Ricky Gervais' long-term partner Jane Fallon has no regrets about not having children

She told the Second Act podcast: "When I was little, you know the cliche of a little girl is they imagine their wedding day and their wedding dress...

"Tt was none of that, ever. 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."

Jane is the youngest of five siblings, which meant she avoided any pressure from her parents to give them grandchildren.

She added: "Luckily, big family - other people have had kids, so you're the youngest, the other people have had them, so the pressure is off.

"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."

While one of her sisters manages to balance letting her kids be "independent" with "not being reckless", Jane thinks she would "stifle the life" out of her own children.

Meanwhile, the writer also opened up on her long relationship with Ricky, having first met as students at University College London back in 1982, and moving in together two years later.

She credits their strong bond to never wanting "exactly the same thing" in terms of their careers, which meant there was no jealousy even as she started to move up the ranks in TV production before he found success as a comedian.

She recalled: "He was just always really pleased for me because I wasn't raining on his parade. And I was helping us get out of the [financial] ditch we were in."

She added: "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.

"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."

Ricky previously opened up about their decision not to marry, and insisted the ceremony is the only thing that's different from a traditional married relationship.

He said: "We are married for all intents and purposes, everything's shared and actually our fake marriage has lasted longer than a real one.

"But there's no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God."