John Cleese has admitted he enjoyed his Twitter spat with Piers Morgan during which he told the journalist he had not been talented "for a lifetime".

The Monty Python star described the online war of words, which broke out following an article Morgan wrote, as "a little bit of fencing", and said he now thinks of it as "just a little matter of an entertainment".

Former Daily Mirror editor Morgan wrote a column for the Mail on Sunday accusing Cleese of having become "a whining pub bore", and a Twitter exchange ensued.

Speaking about the spat Cleese, who described Morgan as "a real third rater" and claimed at one point to have forgotten the television presenter's name, told BBC Radio Five Live it was enjoyable.

He said: "I think it's just a little matter of an entertainment, but I rather enjoy it. I think that when you can score off someone in a witty way, like when the Pythons get together we just tease each other mercilessly, we're terribly rude about each other."

The 75-year-old, who has published his autobiography So, Anyway... has just moved back to London from Monaco with his fourth wife Jennifer Wade and said he is the happiest he has ever been.

Cleese, who says he moved to Monaco because he could not afford to live in England and make alimony payments to an ex-wife, said he missed friends and realised he wanted to move back.

As well as an understanding wife, he credits his pet cats with making him happy.

He said: "Jenny was wonderful, she was very kind with my change of mind and now we're just back in London and actually the happiest I've ever been, not just because of Jenny, although she must take some of the credit, it's really the three cats, they are the most wonderful creatures."