Ricky Gervais only eats Italian food when he travels around the world.

The 58-year-old comic doesn't think it's easy to go wrong with pizza or pasta so sticks with familiar dishes rather than sampling local cuisine when he's away from home.

He said: ''If I am in a new city and I want to experience a nice restaurant, wherever we are in the world, it's always Italian. Because I know it's going to be good and the same.

''I know exactly what I can eat, I understand it. So I know I can have a plate of penne pesto or something like that so I do love a real self-indulgent plate of pasta and a red wine wherever I go.

''You can't beat pizza and pasta, you really can't.''

The 'After Life' star has tried to lead a healthier lifestyle, with regular exercise and meals including lentil soup, but he just can't resist calorific treats.

He told The Sun newspaper: ''I'm a fat guy at heart because I walk past cake shops and I wish they invented a cake that had no calories. That is the fantasy.''

Ricky has previously admitted his weight woes stem from his love of wine.

He said: ''I was always thin growing up until I'm 30, and those were my eating years, and then at 40 I remember it was one Christmas I ate 11 sausages and I was saying to Jane [my girlfriend], 'I'm having a heart attack'.

''I decided to get fit and I lost about 20 pounds at about 48 or 49, and now it's steadily going back on again.

''I sort of gave up meat to try to be healthier, but with me it's the wine. I don't want to stop drinking wine.

''I'd be quite happy [if you] just put me in a bucket full of wine just there, just watching [TV].''