‘I’m the real life Nessa and here’s what it’s like being famous on Barry Island’-Gethin Hicks-Entertainment – Metro

Kaz Barrett, from Barry, says she ‘knows Nessa inside out’

For one Gavin and Stacey super fan, Nessa is more than just her favourite character.

Kaz Barrett, who lives on Barry’s High Street, is South Wales’ real life Nessa – she rides Dave’s Coaches, drinks in The Dolphin and has people shouting ‘what’s occurrin’ at her out of their car windows.

‘I’m pretty much the same as her,’ said the carer.

‘I’m the same size as her, the same shape as her, I have the same personality as her.’

But she only realised the striking resemblance five years ago, when Ruth Jones, who plays Nessa in the hit show, visited Barry to turn the town’s Christmas lights on.

Kaz became the official Knock-off Nessa in 2019

Kaz said: ‘It was 2019 and I was running a café on High Street.

‘Ruth came to turn the lights on and it was amazing, it was brilliant – but it was a logistical nightmare.

‘4,000 people turned up and Barry town can’t hold that many – no one could really see or hear her. So I had an idea.

‘I thought, why don’t I dress up as Ness and run up and down the High Street to try and get people into the café? So I did it.

‘I literally ran up and down the street just having a laugh with people and they absolutely loved it.’

When she’s not in-character, Kaz lives with two gentlemen with learning disabilities who she has cared for since 2014

In fact, people loved it so much that Kaz, who says she’s ‘worked everywhere’ just like Nessa, landed a gig as an impersonator of the Gavin and Stacey character – and she’s never looked back.

She began performing at nightclubs, weddings and charity events. Kaz was even booked to turn up at the funeral of a Nessa-lover recently.

Her impersonations, which she says come ‘naturally,’ have been so successful that Kaz was actually able to quit her job last year to become a full time knock-off Nessa.

She said: ‘I enjoy it so much it doesn’t feel like a job.

Gavin and Stacey will return for the last time this Christmas Day(Picture: BBC/Fulwell73 & Tidy Productions/Tom Jackson/PA Wire)

‘I do all the bookings and I’ve got my own tour company, ‘Nessflix’- we do tours on Dave’s Coaches.

‘It’s crazy but it’s lovely. I’ve got people leaning out of their car windows to shout ‘what’s occurrin’ at me. I get noticed all the time around Barry.’

What may shock some Gavin and Stacey lovers from outside of Wales’s biggest town is that it’s actually very rare to hear the iconic Nessa line, ‘what’s occurin,’ in Barry.

Kaz, who reckons she’s seen the whole series through more than 100 times, said: ‘Everyone knows a Bryn, a Ness, a Gwen, a Stacey – Barry’s full of ’em.

‘The one thing we don’t do though, is say what’s occurrin, no one in Barry says that. It’s a total Nessa-ism.

‘But I can’t fault James Corden or Ruth at all, they’ve created something iconic which is going to live on for years.

‘Years ago we were well known for Butlins, when that went away all of the tourism went with it – but people come here for Gavin and Stacey now. They’ve put Barry on the map.

‘To be honest, if you don’t love Gavin and Stacey, you’re a fool!’

Fans were left on a cliff-hanger after the last episode with Nessa proposing to Smithy

The show’s last ever episode will air this Christmas Day, after fans were left on a cliff-hanger last time when Nessa proposed to Smithy.

Knock-off Nessa doesn’t think we’ll get to see the pair’s wedding this Christmas though.

She said: ‘Everyone’s seen pictures of the actors filming a wedding – but I don’t think it’s Nessa and Smithy’s.

‘I don’t think he marries Sonia or Ness. I think Nessa proposed to Smithy out of panic that she was going to lose him.

‘Smithy and Nessa are meant to be together, but also apart – Nessa doesn’t have to marry him to love him.’

And how could I interview the real life Nessa without asking her what happened on Bryn and Jason’s mysterious fishing trip?

In classic Nessa fashion, she answered: ‘I can’t tell you exactly what happened, but I can tell you this – it was cold that day, it defied the laws of gravity, but it was legal in Wales so we’ll leave it there.’

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