Gervais helps Jackman with Oscar quips

Ricky Gervais has revealed that he has been helping Oscars host Hugh Jackman with his jokes.

The Office star told BBC Newsbeat that Jackman first made contact a couple of weeks ago and now calls out of the blue for help.

"And we just chat, he wants gags, he wants to be funny at the Oscars. And he is funny, I just riff and, you know, come up with stuff. I hope it goes down well," Gervais said.

"I'm only going to admit to it if it goes well. If they go, 'That wasn't funny', I'll go, 'Yeah, dunno who wrote those, it wasn't me'. So he's on his own."

Gervais, who was tipped as a host for the ceremony, said that he thinks he was pipped to the post by the X-Men star because of his looks.

"It's 'cos he's handsome, isn't it? I'm like Cyrano de Bergerac. I'm the freak in the bushes giving him all the good lines," he said.