Elvis Was Obsessed With Germs, Claims Priscilla Presley

Elvis Presley was a germophobe who instead on taking his own silverware to other people’s houses because of his obsessive fear of bugs, according to Priscilla Presley.

The ex-wife of the King of Rock n’ Roll made the sensational claim that Elvis “Didn’t like to put his mouth where other people put their mouth,” on the Jonathan Ross Show, which is due to be broadcast in the U.K. this Halloween.

Every aspect of the personal life of Elvis Presley has been scrutinized like a jump-suit wearing insect beneath the microscope of fame since his death in 1977, so the latest revelation from Priscilla that Elvis was a germophobe is something of a bombshell.

Priscilla, whose appearance belies that fact she is now in her 70th decade, told a dumbstruck Ross that only now does she appreciate how hard it must have been for Elvis to deal with fame as well as battle other life-limiting issues such as his obsession with germs.

“He never liked to go to people’s homes to eat because he didn’t like eating with other people’s silverware so he would take his own silverware.

“And he didn’t like drinking out of cups that other people had drunk out of, even in restaurants or other people’s homes. So when he drank, he would drink where the handle was, knowing that no one would ever drink at that side.”

Although many people might believe Elvis became a germophobe later in life due to the pressures of being the most famous person on the planet, Priscilla insisted it was a condition which plagued the King from childhood.

“He just didn’t like being around other things that people handled a lot. He was that way when he was young, very young, a young boy.”

Priscilla first met Elvis in 1959 when she was just 14. Eight years later they married. In a strange twist of fate their only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, would end up marrying the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who also had an obsessive fear of germs, and took to wearing gloves and a mask in public.

“It was absolutely devastating, I mean still to this day it’s hard to believe. I think he’d still be doing music definitely, that was certainly in his soul. He just loved music and I don’t think he’d ever give that up.

“He wanted to give so much. He wanted to do more, he wanted to sing better songs, there were so many demands made on him. I look and I say, Wow his shoulders were so full. How he lifted himself up sometimes I just don’t know.”

Elvis died from a heart attack on August 16, 1977, aged 42. He was hours away from starting a new tour. Something which, according to Priscilla, he was very excited about.

“We talked, in fact we talked a few days before he passed which was very hard. (I was) asking if he was OK and if he was excited about going on tour and he was. He loved work, but he was dealing with a lot of issues, decisions that he had to make, so it wasn’t easy.”

Priscilla was joined on the Jonathan Ross Show by her husband’s namesake, Elvis Costello, who preformed his own interpretation of the King’s “Don’t” on one of Elvis’s old guitars from 1956.

With worldwide sales around 600 million units, Elvis is still the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music. And, with a new album out this week entitled, “If I Can Dream,” which features Britain’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra backing well-know Presley numbers in the sort of grandiose way the King loved, Elvis’s grip on the throne, even in death, looks as hard and fast as ever.

[Lead photo by Keystone/Getty Images]