Who is Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page’s husband James Thornton and how many children do they have?

ON screen Joanna Page is best known for her role in the beloved BBC series Gavin and Stacey.

But when she's away from the cameras, the star enjoys a cosy life with her husband, James Thornton - here's everything you need to know.

Who is Joanna Page's husband James Thornton?

James Thornton, born October 3, 1975, is an English actor who is best known for his portrayal of John Barton on Emmerdale from 2009 to 2012.

In the soap, John was married to wife Moira, who cheated on him with the village bad boy.

Following their storyline split, the character died in a road related incident in the long-running ITV show.

Thornton's other acting credits include Holby City and starring alongside his wife's Gavin & Stacey co-star Ruth Jones in Stella.

The couple, who first met after being set up by a mutual friend, married in 2003.

After their first date, James went back to Joanna’s and, as she says, never left.

The star explained: ''From the minute we met there was a spark and we couldn’t stop talking.

''I fancied him and he was really sexy and we got on like a house on fire. From the start we knew that was it.''

How many children do they have?

Joanna and James share four children together.

They welcomed their first child, a daughter called Eva in 2013, with sons Kit and Noah following in 2015 and 2016.

 Their youngest daughter Boe was born in December 2021.

In December 2024, the Gavin and Stacey star discussed going from learning her lines with “no responsibility” to becoming a mum.

She said: “Going from not having any responsibility except for learning my lines, turning up, being Stacey and getting the job done, to suddenly coming home to four children and two dogs who are all jumping on me going ‘mummy, look at this! Mummy, look at that!” then Boe either wanting to cuddle or shout at me, I thought, ‘I’ve got no control.’”

Joanna plays Stacey from Barry Island in the show, who married Gavin (Matthew Horne) from Essex 17 years ago.

In the hit series, James Corden stars as Smithy, Ruth Jones portrays Nessa, and Larry Lamb play Gavin's dad, Mick, who is married to Pam (Alison Steadman).

What has Joanna said about their marriage?

Speaking to The Sun in 2020, Joanna said she nearly divorced in lockdown because she and her husband stopped having sex.

She told The Sun: “We spent the whole of the first lockdown arguing and threatening to divorce each other.

“Then we went through a month of literally not saying a single word to each other.

“We came out of that a bit numb and deadened and desperate for anything we could get because we just argued so much.

“Let’s get some sex in before we have to pick the kids up from school’ — that’s how desperate we’d got.”

She added: “I’m sure all parents found it really difficult during lockdown. You’re with the children so much, and then at night-time they all just wanted to sleep in bed with us."

Since then, Joanna has admitted that she and husband James spiced up their sex life in a hotel on a trip to watch an episode of Strictly Come Dancing being filmed.

In a chat with Woman and Home magazine, Joanna said: “We made the most of our evening and didn’t do a lot of sleeping, I will say that.”