£126m Hollywood star Ricky Gervais makes stunning Sunderland admission to Roy Keane and Jill Scott

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Sunderland Til I Die on Netflix continues to influence people far and wide, including Ricky Gervais...

Hollywood megastar Rick Gervais has admitted Sunderland got him back into football.

The comedian recently appeared on an episode of The Overlap with ex-Sunderland player Jill Scott, former Black Cats boss Roy Keane and former England players Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

During the show, Gervais, who is said to be worth a whopping £126million, admitted the docu-series Sunderland Til I Die helped get the 62-year-old back into football after falling out of love with the beautiful game for 30 years.

The Netflix series has been widely viewed around the world with the fortunes of the club under Ellis Short, Stewart Donald, Charlie Methven, Juan Sartori and Kril Louis-Dreyfus shown to the masses, including relegations, Wembley heartbreaks and eventual promotion, with Gervais one of many who tuned in.

Gervais: “I was aware of everything I got, but I got back into it in COVID with a lockdown when they were doing those games sort of, you know, with no crowd and they were having a great time and I just got into it with someone to watch”

Gervais: “And then and then what really got me back into it was a documentary, is it Sunderland Til I Die?”

Scott: “That’s my team.”

Gervais: “I just love that show, I just wanted it more.”

Keane: “Was it because they were bad?”

Gervais: “What do you mean?”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Keane: “Was it like because the team was struggling, was that part of it?”

Gervais: “Well, it was the fact that it was like a religion to them, you know, like the whole community was involved, I thought it was a really well-made thing and then I saw the struggle of the players and the financiers and the manager.”

Gervais: “And then I watched the Man City one, then I watched the Leeds one, then I watched the Arteta one and I was hooked and now I'm fascinated with it, I love, I watch every game that's on on TV, I absolutely love it again.”

Scott: “So Sunderland made Ricky Gervais fall back in love with football? There’s your headline.”

Gervais: “I guess so...”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1873
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice