Ricky Gervais’ partner Jane Fallon has opened up about their decision not to have children.
The author, 65, has been with the comedian, 64, for over forty years, after they met while studying at University College London.
The pair have never tied the knot, and speaking in a new interview, the writer revealed she never had big romantic dreams growing up.
“When I was little, you know the cliché of a little girl is they imagine their wedding day and their wedding dress... it was none of that, ever,” she said on the Second Act podcast with Ateh Jewel.
“I would think about getting a dog or something. It was always about work and my life. I would think about the flat that I would live in and stuff like that.
“But I was never into that kind of romance stuff.”
Elaborating on why she didn’t want children, Fallon added that she thinks she’d be “too anxious” for motherhood.
“I would stifle the life out of my kids. I can't even let my cat out. I think your job as a parent is to create independent, go-be-free [kids],” she said. “It's really hard.”
“I just thought I'll be a better auntie - and auntie to my friends' kids - than I will be a mother,” she added.
“I just didn't think I'd be very good at it because I thought I'd be too anxious.”
Fallon also said that fortunately, as she had five siblings, she didn’t feel any pressure from her parents to have kids.
“Luckily, big family - other people have had kids, so you're the youngest, the other people have had them, so the pressure is off,” she added.
“I feel bad for people in smaller families where they feel that pressure from their parents to give them grandchildren or whatever. I never had any of that.”
Fallon was a successful TV producer - working on shows like EastEnders and This Life - before she became an author.
She has since sold over 2 million books in the UK, with bestsellers including Getting Rid of Matthew and Faking Friends.
Gervais started his comedy career after becoming redundant at the age of 37, but she says her career meant he knew about the reality of the industry when he found success.
“We did want to do totally different things, and also, with what happened to him, it was really helpful what my career had been because he wasn't entering this alien, glamorous world,” she said.
“I knew that TV was a really hard slog and it wasn't all people running around having parties and having fun.
“You work long hours, and I understand the process. So it wasn't like I'd lost him to this incredibly glamorous thing that frightened me.”
