蜜芽传媒

Ricky Gervais says he was exchanging 鈥渢he funniest emails鈥� with David Bowie two weeks before his death, but the singer kept the state of his health a secret.

Speaking to Radio 5 live鈥檚 Colin Paterson, Gervais said he sent David Bowie an email to tell him how much he loved his new album Blackstar and received 鈥渢his funny little thing鈥� back.

鈥�(His death) was a total surprise. I was emailing him two weeks before, so he must have known. He kept it from everyone. What dignity. He was an amazing man,鈥� he said.

The pair 鈥渟ort of became pen pals鈥� after Bowie became a fan of The Office, and the singer later made a cameo on Gervais鈥� series Extras.

This clip is originally from Afternoon Edition on Thursday 21 April 2016.