VIDEO: It has been a rollercoaster 24 hours for Ricky Gervais, who laments a lost hero

David Bowie was one of Ricky's heroes.

Ricky Gervais once again made all the headlines at the Golden Globes it his fourth stint at hosting. Nobody escaped his savage tongue, which made for another great show. But The Office creator, like the rest of the world, woke up to the tragic news of David Bowie's sudden passing this morning, and everything was put into perspective Bowie was a genuine hero to many, and that very much included Gervais, who has since posted this brief but heartfelt tweet.

I just lost a hero. RIP David Bowie.

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) January 11, 2016

He also retweeted this...

Very sorry and sad to say it's true. I'll be offline for a while. Love to all. pic.twitter.com/Kh2fq3tf9m — Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 11, 2016

The iconic singer's untimely death will undoubtedly have a personal impact on Gervais, who so famously had Bowie guest star in his brilliant series, Extras. For those of you who haven't seen this, Bowie appeared as a warped version of himself in the hit show and made up a song on the spot in front of an enthusiastic crowd which took the almighty piss out of Gervais' character, Andy Millman. It was hilarious. Extras co-creator and co-star also paid tribute to the legendary rock star, fondly remembering their time together on the show.

Honoured to have known him, if only for an afternoon. RIP Mr Bowie https://t.co/wnf9HW2eIB

— Stephen Merchant (@StephenMerchant) January 11, 2016

Here's a fantastic clip of Bowie (still in character from Extras) talking about his influence over Gervais' comedy acumen, in a video which demonstrates that Bowie actually had spot on comic timing to match his unique musical talent. Take a look... https://youtu.be/LpkZwbKTQBA Clip via YouTube/Claus Wright And here's the audio of the unforgettable cameo. https://youtu.be/ge7S6-Ta3yg Clip via YouTube/Jason1920