Before the award-winning comedian Ricky Gervais hit the big time, his partner, the best-selling author Jane Fallon, was the breadwinner in their relationship.
At the start of their careers in the mid-1980s, the couple, who met at university and have been together for more than 40 years, lived above a “scary” brothel in King’s Cross, London, during what she recalls as a “bleak” period in their lives.
Although Ricky was undecided about which path to follow, Jane, 65, became a TV producer, going on to work on shows including EastEnders and having hits with Teachers and This Life.
“I was always saying: ‘I’m going to get us out of this. I’m going to work my way out of this,'” the author of Welcome to the Neighbourhood tells Ateh Jewel on this week’s episode of HELLO!’s Second Act podcast.
“I felt as though I was on the rung of the ladder I wanted to be on. I knew that once I got a proper road into TV, that would be something I loved and could make a career around.
“Ricky didn’t really know what he wanted to do at that point; he was just pleased for me because I was helping us get out of the ditch we were in. And then when he did what he did, there was no jealousy. My career was helpful because he wasn’t entering this alien, glamorous world – I knew that TV was a hard slog.”
Success in her 40s
Despite her success, she didn’t land her dream job as a writer until she was in her mid-forties. “I think in perimenopause, women go mad in a really good way; really brave and bonkers,” says Jane, who also opens up about struggling with insomnia, her views on ageing and why she doesn’t have children.
“We get a flush of hormones that means women in their fifties look incredible and get this kind of bravado. I woke up at 4 am and suddenly thought I had a good idea for a book. The next day, I went into work and told everyone that I was taking a year out.
“If I hadn’t done that, my next 20 years would have been completely different. It meant that I was finally doing what I’ve wanted to do my whole life.”
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