Sheridan Smith Reveals She Won't Feature In Gavin And Stacey Festive Special

Sheridan Smith has revealed she will not be featuring in the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, which was announced last month.

In the classic BBC comedy, Smith starred as Ruth 'Rudi' Smith, the sister of Smithy - who was played by the show's co-writer, James Corden.

But while we discovered that Matthew Horne, Joanna Page, Rob Brydon, Larry Lamb, Melanie Waters and Alison Steadman are all set to return, it turns out there's one familiar face we won't be seeing.

BBC

Appearing on BBC Radio 2's The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show today, Smith was asked if she would be reprising her classic role.

She said: "I wish. No, I'm not going to be in it, I think."

Smith - who's pretty busy with theatre work and singing these days - did not divulge why she won't be among the credits for the festive special, but presenter Zoe Ball did give Rudi a shout-out, saying she hopes that might change.

PA

But if not, it looks like we'll be having an almost-full house for the show's return to screens - which Corden has promised will be a 'nostalgic joy-bomb'.

Speaking to The Times, he said: "We owed it to the ­characters. Let's see what they're doing.

"We wanted to see if there was something there. Once there was, my feeling was 'life's too short'.

"Fear is the absolute reason to do it. This sounds ­ridiculously deep but none of us are promised tomorrow. We're here for a minute, you have to try to do it all."

Asked whether the script would touch on the current climate and issues such as Brexit, Corden added: "We did talk about it, but we just want the new show to be a nostalgic joy-bomb."

BBC

The show is due to begin filming in the summer ahead of a Christmas release on BBC One.

In a BBC press release about the special, Corden and co-writer Ruth Jones said: "Over the last ten years we've talked a lot about Gavin and Stacey - where they might be today and what their lives might look like.

"And so in secret we took the plunge and wrote this one-hour special. We've loved revisiting Barry and Essex again and bringing the characters back together has been a joy.

"We're so excited to get the chance to work with our fabulous cast and crew once more and to give fans of the show a festive treat this Christmas. Thank you BBC for helping to make this happen."

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, gavin and stacey

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

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