Jake Gyllenhaal has insisted he does shower every day after getting caught up in the ongoing debate around bathing.

Jake Gyllenhaal

Jake Gyllenhaal

Several celebrities have been opening up on how often they take showers and baths lately, and the 40-year-old actor has clarified his recent "sarcastic" comments about bathing not being "necessary".

Speaking during a Q&A for his new Netflix film 'The Guilty' over the weekend, Jake said: "By the way I [filmed] an independent film, of course I don’t shower. What are you writing about? Of course we don’t have the money for showers.

"I think, by the way, anyone who’s used a trailer, has the shower ever really worked? They don’t work in trailers, the sinks barely do."

He insisted: "I don’t know what it was, it was an answer to a question where I was being sarcastic and ironic and it’s followed me around."

The 'Donnie Darko' actor then quipped: "Unfortunately I showered before I came here so I’m sorry about that."

Jake had told Vanity Fair last month: “More and more I find bathing to be less necessary, at times.

“I do believe, because Elvis Costello is wonderful, that good manners and bad breath get you nowhere. So I do that. But I do also think that there’s a whole world of not bathing that is also really helpful for skin maintenance, and we naturally clean ourselves.”

The 'Southpaw' star made the comments after a debate about cleanliness was sparked by Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, who recently admitted they don’t bathe their children until they can “see dirt” on them.

The discussion began during an appearance on the ‘Armchair Expert’ podcast, when co-hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman spoke about the frequency in which they wash.

Mila, 37, revealed that she hardly ever had a shower growing up as a child because they didn't have hot water at home.

The 'Bad Moms' star explained: "I didn't have hot water growing up as a child, so I didn't shower much anyway. But when I had children, I also didn't wash them every day. I wasn't that parent that bathed my newborns — ever."