Ricky Gervais has revealed some details about the kind of jokes he’ll be telling when he returns as host of the Golden Globes in a few days’ time, saying that he found the opportunity to perform for hundreds of millions of viewers “irresistible”.

Gervais hosted the ceremony for three years in a row between 2010 and 2012, in a stint that raised ratings and, admittedly, the shock factor for the Golden Globes. Following three years of co-hosting by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, he’ll be coming back for the January 10th show on NBC, and spoke to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the ceremony.

Ricky GervaisRicky Gervais with his partner Jane Fallon at the Emmys

On the controversy his first reign generated, he said that he found some of it perplexing. “I've never understood the controversy around the Golden Globes. That stuff I did, I was shocked that people thought that was shocking. Genuinely. I thought, 'What have I said wrong?' I didn't say anything outrageous or libellous. I didn't say anything against broadcasting rules. It was on network television, late afternoon, it couldn't have been that bad.”

The new interview comes just a few days after Gervais tweeted an apology in advance of anything he says at the 2016 ceremony.

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Furthermore, he reckons that absolutely any joke in the world is bound to shock somebody. “Anything you say, any joke you make, someone, somewhere, could get offended, right? Justified or not. Somewhere there is a chicken who crossed the road and got seriously injured and he doesn't like that joke.”

Notably, he got in a bit of trouble for making fun of Scientology, in a ceremony at which many prominent Scientologists were present. About that, he said “if you can’t make fun of religion, what can you make fun of? Also, I don’t think what Scientology believes is any weirder than any other belief in a magical sky wizard or deity. So, I wasn’t even picking on them. I wasn’t trying to bring anyone down, I wasn’t trying to undermine the moral fabric of America. I was making jokes.”

The 54 year old, who has recently been filming new movie Life On The Road, featuring his alter ego David Brent from ‘The Office’, admitted that the prospect of doing the Golden Globes again was too good to turn down, after he had initially refused.

“It is really exciting. It's fun. It's in 215 countries around the world, about 200 million people watch it, which is very irresistible to a comedian…. It’s a challenge. I always write my own jokes, I can say what I want - and it's live.”

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