All the times the Gavin and Stacey cast lied about the Christmas special-Danni Scott-Entertainment – Metro

Gavin and Stacey is back and we couldn’t be more excited (Picture: Baby Cow)

‘I wont lie to you,’ says Nessa in Gavin and Stacey — only in real life Ruth Jones did fib and had us all fooled that the show would not return.

Ever since that fantastic Christmas reunion in 2019 fans have been desperate to dive back into the world of Gavin, Stacey, and the family.

Finally, we can rejoice as Ruth and co-writer James Corden revealed one final return to Billericay is on the cards as a festive finale has been written and will air on Christmas Day this year.

‘It’s official,’ declared the Smithy actor and it’s thought Mathew Horne, Larry Lamb, Alison Steadman, Joanna Page, Melanie Walters, and Rob Brydon will all return.

Reunion speculation swirled after it was reported pre-production had begun but this was quickly rebuffed by those involved.

It seems this denial — some straight to Metro.co.uk‘s face — was all misdirection so we look back at all the times the Gavin and Stacey cast lied about a reunion.

James Corden and Ruth Jones announced that the show was set to return this Christmas (Picture: Instagram/j_corden)

Joanna Page ‘doesn’t have a clue’, apparently

Joanna Page last reprised her role of Stacey Shipman for Christmas special in 2019, but played coy when asked about reunion rumours.

The 46-year-old actress laughed in February when Metro asked her if she was in the know, as she denied any knowledge of a return.

‘I haven’t got anything exciting to say or anything that’s different to what I’ve said before,’ she said. ‘I genuinely don’t have a clue.

‘I mean, Ruth and James write it, so they’re the ones who know what’s going on. I’ve never asked them if there’s gonna be any more, so I’ve absolutely no idea.’

Joanna Page starred as Stacey West who marries Mathew Horne’s Gavin Shipman (Picture: BBC/GS TV Productions Ltd/Tom Jackson)

While she may not have thought to ask them, we’re certain they’ve got in touch now as Joanna shared the announcement on her Instagram.

She captioned it: ‘O my god it’s happening!!! So excited!!! Last ever Gavin and Stacey! Christmas Day @bbcone Can’t wait to start filming!! ❤️’

Oh, Ruth Jones put a dampener on speculation

Everywhere Ruth goes, fans have asked her if Gavin and Stacey is returning, especially after that cliffhanger of an ending five years ago.

In 2022, she told the Independent: ‘I’m sure, at some point, James and I will write something together. But it won’t be Gavin and Stacey.

‘Certainly, when he’s back in the UK, I would have thought we would try and get together and write again because it was such fun to do that.’

Her writing partner returned home last year and they were papped out for dinner together which once again sparked speculation.

The 57-year-old star doubled down on her denial while on the radio in February and said: ‘If there was something to say on that front, James and I would happily announce it.’

‘Where’s this come from?’ she quipped in the interview. ‘When he [James] came back from America, we went for lunch in London a few months ago and we got papped.

‘And then the next thing is, “Oh my god, they must be writing more Gavin and Stacey,” which is lovely. It’s lovely that people love it and they’re so desperate for it.’

The 2019 Christmas episode ended on a huge cliffhanger (Picture: BBC)

Amid the swirling rumours, Metro.co.uk spoke to body language expert Judi James, who analysed the video of Ruth’s interview with RTE Radio 1 to give us her verdict.

She shared: ‘Her verbal diarrhoea might sound suspicious when a “sadly not yet, but we’re delighted fans are so keen” would have done?’

‘If fans of the show who are desperate for a new series would like to put the body language clues together, the implication would be that there is something brewing but very, very early stage and being kept under wraps for now,’ the expert explained.

James Corden apologised for ‘disappointment’

The other half of the power writing duo, who everyone loves to hate, James Corden also strongly denied anything was in the works last April.

‘In truth, Ruth and I met up at Christmas,’ he told The Sun at the time. ‘And I know it will be a disappointment, but we didn’t talk about it in life-growing forms.

Ruth and James had been denying any complete plan for a reunion(Picture: Baby Cow)

‘It is whether we decide to get into a room together and honestly I could not tell you what the chances are of that. We both have to be ready and right.’

If we believe the 45-year-old talk show host in that denial then it’s taken them less than a year to ‘grow’ a plot, write an entire script, and get everyone back on board for the announcement.

James has been keeping very low-key since swapping the US for the UK, having said he was taking time off for his family.

Maybe, in that calm an idea finally had time to blossom — we’re not going to complain!

A brutal shutdown from Larry Lamb

Just two weeks before the announcement, Larry, who plays Mick on the show, totally shut down the speculation.

He had appeared alongside Joanna on an episode of Loose Women as he joked: ‘What is occurring? Well they’re not telling us for sure.’

As the crowd laughed his on-screen daughter-in-law asked if the show was ever returning to which he replied: ‘Definitely not.’

Disappointment could be felt from the panel and studio audience alike as the duo gave each other a knowing glance as Larry, 76, doubled down.

‘If I had to bet, right now, I’d say not but I’m not very good at gambling so umm…’ he continued as Joanna giggled.

In a touching discussion after his big fib, he explained that the scenes all blended together into one ‘family life’ that they’ve been a part of ever since.

Oh my Christ, Alison Steadman hadn’t been contacted

At this point we’re wondering if Ruth and James actually told the cast they were writing it because Alison Steadman — better known as Pamela — had no clue.

Incredible actress that she is, the 77-year-old told The Mirror just months ago in March that ‘it’s not going to happen.’

In March, Alison Steadman said flat out ‘it’s not going to happen'(Picture: Baby Cow)

‘If we did another series or episode, I would absolutely love it,’ she admitted. ‘But at the moment, as far as I know, it’s not going to happen.

‘None of us have been sent scripts, none of us, so until there’s something definite and it’s announced, then I’m not going to go along with anything, it might not happen.’

Keeping the rumour flames suitably fanned though she added: ‘It’s all up in the air.’

Rob Brydon gives a very ‘political’ answer

Who could forget Uncle Bryn and his oversharing nature — unfortunately for fans this secret has been kept locked away deeper than whatever happened on that fishing trip.

Toeing the party line, after the rumours sparked in February, Rob Brydon told the Today programme: ‘I get asked about this on every interview I ever do.’

In February, Rob Brydon was asked about the show and a reunion (Picture: BBC/GS TV Productions Ltd/Tom Ja)

The popularity of the show can’t be understated as the cast have been asked about it constantly for the past decade.

However, putting rumours to rest he shared: ‘I sound like a politician, as far as I’m aware it’s another rumour. I don’t know. I mean, I’d love it if it were true.’

Neil, the baby, ‘just turns up’

Oscar Hartland, who played Neil the baby, has been dodging questions on from his growing social media following so not to get on Ruth’s ‘bad side’.

The 15-year-old spoke to WalesOnline in February and seemed none-the-wiser about any possible plans in place.

‘I’d love to say I know so much, but at the end of the day it’s not my show,’ he shared. ‘I’m not the one that writes the scripts, I’m not the one that organises any of it. I just turn up as Neil the Baby and that’s it.

To be fair, Neil the Baby really had no clue (Picture: BBC)

‘I don’t want to be on the bad side of Ruth. I don’t want to make her day harder and more interesting. I just want to say, let’s just hope. That’s all I know and all I want to say.’

He did hint at what he though the future would look like for Neil, either following the football passion like Smithy or the more grunge life like Nessa.

‘Neil should have a dark turn. He has always been very likeable, so that would be fun,’ the star told Metro.co.uk last year.

As for that infamous proposal, to WalesOnline Oscar said: ‘I’d love to say Smithy says yeah for Neil the Baby’s character arc, and Smithy and Nessa as a family, it would be nice, but I think there would be a lot more of a story if Smithy said no.’

Only time will tell as Gavin and Stacey returns this Christmas Day on BBC One.

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