Sausage binge prompted Ricky Gervais to shed weight

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Ricky Gervais has revealed he was moved to lose weight after gorging himself on 11 sausages in one sitting.

The 48-year-old star - who has slimmed considerably after a new fitness campaign - said he could not stop himself.

In a webchat for MySpace, he admitted: "The two days before I went healthy I had 11 sausages. I couldn't stop eating them, I felt really ill, really bad and I had to lay there for a couple of hours, like a snake just trying to digest it.

"It was just after Christmas, a few days before I thought right, that's ridiculous. I think I hit 14 stone."

Gervais, who said he has been putting on weight since he was 29, is now committed to a healthier lifestyle. And he said he had lost a stone since embracing exercise and "turning his life round at the last minute".

The comic, promoting new film Cemetery Junction, is now writing a new TV project with Stephen Merchant.

"We're writing a sitcom together, written and directed by us and it's called Life's Too Short and it features Warwick Davis. It's a cross between Extras and Curb your Enthusiasm and One Foot in the Grave but with a dwarf. That is out and out funny."