Behind the scenes of Gavin and Stacey from 'jealousy' to tears and fiery romance

13 February 2024 , 15:42

1178     0

The cast is set to be back together again (Image: BBC)

Life for the cast of Gavin and Stacey was as dramatic off-stage as it was on.

Creators James Corden and Ruth Jones, who also star in the BBC comedy, answered viewers' prayers when they reunited the cast for a Christmas special in 2019 and now they are reportedly set for another special this year.

Five years after last appearing on screens, Deadline reports that they're secretly working on a brand new episode, with filming set to commence in the summer. Among the stars expected to return include Joanna Page, Matthew Horne, Alison Steadman, Larry Lamb, Rob Brydon and Julia Davis.

Despite public demand, before 2019, James and Ruth had always refused to do a follow-up. But after an emotional 'breakthrough', they delivered an epic festive episode that ended with a huge cliffhanger.

As the show gears up for its TV return, The Mirror takes a look at life backstage from fiery romances and acrimonious splits to tears and those feud rumours...

Trevor Noah mocks Prince Harry's 'frost-bitten' penis claim at Grammy Awards

Sheridan Smith and James Corden's rocky romance

James Corden and Sheridan Smith had a rocky romance after meeting on the show (Getty)

Sheridan originally joined the cast as Rudi, the sister of James Corden's character Smithy, in 2007. But in real life, she and James entered into a turbulent two-year relationship.

They split in 2008 and James made it clear his mind was on singer Lily Allen, with the pair said to have enjoyed a string of dates. "I made it my aim to make Lily mine. I guess we were friends but, for my part, I definitely wanted more than that," he said at the time.

But by the following February James was once again back with Sheridan and declared her the "love of my life". He told the Mirror at the time: "Yes, Sheridan and I are back together and it's going brilliantly.

"I couldn't be happier. I want to marry my girl." Sheridan, however, appeared to have different ideas and admitted that marriage couldn't have been further from her mind.

The actress once said: "I was a lot wilder back then. I wasn't someone who was in a frame of mind of settling down." After their final split in 2009, a "heartbroken" James started partying heavily and feared his life was spiralling out of control.

"I was heartbroken and lost," he told The Times. "I'd had a relationship with Sheridan which was heartbreaking, when you think something might work and it doesn't. And I felt a bit lost.

James is now married to charity worker Julia

"And feeling lost, and feeling heartbroken, and feeling single for the first time in your adult life, at the very moment when you become a little bit famous, is quite a potent mix." He met charity worker Julia less than 12 months later, and has often credited her with giving him an "anchor" in his life.

But it seems as though time might not have healed all wounds with Sheridan snubbed in the Christmas reunion. Asked if she was going to be in it, the pregnant star told Radio 2's Zoe Ball: "I wish. No, I'm not going to be in it. I don't think, anyway."

Mathew Horne and James Corden's 'feud'

James and Mathew play best mates Smithy and Gavin (BBC)

Ruth and James are the brains behind the series (BBC/GS TV Productions Ltd/Tom Jackson)

At one point James and his co-star Mathew - who plays Gavin - were so close that they spent 263 days together in just one year. James even admitted that they might as well have been "one person".

But their seemingly unsinkable friendship apparently cooled after a series of joint projects flopped. In 2009, their comedy show, Horne and Corden was branded "about as funny as credit default swaps," by one savage journalist, while another simply called it "unfunny and joke-free".

Prince Harry mocked by celeb pal after nickname let slip by Meghan Markle

Their movie Lesbian Vampire Killers was slammed as "badly directed, poorly acted and witlessly scripted" by The Guardian, and both actors said their hosting gig at the BRIT Awards was "so poor" that they couldn't watch it back. The knockbacks put a huge strain on their friendship and the duo went their separate ways amid claims of a bitter falling out.

James previously reflected: "There was lots of horrible stuff about us... If I have one regret, it was we just rushed those things. We never stopped to think about the work enough. We did our own sketch show but the reaction was fierce. It was hard to go through that. We were riding this amazing wave and then it just dropped.

Their sketch show was a flop (BBC)

“In one year we spent 263 days together and we went from that to nothing." James went on to front Sky 1’s League of Their Own before landing a £10m three-year deal to front The Late Late Show in Hollywood.

And while reports initially claimed he and Mathew stopped speaking for a "few months", their brief separation soon became more permanent. In 2011, James was cagey when asked about his former best mate, telling Piers Morgan they only spoke "occasionally" before it was revealed that Mathew had declined to appear on the show.

And their lives couldn't have been more different, with James having graduated from a flat above a doughnut shop to a £7.3million mansion in trendy Brentwood, Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Mathew moved to the small Scottish town of Helmsdale which has just a population of 700.

But in 2016, he told The Mirror he was nothing but pleased to see James' career flourishing. "Jealousy isn’t something I do - I am not a jealous person. I am thrilled and about the success he is having," he said.

“It is what he always wanted and I have nothing happiness and encouragement for what he is doing. We never said we were going to be a double act and would work together forever."

Tears and second thoughts

James and Ruth put pen to paper in 2019, drafting a script for the Christmas special over FaceTime. But once it was finished, their hearts sank when they realised it was "absolutely awful".

And during one last subdued dinner, they decided to pull the plug. Ruth, who plays Nessa, told the Daily Mail: "When we did our first read-through it just wasn't working. We just stopped everything. It was a horrible feeling... it felt absolutely awful.

"We both had to admit it was over. So we sat down to dinner with our partners after making the decision to stop. Obviously the mood wasn't great, and we had this very pedestrian conversation as we sat around the table."

At one point, Ruth and James feared it was 'game over' (BBC/GS TV Productions Ltd/Tom Jackson)

But in a miraculous turnaround, that run-of-the-mill conversation suddenly inspired them and reduced James to tears. "Within two or three hours, we'd worked up that exact pedestrian conversation into this perfect Gavin and Stacey scene. Then James started crying because it was a completely unexpected breakthrough and it was just perfect. I cried too," she recalled.

"It was very emotional because somehow we'd got it back. We knew we could make it happen. And then – bang! – we were on a roll. Everything just worked and we had that spark back."

Frances Kindon