Gavin And Stacey star Rob Brydon has dismissed rumours that the British sitcom will be returning to screens, but said he would “love it if it were true”.
Earlier in the week, reports circulated online claiming that the cast would be filming a Christmas special over the summer, five years on from the dramatic cliff-hanger the show ended on.
The show’s co-creator Ruth Jones denied these claims on Wednesday in an interview with RTÉ Radio 1 and confirmed they were “sadly a rumour”.
The Welsh actress said she thinks the rumours were sparked after she was photographed having lunch with co-creator James Corden a few months back after he returned to the UK from living in America.
On Saturday, Brydon, 58, who played Uncle Bryn in the series, weighed in on the reports and said they were just “another rumour”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “I get asked about this on every interview I ever do.
“I sound like a politician, as far as I’m aware it’s another rumour. I don’t know. I mean, I’d love it if it were true.”
US outlet Deadline reported on Tuesday that the new special was in development/pre-production stages currently and said it would be produced by Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow, Jones’s Tidy Productions and Fulwell 73, which is co-owned by Corden.
The comedy followed characters Gavin and Stacey, played by Mathew Horne and Joanna Page, as they pursued a long-distance relationship across Essex and Wales.
It ran for three series from 2007 to 2010, returning in 2019 for a festive special which picked up after the previous instalment.
Smithy, played by Corden, and Nessa, played by Jones, had an on-off relationship during the series and the special ended on a cliff-hanger after Nessa proposed.
The 2019 festive episode scored the highest overnight Christmas ratings in 12 years when it aired, attracting an average audience of 11.6 million viewers, making it the biggest festive special since Christmas Day 2008.
By the New Year, it had been viewed by 17.1 million people, making it the biggest scripted programme of the decade at the time.
The special also went on to win the impact award at the National Television Awards in 2020.
