Merchant wants popstar Prince to appear in Extras

Stephen Merchant wants pop star Prince to appear in the final episode Extras, the hit BBC2 show he co-writes with Ricky Gervais. Extras has made a name for itself by getting A List stars to come on and make a fool of themselves. It was revealed last week that the pair plan to write just one final episode of the series - hence they are now hunting for suitable megastars to appear.

Merchant told Heart FM: "I don't know if we'll go for him but I'd love to get Prince. I'm such a Prince fan. I don't know what he's doing as we speak - is he lying in some sort of purple hammock just strumming on a guitar, being fed cherries?"

"I have no concept. Does he unload the dishwasher? Does he have a pair of slippers? I don't know anything about Prince. I would love that idea, and me being six foot seven and Prince being, whatever he is, four foot one, would be comic enough."

Merchant admitted he's unlikely to be able to convince the famously reclusive star to take part though despite the fact Ricky Gervais has previously managed to get the likes of Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet, Samuel L Jackson, Orlando Bloom, David Bowie, Sir Ian McKellen and Robert De Niro to take part.

During the radio interview the award-winning writer and actor also revealed that Cosmopolitan magazine had asked him to pose nude but he'd turned the offer down because he didn't think readers of the magazine were going to rush down the shops thinking "We've gotta get the lanky guy out of Extras. He's the man for me". Plus, he added: "I don't want to ever look back at myself naked."

In other Extras-related news Ricky Gervais has revealed he is to play New York's Madison Square Garden in May as part of his current stand-up tour and has signed up to star in his first movie. The comic will play a man who dies briefly during routine dental surgery and gains the ability to see dead people in Ghost Town, a 'cynical and twisted' romantic comedy.