James Cordon and Ruth Jones reveal secret Gavin and Stacey storylines that never aired
The comedy duo lifted the lid on a string of writing-room secrets as they made a joint appearance to promote When Gavin Met Stacey.
8 October 2025, 13:10
Gavin and Stacey co-creators James Corden and Ruth Jones shared some of the hilarious plot twists that didn't make the show's final cut.
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James Corden and Ruth Jones have revealed a handful of secret Gavin and Stacey storylines that didn't quite make the cut in a shocking new conversation about the show on Monday night.
The co-creators of the hit series confessed the BBC comedy almost had a totally different outcome as they made a joint appearance at the London Palladium to mark the release of a book named When Gavin Met Stacey.
Unveiling never-heard-before plot twists on stage to an entranced crowd, the duo admitted they had a controversial idea to turn one beloved character into a villain during an old Christmas episode.
James, who played cheeky chappy Essex boy Smithy, explained: "We had a sort of weird idea for the 2019 special, didn’t we?"
Ruth, who starred as no-nonsense Welsh arcade worker Nessa, replied: "Oh, about Gavin having an affair."
James continued: "Yeah, or that he wasn’t having an affair but there was someone at his work who he liked."
Ruth admitted: "It just felt like it wasn’t true to the show."
The award-winning pair recounted a string of hilarious storylines that never made it to air as they appeared on stage at the book launch, and even let slip there was almost a Gavin and Stacey film.
Ruth confessed: "With the second special — the finale — we did consider making that as a movie because we wanted to do something different from what we’d done before.
"But then when we read it, we went, no, it really belongs in people’s living rooms on Christmas night, when everyone’s eaten too much turkey and Chocolate Orange and they’re sat with friends and family."
James agreed, adding: "Lots of people kept saying, ‘You could make so much money. The Inbetweeners movie did this much money'.
"But we couldn’t shake that these people belong in the corner of your living room."
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Another crazy plot twist that didn't come to fruition was a sketch written for Comic Relief, which would have tasked Gavin and Stacey to get steamy in the iconic Blue Peter garden.
James joked: "We had this idea that the whole cast were going to go to watch Comic Relief in the studio.
"Like, Mick had got some tickets because someone at work had spent the week in a bath full of beans and he can’t go, and do the Barry lot want to go?
"They got a minibus and it was going to be all this stuff like Gwen ended up on a cookery programme showing Jamie Oliver how to make an omelette.
"Gavin and Stacey got lost and ended up in the Blue Peter garden and decided to have sex.
"Bryn ended up on one of the phone-in Loose Women-type shows giving people advice on what to do.
"And Nessa keeps bumping into people that she’s slept with. She’d turn a corner and go, ‘Oh God, not another one,’ and it would be Dermot O’Leary going, ‘You never called me back!'"
- Read more: Gavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones opens up about writing Christmas special with James Corden
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The former Late Late Show host explained that once the mad idea aired in 2009, it only ended up starring Smithy due to calendar clashes between the cast.
James said: "Part of the idea would be that Smithy would end up on the set of Match Of The Day and some of the England team would be there.
"He’d tell them that they’re a disgrace because they hadn’t qualified for a big tournament.
"But when we got into it, people’s dates were impossible. Ruth was filming, Alison [Steadman] was filming away, Mat was doing a play and there was no way to do it.
"I was like, I still think this England team thing could be quite funny."
Despite revealing all their writing-room secrets, one plot question that still gets asked obsessively by fans is 'what truly happened on that fishing trip?'
When asked if they knew the answer, James confessed: "The answer is no, we don’t know what happened."
Ruth did reveal the team had filmed some VHS flashback scenes showing footage of the fishing trip, with it cutting off before the mystery moment.
Sadly these scenes were cut due to episode timing issues.
She said: "I was really, really upset at the time but now, looking back, it’s great to know that footage existed.
"It’s amazing the theories that have come out. People say, ‘I think I’ve worked it out,’ and it does make me go, ‘People’s minds are really strange’."
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- Read more: James Corden talks final Gavin and Stacey episode
