Filming for the Gavin and Stacey 2024 Christmas special, the beloved sitcom's last-ever episode, has wrapped up, marking the final time the crew will be in Barry Island.
Addressing fans on the famous Welsh street that is home to characters Gwyn West, Bryn West, and Gavin and Stacey Shipman (and formerly Doris O'Neill), co-writer and Nessa Jenkins actress Ruth Jones said, 'This is our farewell now to Barry and to Trinity Street, so you won’t be seeing us here anymore but we’ve had a wonderful 17 years, it’s been fantastic.'
Meanwhile, her co-star and fellow scriptwriter James Corden, who plays Smithy, added, 'Thank you very much to everyone, we’ll see you soon.'
Gavin and Stacey originally ran for three series between 2007 and 2010, with the first Christmas special landing in 2008. The Shipmans and Wests reunited in 2019 for another festive episode, which ended on a mega cliffhanger that many feared we might never get the answer to. Then in May, after much speculation that Ruth and James were joining forces for more Gavin and Stacey, the show's creators put the whispers to bed by announcing, 'Some news… It’s official!!! We have finished writing the last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey. See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. Love Ruth and James'.
But while the cast have a fantastic camaraderie, there have been reports of off-screen drama over the years. Here's what was occurrin' before they all reunited for the Gavin and Stacey 2024 reunion...
James Corden and Sheridan Smith's relationship
Sheridan Smith played Smithy's cheeky younger sister, Rudi, in Gavin and Stacey and the fan-favourite has reportedly returned for the Christmas special.
A source told The Sun, 'She is an incredible actress and stepped straight back into Rudi’s shoes. It was like no time had passed at all. Sheridan was over the moon she could go back into the fold and her scenes are brilliant.'
While they played siblings on-screen, James and Sheridan's relationship was romantic off-screen for a while. The pair dated for two years between 2007 and 2009 but briefly split in 2008 before reuniting, and then calling it quits for good.
James - now happily married to TV producer Julia Carey and raising three children with her - previously branded Sheridan as the 'love of his life' and admitted the split left him 'heartbroken and lost'.
Sheridan's alleged return to Gavin and Stacey will be her first appearance on the show since 2010 after she didn't star in the 2019 Christmas special. She said in an interview on BBC Radio 2 about her absence, 'I’m not going to be in it. I don’t think, anyway. Like everyone, I can’t wait to watch the Christmas special. I’m so proud to have been a part of something so special.'
She later shared a GIF representing her feelings towards the speculation regarding her absence, writing 'Me & my fella right now at how ridiculously blown out of proportion certain folk like to make things. I was only ever in [four] episodes. Why would they need to bring me back? There is no drama between me & James. And no story. Chill out! In other news... happy Wednesday'.
James Corden and Mathew Horne: The fallout rumours explained
James and Mathew Horne - who plays the titular Gavin Shipman - became firm friends when they met on the set of Gavin and Stacey in the noughties. The story goes that once James texted Mat to congratulate him on bagging the lead, they spent 80 minutes on the phone, and the rest was history.
They became inseparable, with their characters' best mate chemistry very much replicated away from the rolling cameras. The duo collaborated on several projects, but their Horne & Corden show and appearances in Lesbian Vampire Killers were criticised by critics, and they received unfavourable reviews for their Brit Awards hosting gig in 2009.
'The film we did at the same time, Lesbian Vampire Killers, is atrocious. Then we hosted the Brits together and we were so poor I can’t even watch it,' James told The Mail on Sunday in 2015.
In 2011 on Piers Morgan's Life Stories, the former Late Late Show host weighed in on their friendship following reports he and Mathew had drifted, and Piers informed him that his former sidekick had refused to be part of the episode. James said, 'We never fell out, it was never that. We were one person for a long time. If I have one regret, it is that we just rushed those things.
'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. In one year we spent 263 days together and we went from that to nothing.'
James added that they didn't speak for a few months while they focused on their solo careers.
And Mat echoed that there was no feud in 2016, saying, 'James remains a friend and never wasn’t a friend. We have remained friends ever since we met. We have done various bits of work together and now we are both off doing other things.'
Millie Payne is a News and Entertainment Writer for Grazia. She has specialised in showbiz interviews, features, articles and roundups for over three years and loves combining her love for writing, talking and all things popular culture.