Gervais defends 'Brent dance' at Di concert

Ricky Gervais has defended his appearance at the Concert For Diana.

The Extras star attracted criticism for his performance at the event last month.

Forced to ad-lib on stage for several minutes when Elton John was delayed, he resorted to doing the David Brent dance which featured in an episode from The Office.

It prompted at least one commentator to wonder whether Gervais has stopped being funny.

However, the comic told radio station Heart: “After the Diana concert there was one guy – who works for a tabloid – and he wrote that the crowd booed.

“They didn’t boo, they loved it. People love it when something goes wrong and I was standing there and they demanded I do the ’robot dance’ and it was funny.

“But this guy wrote: ’He’s rubbish, everything he’s ever done is rubbish and it’s all over for him’.

“That week I got nominated for four Emmy Awards, sold 100,000 DVDs of Extras and signed up for two Hollywood movies. So bring on the backlash... I want him writing about me every day.”

Gervais is playing a one-off gig at Edinburgh Castle later this month in front of 8,000 fans.