Remembering George Michael and Ricky Gervais's filthy innuendo-filled comedy sketch

30 May 2022, 13:54

Ricky Gervais really knows how to cause a stir and in 2008 he took it one step further in a hilarious sketch with George Michael.

After a few run-ins with the law and unsavoury things written about him in the news, you'd think George Michael would have shied away from drawing attention to his public controversies.

However, the pop star had a famously humble sense of humour and he proved this to the world when he allowed Ricky Gervais to send him up during a hilarious comedy sketch at the 2008 British Comedy Awards.

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The British stand-up had been awarded the Best Television Comedy Actor Award for his role on the Christmas special of his series Extras and made of point of not being there in person to claim the award.

As the pre-recorded video rolled, Ricky could be seen lying in bed holding his comedy award, surrounded by Baftas and Emmys and telling the audience that he was too important to be there in person.

He then proceeds to send up Gordon Ramsay and George Michael - both of whom guest-starred on his Extras Christmas Special - before the camera pans to George Michael sitting up in bed beside him, casually reading the Daily Star.

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The two then joke about George not wearing pyjama bottoms, before going under the covers and pulling out an Extras DVD as the pair grin at the camera like naughty schoolboys.

Ricky Gervais in bed with George Michael

The sketch was filmed the same year that George finished his backbreaking 25 Live Tour.

The 106 tour shows were performed in 41 countries and attended by a whopping 1.3 million fans across the world, finishing at the end of August 2008 with two nights at London's Earl's Court and a night in Copenhagen.

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George's cameo would not be his last comedy sketch. After his turn with Ricky Gervais, the singer went on to star alongside James Corden in a clip for Comic Relief in 2011, which saw the two sing in a car together.

Watch George Michael star in James Corden's Comic Relief sketch below:

George Michael in James Corden's first Carpool Karaoke for Comic Relief

Corden has since said he "owes" George Michael for the sketch and the success of what would later become the 'Carpool Karaoke' segment on his hit US chat show, the 'Late Late Show'.

The 43-year-old comedian admitted that it was difficult to get stars to agree to take part but when he showed his first guest, Mariah Carey the sketch he had done with George, she agreed on the basis that "if it's good enough for George, then it's good enough for me," he said in 2017.

"It was the first time I'd ever sung in a car with anybody, and it's become quite a big part of my life now, and he really inspired it," the TV host continued."We owe him so much at this show, George we miss you so much, we really will."