Gavin & Stacey stars reunite for last time at Christmas finale premiere

Look what’s occurin’… the cast of Gavin & Stacey have reunited for one last time at the premiere of the final episode.

James Corden, Ruth Jones, Joanna Page and Matthew Horne were among the stars that gathered on the red carpet for a screening of the Christmas Day special.

It marked the last time that the stars who played Nessa, Smithy, Mick, Pam, Uncle Bryn and, of course, Gavin and Stacey, will ever get together for the much-loved sitcom.

The actors that played Dave Coaches and Jason West were also at the event in London to promote the feature-length final episode, which will air on BBC One on Christmas Day.

Jones, who plays Stacey’s direct yet loveable best friend Nessa, told BBC News on the red carpet that when she feels nervous, she tries to be more like her Gavin and Stacey character.

“What I love about Nessa is she doesn’t care what anyone thinks,” Jones said.

“I wish I could be a bit more like that in real life. I just love her directness. If I’m feeling nervous about something, I often channel my inner Nessa to be able to say ‘Oh, love, back off’.”

“I just love playing her, I really do. I love the history of her life and the things that she’s done, which are quite phenomenal.”

Gavin & Stacey debuted in 2007 on BBC Three and as well as co-creating the series with Corden, Jones has played the role of Nessa Jenkins ever since.

Nessa – famous for saying “Oh!”, “What’s occurring?’ and “Tidy” – has had a range of occupations including a truck driver, BBC producer and a goalkeeping coach at Coventry City.

Horne and Page play the title roles of Gavin & Stacey – and Page has admitted nerves about returning to the iconic role for the final show.

“It was quite daunting in the beginning,” she told the BBC.

“I said to my mum before we started, ‘oh my gosh, I first played Stacey when I was 29 – I’m now in my forties, I’ve got four children, am I going to be able to play this bubbly, energetic and fun sort of character again?’

“I’m still exactly the same as I was when I was like, 17, so yeah. There was a slight thing of ‘oh my God, am I going to play her differently?’ but then, my God, meeting up with the gang, getting back on set, having a laugh, and just slotting back into where we all are in the family – it was just wonderful.”

The upcoming finale sees Gavin, Stacey, Smithy, and Nessa getting back together one final time – after the 2019 Christmas special finished with Jones’ character Nessa proposing to Smithy, played by Corden.

“It may sound like complete nonsense, but it doesn’t really feel like we’re in charge of writing it,” said Corden.

“I feel like we just have to be together and we sort of open a portal and the characters arrive and they tell us what they want everybody to know.”