He’s the comedian who eviscerated ‘woke’ culture with his daring jokes about subjects such as transgender and Aids.
Yet there’s one word that’s always seemed taboo to Ricky Gervais — marriage. He could now be planning on proposing to Jane Fallon, the author, in 2022 to mark the 40th anniversary their marriage.
Gervais, 60, admits that it’s money rather than love that is pushing him towards the altar, though. Asked why he never married Fallon, 61, he initially responds: ‘What’s the point? We share everything anyway.’
But when it’s suggested that if one of them dies, the other could end up with a huge tax bill for their share of the pair’s house, Gervais says: ‘That’s a good practical reason to do it. That’s what we will… would do.’
Gervais, 60, admits that it’s money rather than love that is pushing him towards the altar, though. Asked why he never married Fallon, 61, he initially responds: ‘What’s the point? We share everything anyway.’
Financial matters are rather pressing for Gervais, who lives in an £11 million North London mansion with Fallon and has an estimated fortune of more than £100 million.
After Life is the Netflix comedy that he created. It has been watched by more than 85 million people and it’s the highest-watched British comedy. He insists that the third series of After Life will be his last.
‘It’d be better for me if I did it for the rest of my life, but it’s best for the show that it ends. Otherwise you might as well be making a soap.’
The couple don’t have any children. ‘We mutually decided that we weren’t interested,’ he tells Saga.
‘It’s odd. The question is, “Why do you have children?”. If you’re bringing a life into the world, you’d better have a good reason for it.’
All he needs now is to get Fallon to marry him.
She told my colleague Jan Moir last year: ‘It is not that I am anti-marriage. It is just that it has never particularly interested me.’
There’s one word that’s always seemed taboo to Ricky Gervais — marriage. He could now be planning to propose in 2022 to Jane Fallon as a way to celebrate their 40-year anniversary.
After Life is the Netflix comedy that has attracted 85 million viewers. It’s the highest-rated British comedy of this decade. However, he says the series 3 will be his final.
Shane MacGowan of Bibulous Pogues, who’s song Fairytale Of New York has become a Yuletide favorite, recently released a book containing his art, entitled The Eternal Buzz and The Crock Of Gold. ‘I was always into drawing and painting, and I used to do all sorts of things — hurlers, IRA men, teenage punks hanging around in cafes, you name it,’ he says. MacGowan was regarded as an artist of lesser stature.
‘Hot’ pic of Meghan’s pal sparks online row
The Duchess of Sussex preaches body positivity and is said to have told friends she wanted to set an example by not losing her baby weight after giving birth to Archie.
So she may be surprised by her friend Katharine McPhee’s antics. Katharine’s husband, music mogul David Foster, 72, who’s been called a ‘father figure’ to Prince Harry, shared a photograph of her looking slim in a bikini, ten months after the birth of their son. He commented: ‘What baby!’
Many of his followers took offence, arguing that he shouldn’t be promoting crash-dieting after pregnancy. But Katharine, 37, hit back, telling her critics to ‘get a life’.
She added: ‘Maybe you should have more of an attitude of like, let’s say…“Oh, that’s nice he thinks his wife is hot”.’
Foster, the former step-father of models Gigi and Bella Hadid, lent Harry and Meghan his £10 million mansion in Canada before they quit Britain.
Katharine’s husband, music mogul David Foster, 72, who’s been called a ‘father figure’ to Prince Harry, shared a photograph of her looking slim in a bikini, ten months after the birth of their son. He commented: ‘What baby!’
Soon MPs will be counting their blessings — I hear the Parliament Choir is set to sing at a saintly gathering in Rome. ‘We are booked to sing at St Paul’s near the Vatican at an event marking the anniversary of Cardinal Newman being made into a saint,’ its conductor Simon Over tells me. 2019 saw the birth of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the first English saint. Prince Charles has written a foreword to a book, The Parliament Choir: Twenty Years Of Political Harmony, in which he says: ‘The choir has shown how those [with] different views can unite in a common love of music.’
Kirstie fly the Covid-era flag
This ghastly pandemic has left us all feeling guilty about foreign travel, says Kirstie Allsopp, who’s urged us to join her in sunnier climes.
Sharing a picture from her Christmas getaway, the Location, Location, Location star says: ‘Don’t let Covid put you off, don’t feel there’s something selfish about travel in these times, millions of livelihoods rely on your custom.’
Kirstie, 50, daughter of former Christie’s chairman, the 6th Lord Hindlip, has previously made clear that her children must slum it in Economy on long-haul flights while she sips champagne in Business.
‘Club class should be a treat you’ve worked hard for,’ she explained. ‘If kids get used to it, what do they have to work towards?’
Marco’s costly plan to honour chef Bourdain
Marco Pierre White was left devastated when fellow television chef Anthony Bourdain took his own life in 2018, at the age of 61.
Now, he’s revealed that he spent more than £700,000 buying up the Kitchen Confidential writer’s possessions and plans to open a museum in his honour.
‘What I couldn’t cope with is his collection being dispersed around the world, so I bought everything, including his bedroom,’ he says.
‘I bought all the artworks and I had to buy back some of the things I had given him for a lot more than I paid for them. We bought his personal knife for $250,000 We spent $1 million on his things and I will unveil them.’
White, 60, adds: ‘It’s all being boxed and framed with that museum quality. All of his artworks will be used for an exhibition.’
Martha shoots at animal activists
With hunt supporters attacked by saboteurs this week, country sports lovers could be forgiven for keeping their heads down.
Martha Sitwell, however is tougher than most. This photo of Martha Sitwell, 42-year-old society model, shows her proudly sporting a pair of pheasants that she gathered on a Lincolnshire shoot.
‘People can be critical, but I would rather eat something that has had an organic death than something factory-farmed,’ says Lady Sitwell, the former face of Royal Ascot.
The ex-wife of film-producing baronet Sir George Sitwell adds: ‘Gaming is a much cleaner, quicker death.’
Martha Sitwell can be tough. This photo of Martha Sitwell, 42-year-old society model, shows her proudly holding a pair of pheasants that she gathered on a Lincolnshire shoot.