Elvis Presley had many particular quirks regarding his food and personal space. Presley was very worried about becoming ill and was reportedly a germaphobe. He feared catching other people’s bacteria and used one method to ensure he wouldn’t fall sick. When he left the confines of his palatial Graceland estate, Presley traveled with his own set of silverware at all times.
Food and love intertwined for Elvis
Even though his family was relatively poor throughout much of his life, Presley’s mother, Gladys, always made sure there were satisfying meals for her husband Vernon and son Elvis.
This type of down-home cooking fed the family and was a favorite of Presley’s throughout his life.
Gladys cooked all the traditional Southern favorites, including grits and black-eyed peas, ham, bacon, fried chicken, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and homemade country gravy.
Presley was Southern-born and Southern-bred. Therefore, his culinary tastes never varied far from Southern-style home cooking. He wasn’t a fan of exotic foods nor did he like strong smells or tastes.
These steadfast tastes were eclipsed only by Presley’s assistance that he uses his cutlery when eating out not to catch other people’s germs.
Elvis Presley was a germaphobe, said ex-wife Priscilla
During an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2015, Priscilla Presley shared a little-known fact about her late husband.
Presley died in Aug. 1977 at his Graceland home.
Priscilla shared that the couple rarely ate at other people’s homes as Presley feared using other people’s silverware.
She recounted: “He never liked to go to people’s homes to eat because he didn’t like eating with other people’s silverware so that he would take his silverware.”
Priscilla continued, “He didn’t like drinking out of cups that other people had drunk out of, even at restaurants or other people’s homes.
“He would drink where the handle was, knowing that no one would ever drink at that side,” she concluded.
Priscilla says Elvis Presley was a germaphobe in his youth
In the same interview, Priscilla claimed this phobia began when Presley was very young.
“He was that way when he was young, very young, a young boy,” she explained.
“I think he just didn’t like to put his mouth where other people put their mouth. He felt that way with silverware, things that you put in your mouth.”
Priscilla was Elvis’ only wife.
They met when Priscilla was just 14 and Elvis, 24 in Germany. The entertainer served as a soldier for the United States Army in Sept. 1959 and left the country in 1960.
The couple married on May 1, when she was 21, and Presley, 32, in an over-the-top ceremony followed by a breakfast reception.
They welcomed their only child, Lisa Marie, in 1968, nine months after they tied the knot.
The couple divorced in Oct. 1973.
The life of the King of Rock and Roll is documented in the new film Elvis starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks.
