What’s occurrin’? Well, I won’t lie to you, excitement for the last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey on BBC One on Christmas Day is reaching fever pitch as fans can’t wait to pop in on Gavin and Stacey Shipman, Nessa, Pam, Mick, Gwen and Uncle Bryn for one last time.
After the last Christmas special ended on a cliffhanger in 2019 with Nessa asking Smithy to marry her, will we finally find out if he says yes? Are Gavin and Stacey still ‘tidy’? And will we finally discover what happened between Uncle Bryn and his nephew Jason on that infamous fishing trip?
While millions of us will be tuning in to BBC One on Christmas Day to find out - for the original Gavin and Stacey from Wales - who are planning on watching it in their PJs with a ‘pint of wine,’ it’s going to be the end of an era.
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Jon Rowley)Stacey, 36, and Gavin Stevens, 38, first met in their hometown of Blaina in Blaenau Gwent, South Wales when they were teenagers and it wasn’t long before everyone started to realise they shared the same names with one of TV’s best-loved couples.
Some 19 years later and the couple tell me they’ve endured a lifetime of jokes and mickey taking, but it’s been a blast and they’ll be sad to say goodbye to the TV characters who have become a huge part of their lives.
“I’m not really like Stacey - although I do have my blonde moments,” Stacey tells me on a recent day trip to Barry in Wales with the Mirror to check out some of the iconic landmarks from the show.
“I once ate raw meat at Christmas thinking it was part of a selection of cooked meats to eat alongside olives and I have to remind myself sometimes, when I say daft things, how silly I sound.”
You could say that Gavin and Stacey Stevens are the original Gavin and Stacey - they have been a couple for two years longer than the BBC series has been running.
“I was about 18 or 19 when someone made a comment about us being ‘the real Gavin and Stacey’ but I didn’t really think anything of it at first,” Stacey says.
“Then the song Stacey’s Mum came out and everyone was singing it to me on my hen do - I just remember thinking ‘oh my gosh, what a name to have!’
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Jon Rowley)“I find it funny when people who have known us for years suddenly realise we share the same names as the TV characters and stop and go quiet and then say ‘oh it’s Gavin and Stacey’”.
“But then a few people like my auntie said to me on our wedding day ‘because I think of Stacey first - I’ve never realised you are Gavin and Stacey, I’ve always thought of you as Stacey and Gavin’.”
While they haven’t met Gavin and Stacey played by Matthew Horne and Joanna Page, Stacey, a primary school teacher who works with children with additional learning needs, has met Rob Brydon who plays Uncle Bryn.
“I was at a golf event with my sister at the Celtic Manor in Newport and he was there playing golf,” she says. “I had my photo taken with him but I didn’t think to tell him my name was Stacey and my husband is called Gavin. It was all a bit of a rush if I’m honest.”
Sharing a namesake with one of TV’s most famous couples has led to some funny anecdotes Stacey tells me.
“I got a phone call from our wedding photographer who asked if he could pass our number on to a radio station.
“We agreed to do a little interview but it turned into ‘will you agree to renew your wedding vows live on air?’ she laughs. “We said we’d do it because we thought ‘at least it’s something to tell the grandchildren one day’”.
“I think the show is so successful because everyone can relate to it at some point and although it’s an exaggeration you do get a few Welsh characters like Nessa.
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Jon Rowley)“I love the fact that she has no filter - she’s loud and vibrant and speaks as she finds. She always tells stories from the past - I find that Welsh people always have a story to tell.”
“If I could meet any of the cast it would be Ruth Jones who plays Nessa because of how different she is in real life.”
You could say Gavin - or Gavlah - as he’s lovingly referred to by friends and family is a bit of a superfan when it comes to the show as he has watched every single episode numerous times.
He even gets birthday cards addressed to ‘Gavlah’ but says he’s nothing like his TV namesake and has never been to Essex - although he often goes fishing in Barry.
“Family members started saying to me ‘have you seen this on TV - you’ve got to watch it,” Gavin says. “People started calling me ‘Gavlah’ during series one and two and then began asking me ‘What’s occurrin’?
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PA)“People will say things to us like ‘I feels it’, ‘how’s it goin’, alright’ and make comments like ‘oh Doris, where’s the salad’ at gatherings.
“Being called Gavin and Stacey has become a long running joke - at our engagement party they made us get up and dance to Islands in the Stream which Nessa sings during the show. Stacey was mortified but we do find it funny, to be honest you get used to it.”
“We bring the kids to Barry once a year as we are only an hour away from where the show is filmed but it’s nice to come here for the photoshoot today and see other locations - especially where Stacey, Gwen and Uncle Bryn live.”
On a visit to Barry the Mirror take the original Gavin and Stacey to Trinity St, a steep, windy street with traditional terraced houses and a crackin’ view of the sea where Gwen and Stacey, Doris and Uncle Bryn live.
The current owners have put photos from the show in the downstairs windows of Gwen and Stacey’s house and as we arrive so does a coachload of tourists which descends from Dave’s Coaches.
We also visit the fairground, promenade and Marco’s Cafe - a bright blue coffee shop where Stacey works in series three.
During filming, the owner of Marco’s Cafe taught James Corden how to make a decent coffee and he even served the customers on one occasion.
After that we stop by Smithy’s local The Colcot Arms where he hosts his hilarious quizzes - in the show we’re led to believe this is in Billericay, Essex - but it’s actually in Barry not far from where the Welsh clan live.
Gavin tells me his favourite character is Uncle Bryn because he’s ‘a bit awkward’ and says the funniest things. “I love how he starts explaining things by saying ‘I’ll tell you for why’.
“And the scene where he is explaining to Gavin how to use the internet is one of my all time favourites. When he recommends remembering www as whiskey with water and Gavin says what about ‘ world wide web.’
“I hope the show finishes on a happy note but I’m worried it won’t - we’ve all heard the rumours that Uncle Bryn might die.”
While there are rumours circulating that there will be a funeral taking place in the last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey, who knows if writers James Corden and Ruth Jones are trying to throw us off the scent?
One thing we know for sure is that it will be an emotional one, but could we all be in for a happy ending after all?
At the end of the day, when all’s said and done, we may be saying goodbye to the much loved TV characters but not the original Gavin and Stacey from Blaina in Wales.
They’ll have a few funny stories to tell their grandchildren one day - not least the one where they went on an unglamorous photoshoot to wet, windy Wales with the Mirror to tell fans what it’s like sharing their names with one of British TV’s best loved couples.
- Gavin & Stacey: The Finale is on Christmas Day at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer. Meanwhile, the Gavin and Stacey documentary A Fond Farewell will air on New Year’s Day at 7pm on BBC One.
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