All of the surviving members of comedy group MONTY PYTHON are to reform for a stage show, one of the Pythons, Terry Jones, has confirmed.

"We're getting together and putting on a show - it's real," Jones told the BBC.

"I'm quite excited about it. I hope it makes us a lot of money. I hope to be able to pay off my mortgage!"

The reunion is expected to be announced officially at a press conference being held in London on Thursday.

John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and Jones are all due to appear at the event.

Eric Idle also tweeted on Monday: "Only three days to go till the Python press conference. Make sure Python fans are alerted to the big forthcoming news event."

He added: "Python meeting this morning. Can't wait. Press Conference Thursday will apparently be live on Sky News. I'll get you the online URL."

The last time the five remaining members of the iconic comedy group appeared together was in 1998 at the Aspen Comedy Festival.