THE president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association denied yesterday that British comedian Ricky Gervais has been asked to host the Golden Globe Awards again after Gervais bragged they were requesting his return.

"There is no truth to this rumor. We have not asked him to come back. Nice try, Ricky," Phil Berk said in a statement.

In his second run as host of the award show on January 16, Gervais took pointed shots at several Hollywood stars, including Robert Downey Jr. and his stints in jail and rehab, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie's widely panned film "The Tourist," and Charlie Sheen's hard-partying ways. His performance received mixed reviews, with some saying he went too far and others, including several of his fellow comedians and other celebrities, defending him.

"The TV show organizers said they were happy with everything and asked me to not rule out a third gig," Gervais wrote on his blog yesterday.

"[But] I don't think I should. I don't know what I could do better. I certainly couldn't get more press for them, that's for sure," he wrote in UK entertainment magazine Heat this week.

Making reference to his two-season run as David Brent on "The Office," the show that shot him to fame, Gervais said: "You know me. Two seasons is enough."

In the days following the Golden Globes, HFPA head Berk -- who was the subject of one of the comedian's jabs during the ceremony when he said "I just had to help him off the toilet and pop his teeth in" -- said Gervais had "crossed the line," leading Gervais to respond that he would not take on the role again if asked.

Defending his Globes performance, in which he also thanked "God for making me an atheist," Gervais wrote in Heat: "I did exactly what I went to do: improve on last year's and have a laugh. The response was staggering. It was discussed on every news channel and chat show for weeks.

"The weird thing is, the question is always, 'Did Ricky go too far?' And the answer is always, 'No.' I have yet to find anyone who was actually offended by it."

Despite Gervais' assessment that ratings went up for this year's awards, Nielsen Co. reported that 17 million Americans watched the ceremony -- the same number as last year.