The wife of Britain’s greatest showman Gerry Cottle, who died of Covid-19 at 75 last January, once told him that he was ‘not a proper husband’.
Betty Cottle suffered decades of the veteran circus impresario’s sexual infidelities, relentless womanising and cocaine addiction before splitting with him in 2001.
She left the circus boss having spent years waiting in their caravan for the philanderer to return home, telling him: ‘You are never here. I never have a clue where you are. You’re not a husband – you’re a lodger and a bloody ungrateful one at that'.
But more than twenty years after they separated, Betty has been named as a beneficiary in his will - which leaves a fortune of more than £5.3million.
Betty was also mentioned in the personal items section, as she is to be handed his share in a painting by Edward Seago, who was appointed as the official artist for the Queen’s Coronation in 1953.
Cottle has died shortly after contracting Covid – just a week before he was due to be vaccinated. He died at a hospital in Bath in January 2021. He was survived by four children, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Gerry Cottle on his 72nd birthday in April 2017 with his WOW Circus troupe. He died last year aged 75 after catching Covid
Betty Cottle, the wife of Gerry Cottle with their daughter April, would leave him after 33 years. She is he main beneficiary of his £5.3million will
On top of the world: Gerry Cottle is pictured on stilts with his stars at the peak of his fame. At one point he ran Britain's biggest circus and needed 150 trucks to transport the acts around the country
Flying high: Gerry Cottle at his funfare in 1993. Alongside success, Cottle also weathered two bankruptcies, a sex addiction, cocaine habit and the breakdown of his marriage
Bettyis to be handed his share in a painting by Edward Seago, who was appointed as the official artist for the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. Gerry in front of the art in 2009
The son of a stockbroker, he was born in Carshalton, Surrey, but ran away to join the circus at 14 after being impressed by a show he had seen at Earl's Court, west London.
His son Gerry will receive any cars that he had, along with his number plate GWC1
Cottle's circus career began as 'Gerry Melville the Teenage Juggler', but by the mid-1970s his Gerry Cottle Circus was touring Britain with three shows.
Later he married Betty
