Ricky Gervais has finally changed his mind about marriage, after spending years dismissing the institution of marriage as pointless.
But the actor and comedian, 65, said the only reason he would get married to his long-term partner Jane Fallon is not because of religion or even love - but because of taxes.
Gervais is worth an estimated £141 million, while Fallon, also 65, has a net worth of £1.3 million. The pair have been together for 44 years and are planning to tie the knot to avoid paying inheritance tax.
In a new interview with Saga magazine, the The Office star was asked if he would marry Fallon for tax reasons, to which he 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?”
Reflecting on their life together, he continued: “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,” he added rather morbidly.
In January, Fallon opened up about her own feelings around marriage and the couple’s decision not to have children, and said 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.”
Fallon added that she thought she would be “too anxious” for motherhood and that she 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.”
The couple have been together since 1982, when they first met while studying at University College London.
Gervais’ latest comment on nuptials comes after Fallon revealed in March that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram.
She had two surgeries, which “went well”, and said she was “looking forward to getting back to normal”.
