Ricky Gervais thought he had cancer and would die after 'worst illness of his life'

Ricky Gervais thought he had cancer and would die after going through the 'worst illness of his life'.

The comedian, best known for The Office and An Idiot Abroad, sent the internet into a frenzy when he informed his adoring fans of his ill health earlier this month (11 May).

Revealing he had been struck down by severe illness, Gervais has since addressed the incident and explained exactly where his head was when he endured the 'worst eight hours of his life'.

LANDMARK MEDIA / Alamy Stock Photo

Talking in an online Q&A, Gervais recalled: "What happened was, it was Wednesday night, about 1am, and I had a pain in my side that woke me up – like a shooting pain. It was like 'Aaaaah'. That never happens."

The 61-year-old went on to reveal just how much the alarming symptoms spun him out as he immediately feared for the worst.

He continued: "It was like, ‘Ooh, what was that?’ Then it happened again. My first thought was obviously – liver cancer, right?

"In the middle of the night, you’re convinced – that it is, I’ve blown it, you know?"

The star carried on: "I got another pain, and it was, 'Oh, oh God.' And I felt sick. And I went to throw up and couldn’t. So I thought, 'Oh, maybe it’s stomach cancer'."

To add even more stress and anxiety into the equation, Gervais reported he 'couldn't be sick' as there was 'nothing there'.

PA / Alamy Stock Photo

Gervais added: "Then the pain of the vomiting was incredible, there was an intensity. You forget how bad vomiting is – you forget just how f***ing awful.

"I mean, never mind the illness and thinking you’re going to die – I can’t breathe. And I think I’m going to choke. And I think I’m not going to get my breath back in between each spasm."

However, Gervais was later able to figure out what the issue at hand really was.

Twitter/@rickygervais

He went on: "I started sweating, and cold sweating. And I thought, 'What is this.' Then I thought, ‘Ah – coronavirus had it before'."

But the health anxiety didn't stop there as Gervais then suspected he had been the victim of a Salisbury-style poisoning.

"I just thought, 'Well, it could be – you never know'. Someone might have been walking behind me with a bit of plutonium," the actor added.

During the scare, Gervais took to Twitter to share exactly what he thought at the time.

His original tweet, posted 11 May, read: "I'm not well today. In fact I'd say I just lived through the worst 8 hours of illness of my life.

"Severe abdominal pains, vomiting every time I moved, (but only tiny bits of bile), hot sweats and chills, oh, and I really want to know who planted the 12 gravy bombs up my a*se."

Nicely put.

He soon followed up with an 'update' the next day (12 May): "I'm out of bed and I've had a bath. Feel weak and annoyed that I wasted a whole day, but that is a huge improvement on believing that I was definitely going to die.

"Thanks for all your well wishes."

Gervais' final update on the matter - which was accompanied by a shirtless selfie - came with a lighter tone, assuring his worried fans that he was finally 'all better'.

"All better today," he tweeted.

"Woke up feeling fit as a fiddle. Stomach felt like I'd done a thousand sit ups, so hopefully I've vomited my way to a 6 pack. Get ripped with Norovirus."