don’t mean that nastily. In fact I was thrilled to hear she was still alive.”

Her final shows will be at the London Palladium from November 14 to January 8.