Ricky Gervais once joked there was no point marrying “before the eyes of God because there is no God” – but after 44 years with Jane Fallon, he’s finally found a powerful authority worth impressing.
For most of their relationship, Ricky Gervais and Jane Fallon, both 65, have been perfectly content without a marriage certificate.
The couple met while studying at University College London when they were both 21 and have been together since 1982, building a life that Gervais has long argued already looks an awful lot like marriage.
In fact, The Office creator once offered a characteristically blunt explanation for why they had never bothered making it official.
“We are married for all intents and purposes, everything’s shared and actually our fake marriage has lasted longer than a real one,” the brilliant comedian said in 2010, per People. “But there’s no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God.”
For years, Fallon appeared equally happy with that arrangement.
“We’re not married because neither of [us] are fussed,” the best-selling novelist told the Daily Mail in 2018. “I think if one of us really cared then we would probably do it, but it’s not really been anything that either of us have ever really needed.”
And marriage wasn’t the only traditional milestone they decided they could happily live without.
‘We do everything together’
Gervais and Fallon also chose not to have children, with the comedian once describing kids as “too much hassle,” while Fallon later explained in a column for the Guardian that “being a mother wasn’t who I was meant to be.”
Those choices have shaped a relationship that has followed its own rhythm for more than four decades.
“We do everything together: go for a walk every day, eat every meal, watch telly on the couch,” the vegan and outspoke advocate for animal welfare recently told Saga magazine.
Even Gervais’ enormously successful comedy career has been arranged, when possible, around a life the pair can enjoy together.
“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 Alley Cats creator explained. “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.”
But earlier this year, the couple who have shared almost their entire adult lives were confronted with a frightening reminder that their time together isn’t something either can take for granted.
Jane Fallon’s cancer diagnosis
In March, Fallon revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer after the disease was detected during a routine mammogram shortly before Christmas.
“I had no symptoms but the brilliant radiographer spotted something iffy and sent me for further tests, and eventually a biopsy,” Fallon wrote on Instagram.
