Ricky Gervais has a lot of opinions...about a lot of things...and he's not afraid to divulge any of them, no matter how shocking. He's a comedian, after all. But it's his opinions of marriage that are the least surprising.
What is surprising is his true personality. While he might seem like one of the most ruthless celebrities, there are a few things that scare him, such as meeting David Bowie. Underneath that tough comedian skin and that spine made out of steel, fans knew Gervais was a softy with a heart of gold from the very beginning. Celebrities who've felt the keen sting of some of his darker jokes at the Golden Globes probably wouldn't agree, but it's true. Whatever Gervais does, he's sure to bring his A-game.
Look at his hit Netflix show, After Life, which follows a man's life after the death of his wife. He may joke that his own afterlife would be like a Disney movie, but the show is close to his heart. The premise was actually inspired by his longtime partner, the prolific English author Jane Fallon.
Gervais has been with Fallon for a whopping 39 years, and if that's not proof he's one big softy, we don't know what is. But no one, not even God, can make Gervais want to do something as trivial as tying the knot.
Here's why Gervais and Fallon never felt the need to get married.
Ricky Gervais Met Jane Fallon Before They Were Famous
Gervais and Fallon are college sweethearts, meeting while attending the University College London in 1982. They met through a mutual friend and later connected after seeing each other around a couple of times. After graduation, they moved in together.
"We had no money obviously after college [...] our first flat was a one-room in a place called King's Cross, which [was] a really rough area, I think it was above some sort of seedy sauna," the comedian said of his partner Fallon.
"That’s all we could afford. Our little bed was in this room. I could open the fridge from the bed. It was a shared toilet with the other flats, so if I needed a wee in the night, I just popped in the sink. It was closer. I remember once Jane, in her hazy state, just going, 'Oh at least take the dishes out first.'"
Gervais began a career as a writer on The 11 O'Clock Show, while Jane started producing for shows like EastEnders and Teachers. Eventually, Gervais created The Office and couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. It was writing, directing and starring in The Office that finally got Gervais recognized by Hollywood at age 40.
"I said to Jane, ‘Why didn’t I do this earlier?'" he said. "And she said, 'Cause you wouldn’t have been any good at it.' And I think it did take till I was 40 to have a voice, and to know how to deal with all this, and to do it for the right reasons. I think if I’d have done it at 21, it’d have been over in a year maybe."
But as the years progressed and they each settled into their careers, they never married because it never crossed their minds.
Ricky Gervais And Jane Fallon Are "Happily Unmarried"
Gervais and Fallon knew they had similar ideas about marriage and kids early on in their relationship, which was really convenient. They were upfront with each other from the start. But their reasoning, at least Gervais's, isn't surprising.
When The Times asked about their anti-marital stance in 2010, Gervais said, "Don’t see the point. We are married for all intents and purposes, everything’s shared and actually, our fake marriage has lasted longer than a real one ... but there’s no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God."
Gervais also told David Letterman, "I don’t think there’s any point to us getting married. We don’t want any more toasters; we never want our families to meet; that would be terrible."
Ricky Gervais And Jane Fallon Never Want Kids
As for having kids, they "just didn’t fancy it. Too much hassle. Not something either of us wanted to do. We just ... didn’t fancy dedicating 16 years of our lives. And there are too many children, of course."
Fallon, who's written a couple of best-selling novels on top of producing hit shows, never saw herself as a mother growing up, so she was relieved that Gervais didn't want them either. However, seeing her friends become grandparents did create second thoughts about not having kids for the "Worst. Idea. Ever." author, causing her to wonder if their decision was a disastrous oversight.
"I’ve never regretted not having kids. Even as a child, I found it hard to imagine being a mum," she wrote in The Guardian. "I didn’t want to have children because doing so just didn’t feel like me. Being a mother wasn’t who I was meant to be.
"Thankfully, my partner, Ricky, felt the same – not that I would make a terrible mother, or if he did think that he thoughtfully kept that to himself, but that he wasn’t keen on parenthood, either... We were happy with our decision, and we still are."
Ricky Gervais And Jane Fallon Have Been Together For Almost 40 Years And Are "Couple Goals"
The couple is passionate about other things in their lives, like animal rights and charity work, and have a cat that they treat as their child.
Their relationship is stronger than ever, even though Gervais loves to poke fun at Fallon on his Twitter any chance he gets. He has this running gag that she has no friends. They have been together for four decades, but we doubt they'll celebrate. Fallon continues to stand by him through some very controversial jokes and scandals.
Although they vowed never to mix their private life with work, Gervais has in a way immortalized his love for Fallon in After Life. He told Live Kelly and Ryan that the show's premise came about when he started thinking about losing her. He said he'd be devastated without her.
Yeah, Gervais is a softy 100%. Some people just don't need marriage or even God to prove they love each other, but leave it to Gervais to put it so bluntly. Now that we think about it, isn't it a bit ironic that he's an atheist and has a show called After Life?