Do you remember back in 2021 when London Zoo refused to give Ricky Gervais his dying wish of being eaten by lions? Well the comedian is still thinking about it.
Given that his latest special is labelled Ricky Gervais: Mortality, it might be no surprise. In it, The Office creator ponders life and death.
But as he continues to protest in his Netflix stand-up, not in an overly sentimental type of way. (Side note: has he ever watched his show After Life back?)
Anywho. After the London Zoo said that Gervais would be ‘too gristly’ for their flank of lions, Gervais has explained how the whole strange saga came about – and he’s blaming the person who first asked him about it.
Incidentally, it was late night host Conan O’Brien he was speaking to, who asked what he wanted to happen with his body after his death.
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Gervais recalled the question, not naming O’Brien: ’I was doing an interview a while ago. I don’t think the journalist liked me. He asked me this question. I thought it was rude, so I gave a fake answer.
‘I went, “I wanna be fed to the lions at London Zoo.” He went, “Really?” I went, “Yeah. I want the zookeeper to take out my big, fat, dead, naked, bloated body in a wheelbarrow. Just dump it in the lion’s den. Loads of tourists going, is that the bloke from The Office?”’
Going into the specifics, he added: “And then two big lions come out and just start eating me. And lions, they start with the soft bits of the body, to get inside the rib cage. So they’d probably get a testicle each, because that’d be the easiest available.
‘By then, my testicles would be about a yard apart, so they’d be easy. They’d just start eating towards me, like Lady and the Tramp. Really romantic.’
After the London Zoo officially responded to the semi-joking request, Gervais said he was surprised they had believed him in the first place.
‘They said, “No, of course not.” So when the article came out, the headline was ‘London Zoo refuse Ricky’s request to be fed to lions.’ Like I’m a f**king psychopath,’ said the comedian.
‘My point is, you can’t worry about what happens after you die. Live your life. Let someone else worry. You’re dead. You’ve done your bit.’
Ricky Gervais: Mortality is available to stream on Netflix.
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