Ricky Gervais reveals he didn’t tell his parents about his financial woes prior to his rise to fame as he ‘tried not to be a burden’ in their final days
Ricky Gervais revealed he tried not to be a ‘burden’ for his parents in their final days.
The comedian’s mother Eva died in 2000 before he rose to fame on The Office, whilst his father Jerry died two years later, and he told fans that he hoped he didn’t give them too much grief in their last days by ‘complaining’ about things.
Speaking during an Instagram Live Q&A session on Tuesday, the Office star, 59, said: ‘My mum died before The Office. I think my dad might have seen one, the first series, he lasted like a year and a half after.
Candid: Ricky Gervais revealed to fans on Tuesday that he didn’t tell his parents about his financial woes prior to his rise to fame as he ‘tried not to be a burden’ in their final days
‘I hope they didn’t worry about me. I tried not to be too much of a burden. I tried not to complain too much about anything.
‘Because of that, I didn’t want to burden them. You don’t want them to feel… You don’t want your parents to worry about you.
‘So when they go, “Are you alright?” You go, “Yeah, I’m alright”. You don’t want to go, “No, I’m hating life. I’ve got no f****** money. I’m p****** in the sink”.’
‘No, I was always happy. They knew I was always happy. It wasn’t like they were sitting around going, “I hope he becomes an international comedian before we die.”‘
Loss: The comedian’s mother Eva died in 2000 before he rose to fame on The Office (pictured), whilst his father Jerry died two years later and Ricky said he ‘tried not to complain too much’
He went on to discuss his mother’s pride at his early work, as he reflected on her reaction to being on the 11 o’Clock show.
Ricky explained: ‘My mum saw a little bit of it, on the 11 o’clock show. I remember I went home after the 11 o’clock show and she was sort of proud of me, but embarrassed at the same time.
‘She said to our neighbour, “Here’s the one, the one on telly. I didn’t teach him to swear like that!”‘
Ricky also insisted fame meant nothing to his family and instead says it was more important that he was a ‘happy’ person.
Answering a fans ‘lovely’ question, he went on: ‘They both knew I was happy, and I always have been. For them, fame would have been irrelevant. Thank you, lovely question to end.’
The comedian is the youngest of four children, and is siblings with brothers Larry, 75, Bob, 70, and sister Marsha, 72.
Reflecting: Ricky (pictured in After Life) said: ‘when they go, “Are you alright?” You go, “Yeah, I’m alright”. You don’t want to go, “No, I’m hating life. I’ve got no f****** money’