Karl Pilkington rose to stardom after joining Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as co-hosts on The Ricky Gervais Show. Revealing that The Moaning of Life star was originally brought on as a producer, Stephen said: "He was only supposed to be there to press the buttons, but we started asking him questions while we were on the air, and his answers were extraordinary.
"He started coming out with some of the most gobbledygook nonsense that any other human has ever said. Favourites from the old days include, 'You never see an old man eating a Twix' or, 'I saw a bee have a heart attack the other day,' Stephen quipped.
"We realised he was a never-ending goldmine of nonsense, really, and he just sees the world uniquely." During his time on The Ricky Gervais Show and the reality series An Idiot Abroad, Karl frequently spoke about his longtime partner, Suzanne, with whom he's been for over 20 years. The two have never married or had children.
Asked how he first met his girlfriend, the radio star told Ricky and Stephen, "That was when I was working with her, and she gave me 20p for the hot chocolate machine. She never asked for it back, and I thought 'She's alright'."
Noting that "word got out" at work that she liked him, Karl said he did some editing for Suzanne after that to "show off my skills," which impressed her. "I think she got us another drink when I was doing that editing job," he recalled.
While Karl and Suzanne are extremely private and have never made a public red-carpet appearance, the Idiot Abroad star has opened up about their decision not to get married, arguing that a wedding is a "false, made-up, over-the-top day".
"I've been with Suzanne for what? 20 years or something now? Don't feel like you have to get married," Karl said. "Everything about it is a false, made-up, over-the-top day. Blame films.
"Everything's like, 'Oh, the princess is getting married. They've never done a follow-up to Cinderella. How was it? How was it after the shoe fit? Did they get on? It's easy to be all romantic when everyone's getting flowers and a nice dress on, what's it like on a s****y day when your boiler's knackered?"
Karl has also spoken about the decision that he and Suzanne made not to have children. "I don't want any kids, you shouldn't just do it for the sake of it, should you? That's not right, is it?" he reflected in a Q&A. "People always say you'll regret not having them when you're older, but what about the other way around? What if you regret having them? We're not all cut out to be parents. It's just not for me."