James Corden excites fans with the first pic from Gavin and Stacey Christmas rehearsals
A Christmas special was announced for this year
Last updated 27th Jun 2019
If like any other Gavin and Stacey fan you were super excited to hear the plans for a Christmas special confirmed, we're pretty sure you will be even more excited to hear the cast have started their rehearsals. James Corden, who is now a popular TV host in the US, has shared a photo from the rehearsals on Twitter and fans can't contain their excitement.
Tweeting a black and white photo from the rehearsals, James simply said, 'Rehearsals!' and in less than a day it's had a massive 88K likes, with more than 17K comments from fans. One commented, 'DO WE FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED ON THE FISHING TRIP', with many asking, 'Where’s Bryn?'.
This first pic from the rehearsals follows James' interview with the Sunday Times earlier this month when he revealed some more details about the upcoming Christmas special. He told them, "We owed it to the characters. Let's see what they're doing. We wanted to see if there was something there. Once there was, my feeling was, life's too short.
"Fear is the absolute reason to do it. This sounds ridiculously deep but none of us are promised tomorrow. We're here for a minute, you have to try to do it all".
Speaking about the storyline, James said that he and co-star Ruth Jones had thought about mentioning Brexit, but they, "Just wanted the new show to be a nostalgic joy-bomb".
Now take a look at what the cast of Gavin and Stacey are doing now:
Mathew Horne - a.k.a Gavin, then
Viewers saw Mathews character, Gavin, fall in love with Stacey pretty quickly - he drove all the way to Barry to surprise Stacey - after their night together. We saw the couple laugh, row and welcome a baby. N'aww.
And this is him now...
Mathew's come a long way from playing good ol' Gav - in 2016 he played Young Mr Grace in Are You Being Served and, in 2009, he even collaborated with James Corden to host The Brits. Now, in 2021, he's been working on a comedy mini series called Settling, it's not out yet, but we guess we've got that to look forward to! You can follow him on Twitter @mfhorne.
Joanna Page - a.k.a Stacey, then
Joanna smashed it as Stacey; the bubbly girl from Barry who got engaged five (yes, five) times before she met the love of her life Gavin. Bless her.
And this is her now...
Similar to her character Stacey, Joanna settled down in real life too and is now mum to three children - a daughter, Eva, and her two sons, Kit and Noah. She's also married to Emmerdale actor James Thornton - aka John Barton. Last year, she starred as Bethan Stubbins with the one and only Robert Downey Jr. in Dolittle - pretty cool, eh? You can follow her on Instagram @iamjoannapage.
James Corden - a.k.a Smithy, then
Err, James Cordon as Smithy was absolutely hilarious tbh. He kept us entertained with his dancing, love for Gavin and love/hate relationship with Nessa.
And this is him now... (along with the star of one of his majorly successful Carpool Karaoke's, Selena Gomez)
Do we really need to fill you in on this one? No, probably not, because he's everywhere. But incase you've been in hiding under a rock for the past few years, Corden has been doing pretty much EVERYTHING and has a majorly successful US TV programme - The Late Late show. You can follow him on Instagram @j_corden.
Ruth Jones - a.k.a Nessa, then
Oh, what's occurring? Need we say more. Ruth was brilliant as Nessa; fierce and hilarious and as much as we saw how happy she was with Dave, we always knew Smithy was the one that truly had her heart.
And this is her now...
She is arguably one of the funniest Welsh people to have ever lived and, since Gavin and Stacey, Ruth has lived in Cardiff with her husband and three grown-up stepchildren. She also has an MBE - go Ruth! - and, last year, reprised her role as Nessa for a special coronavirus message. Unfortunately Ruth isn't on social media, but you can still check out the clip on Instagram here.
Larry Lamb - a.k.a Mick Shipman, then
Larry is a prime example of a good actor. Despite seeing him play Archie Mitchell in EastEnders, we couldn't help but fall in love with Mick from Essex. Unlike Archie Mitchell, Mick actually loved his family...
And this is him now...
Since Gavin and Stacey, Larry has embarked upon all kinds of work; he appeared in New Tricks and I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! alongside Scarlett Moffatt. Last year, he finished filming a comedy titled, Me, Myself and Di alongside Outnumbered's Tyger Drew Honey - we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for that one later this year, that's for sure. You can follow Larry on Twitter @larrylamb47.
Alison Steadman - a.k.a Pamela Shipman, then
Alison's character Pam was probably the most iconic of them all. We loved her that she made to pretend to be a vegetarian up until the Christmas special where she finally told everyone she was eating meat - they all (minus Gwen) knew.
And this is her now...
Since Gavin and Stacey ended, Alison appeared in Orphan Black in 2015 and currently lives in Highgate, London with her partner Michael Elwyn. Last year, Alison starred in Sky's TV movie Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse as Dora alongside Rob Brydon. Naw, we love a cast reunion.
Rob Brydon - a.k.a Bryn West, then
Ahh Rob as Bryn was an absolute classic. There's so many hilarious moments of him to choose from but whenever we think of him our first though is of course, the Gavin and Stacey fishing trip...
And this is him now...
Long gone are the days of Bryn as actor Rob has since gone on to star in Hollywood movies including The Huntsmen: Winter's War (he played Gryff) and he played Master Phineus in the real life version of Cinderella. Up until last year, Rob had been starring in BBC's The Trip with comedian Steve Coogan. You can follow Rob on Twitter @RobBrydon.
Melanie Walters - a.k.a. - Gwen West, then
Gwen was the Gavin and Stacey's resident sweetheart, cooking up an omelette for anyone who walked through her door and being responsible for Nessa's ENTIRE wedding meal__ when Doris forgot the all-important salad. Bless her.
And this is her now...
Since Gav and Stace, Melanie went on to star in Casualty, Doc Martin and, in 2020, she starred in CBBC's adaption of The Snow Spider. That said, Mel also runs a pilates company in Swansea, these days. Who would'a thought it, eh? You can follow her on Twitter at @melwalters01.
Robert Wilfort - a.k.a. Jason West, then
Jason, like Bryn, was somewhat of a mystery on Gavin and Stacey and, if you ask us, his entire storyline arched around WHAT happened on that bloody fishing trip? Apart from that, he was just Stacey's supportive brother, popping up here and there when we least expected it...or should we say when Bryn least expected it 😂.
And this is him now...
Since Gavin and Stacey, Robert has gone on to direct an episode of the Crown and star in quite the bounty of films and TV shows, including US sitcom Piss off, I love you. You can follow Robert on Twitter @robertwilfort.
Julia Davis - a.k.a. Dawn Sutcliffe, then
Dawn was Pam's slightly kooky best friend who we all loved to laugh at. Remember when her and Pete hired someone for a threesome? Obsessed 😂.
And this is her now...
Since G&C, Julia's starred in the likes of Black Mirror and Arthur Christmas. In 2021, she's currently filming an animated short titled, The Clearing. Oooh, mysterious.
Adrian Scarborough - a.k.a. Pete Sutcliffe, then
Like Dawn, Pete was just as kooky as his wife and we'll never forget him leaving his elderly mother behind Pam and Mick's sofa overnight. Poor thing...
And this is him now...
Adrian Scarborough is quite the successful actor these days and has starred in 1917, Killing Eve and Little Women. You can follow him on Instagram @adeyscarbs.
Steffan Rhodri - a.k.a. Dave Coaches, then
Dave Coaches was Barry's local coach driver with his business...errr, Dave's Coaches 😂. He married Nessa in series three, but their marriage wasn't meant to be, and Smithy was the one for Nessa Shanessa Jenkins.
And this is him now...
Steffan has starred in quite the array of Hollywood films since G&C, including Harry Potter and Wonder Woman. Last year, he starred in BBC's We Hunt Together.
Margaret John - a.k.a. Doris O'Neill, then
Doris was Gwen's batty next door neighbour who famously tried to get it on with Gavin.
Sadly, the actress that played Doris, Margaret John, passed away in 2011 at the age of 84.
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