Smithy and Nessa in Gavin and Stacey
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Gavin & Stacey 2024 return is NOT happening as Ruth Jones reveals it’s ‘sadly a rumour’

It's NOT occuring!

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Gavin & Stacey is NOT coming back for a Christmas special in 2024, after all, as creator Ruth Jones has denied rumours of the show’s return.

Despite reports that Gavin & Stacey creators James Corden and Ruth had penned a new Christmas special of the hit sitcom, this is sadly not the case. So what IS occuring with Gavin & Stacey?

The series originally ended in 2010. We haven’t seen the gang since 2019, when the last Christmas special aired. Unfortunately, that one ended on a big cliffhanger, so we’re still awaiting an answer about the future of Smithy and Nessa!

Ruth Jones on the red carpet at The Royal Variety Performance 2023
Gavin & Stacey creator and Nessa actress Ruth Jones crushed our dreams of a 2024 special (Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images)

Is there a Gavin & Stacey Christmas special in 2024?

Sadly, there are no plans for a Gavin & Stacey Christmas special in 2024.

Reports began circulating on February 13 that Gavin & Stacey would be returning for a Christmas special in 2024. According to American entertainment news site Deadline, creators Ruth Jones and James Corden had already written the scripts and the whole thing was in pre-production. The source said filming was due to start in the summer.

The mayhem continued when the BBC denied reports, leaving fans to speculate that Netflix had bought the rights to the festive special. However, that wasn’t true either!

Speaking on RTE Radio 1, Ruth quashed these reports: “Apparently there’s a bidding war going on between the BBC and Netflix and I love it because it says ‘a source says’, who is this source?”

She added: “It’s sadly a rumour… All I can say is, if there was something to say on that front, James and I would happily announce it, we would.”

Ruth Jones also suggested the origin of the rumours might be the fact she was photographed having lunch with James Corden in November 2023.

She added: “It’s lovely that people are so desperate for it because imagine if it was the opposite and were like ‘Oh, god, you’re not bringing that back again’.”

Smithy talking to Nessa while Gavin and Stacey watch on in the 2019 Gavin and Stacey Christmas special
The last Gavin & Stacey Christmas special ended with a massive cliffhanger (Credit: BBC)

What happened in Gavin & Stacey’s 2019 Christmas special?

Ten years after the end of the original series, a lot had changed! The Shipmans and the Wests were spending Christmas in Wales. Gavin (Mathew Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page) had three kids, and were suitably exhausted. Viewers saw them struggling to rekindle their romance.

Meanwhile, Smithy got a new girlfriend. They had been dating a whopping 11 months. He told everyone who would listen all about his plans to propose. Nessa, however, had something to say about that.

In the episode’s concluding moments, Nessa shocked Smithy (and viewers at home) by dropping to one knee and proposing to him herself.

What was Smithy’s answer? HOPEFULLY we will find out one day.

How did fans react to the news?

After being elated by the news Gavin & Stacey would be returning, fans described the rebuttal as “Christmas ruined”.

Fan @_HeatherAshton took the gloomy view that we will perhaps never see the sitcom again.

Hopefully that isn’t the case!

Read more: Gavin and Stacey star Rob Brydon breaks silence on Uncle Bryn’s sexuality

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Susan Brett
TV Writer