Ricky Gervais says he'll marry girlfriend Jane Fallon before he dies for very surprising reason

He's planning to tie the knot, but not out of love for his long-term partner.

Despite having been famously anti-marriage since rising to fame, Ricky Gervais has announced he and girlfriend Jane Fallon will likely exchange vows in the coming years.

As a reminder, the couple have been together since 1982, when they met while attending University College London together, both aged 21.

While Gervais, 65, skyrocketed to international stardom in the comedy and acting arena, Fallon is a best-selling author and award-winning producer.

Despite having enjoyed over 40 years of romance, Gervais has long insisted that neither party has an interest in getting married nor having children.

"We are married for all intents and purposes, everything's shared, and actually our fake marriage has lasted longer than a real one," the funny-man, a proud atheist, told The Times in 2010. "But there’s no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God."

The couple got together when they were 21 (Tim Whitby/WireImage)

Fallon agreed during an interview with the Daily Mail eight years later.

"We're not married because neither of [us] are fussed," she claimed. "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."

Gervais also described welcoming a family as 'too much hassle', insisting he and Fallon 'just didn't fancy dedicating sixteen years of our life to it'.

Astonishingly, though, The Office frontman appears to have made a major U-turn in his decision on the former, telling Saga Magazine that he and Fallon, also 65, have actually discussed the probability of saying 'I do'.

He prefaced the remark, however, by emphasising during a conversation about inheritance tax that the move would only be made for financial reasons.

Agreeing that marrying to avoid this nuisance 'is' a good reason to do so, Gervais vowed: "That will be the reason I marry. We haven’t done it yet."

The comedian has long been anti-marriage (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

The TV star continued: "But if it wasn’t for [tax]... why? 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?"

Gervais lastly jibed: "I’ve got to get around to marrying, before I die."

In the UK, inheritance tax describes tax on the money, property, and possessions of someone who has died, which currently stands at a 40 per cent rate.

If you're married, however, or in a civil partnership, the surviving person will enjoy a 100 per cent spousal exemption, meaning the deceased person can pass any amount of money, property, or possessions to your partner completely free of inheritance tax when you die.

They can also transfer any unused standard tax-free allowance (£325,000) and home allowance (£175,000) to the surviving spouse, raising their total tax-free threshold to as much as £1 million.

Gervais admitted he'd be tying the knot for tax purposes (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

So, it'd be a pretty smart call to have Fallon listed as his official spouse, especially if she's already been his girlfriend for over four decades.

Reflecting on their romance this week, Gervais also gushed: "We do everything together: go for a walk every day, eat every meal, watch telly on the couch. 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 night before the gig, we go out for a meal, then the next day we explore, I do the gig, and we go home."