Ricky Gervais will never have children because being a parent is “too much responsibility.”

The comedian has been in a relationship with novelist Jane Fallon since 1984, but the couple has never gotten married or had kids despite being together for 33 years.

The 56-year-old comedian, who has three brothers, stated on Wednesday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show that if he had a child to care for, he would be too worried.

“No hugs, I’m sick Ellen. I’m more than sick. I’ve got one of the worst diseases on the planet, Man Flu, really bad ,” the 56-year-old comic told Ellen. “When I’m ill everyone knows about it, I don’t think I’ll make Christmas.”

‘I’d worry sick about a baby. I have a cat and I worry about that.’ ,’ he said to the show presenter when asked about his anxieties.

Instead of children, the British artist and his long-term lover look after their Persian cat Ollie.

‘I put food and water in every room in case the door closes and he’s peckish for 20 minutes,’ Ricky said of his cat.

The comedian stated that he doesn’t ‘love’ children for a variety of reasons.

“There’s loads of reasons why I don’t love kids. The world is overpopulated. No ones sitting around going, ‘oh Rick is not having kids, we’re going to run out.’ There’s loads,” Ricky joked. “Too much responsibility.”

He also added, jokingly: “No one is sitting around going, ‘Oh Ricky is not having kids, we’re going to run out.’ There’s loads!”

Jane also confessed in a candid interview with Marie Claire magazine in 2014 that she didn’t want to have children.

‘I remember steeling myself, trying to imagine what I would do if he’d had a change of heart,’ novelist Jane told the outlet. ‘I was so convinced of my decision that I couldn’t even imagine the alternative.’

‘It turned out he had been having the same anxiety about me. Cue much relief and celebration.’

Ricky has always been proud of the fact that he and his long-term partner Jane have avoided the traditional relationship path of getting married and then having children, and he has no plans to do so in the future.

He stated previously: “I just don’t see the point in marriage. We share everything. I mean we are married, apart from in the eyes of God, which neither of us believe in. That’s ridiculous, that law. I mean, how more married can we be? But we don’t want a big do. We don’t want our families to meet! No, I’m joking – we know each other’s families, that’s fine.”