Ricky Gervais has said he will marry his long-term partner Jane Fallon before he dies, but has admitted the reason is not romantic. The 65-year-old comedian told Saga Magazine that he is likely to wed the author in the coming years to avoid inheritance tax.
Assets left to a spouse or civil partner living in the UK are exempt from inheritance tax. When asked if this was a good reason to marry, Gervais replied: “It is. And that will be the reason I marry. We haven’t done it yet. But if it wasn’t for [tax]… why? It’s mad. How more married can you be? We share all our money, we’ve been living together for 40 years. Some marriages don’t last a year. It’s horrible isn’t it? I’ve got to get around to marrying, before I die.”
40 Years Together
The Office creator met Jane when they were both 21 at University College London. He said: “We do everything together go for a walk every day, eat every meal, watch telly on the couch. We have our favourite 15 places in Europe – my tour is around: “Is there an arena in a wonderful city with a lovely five-star hotel?” The night before the gig, we go out for a meal, then the next day we explore, I do the gig and we go home.”
In March, Jane revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram, but the following month she announced two surgeries had "gone well".
Mortality and Assisted Dying
Asked about his own mortality, Gervais said it would take extreme circumstances for him to visit the Swiss assisted dying clinic Dignitas. “It would take quite a lot to get me there,” he said. “I’d want every last breath. It’s only if every breath hurts.”
Gervais, who recently launched his new animated series Alley Cats on Netflix, supports the Assisted Dying Bill, currently on hiatus until Parliament reassembles. He added: “I’m pro-choice; it’s your life, you should be able to do what you want, but there are all these ridiculous conspiracy theories that people are too eager [to use its powers] that have spooked people [in the House of Lords to block it].”
He recently told The Mirror why his TV shows often have themes of mortality. He said: "It’s always been important to me, ever since I first found out that this is all we’ve got: life is amazing, and then you die, so you better make the most of it. The first time a kid realises that death is forever is often when they lose a pet, and that’s when you have to explain what death means. I really like the scene where the kitten sees a dead cat in the street, and it leads to a discussion about what death means: “It means you’ll never see him again.” But then we undercut it with, “Actually, you probably will see him again, the bin men don’t come around until Thursday, unless the fox gets him.”
The full interview with Gervais is in the September issue of Saga Magazine.
