Gavin and Stacey: The Finale happened because of James Corden's surprise 40th Mexican bash
Ruth Jones did not want to make more Gavin and Stacey episodes following series three, ending in 2010, but her co-creator and star James Corden's surprise 40th Mexican mariachi party changed her mind.
Gavin and Stacey: The Finale potentially may not have happened if it were not for James Corden's surprise 40th Mexican mariachi party.
Ruth Jones, 59, did not want to return to the BBC comedy series after series three ended in January 2010, but James, 47, wanted to make more.
And so the pair - who co-created and starred in the programme - spoke at length about reviving the show by the pool, and Ruth had a change of heart, resulting in the 2019 and 2024 festive specials, of which the latter raked in over 20 million viewers.
James recalled in his and Ruth's book When Gavin met Stacey and Everything in Between: "I'd always thought we should do another one. By the end of series three, we had 10 million viewers. And it just felt like the show wasn't going away. People would keep saying, 'Go on, do another one.'"
Ruth - who played Vanessa "Nessa" Jenkins in Gavin and Stacey - said: "It was Mexico that clinched it."
James - who starred in the series as Neil "Smithy" Smith - explained: "It was my 40th [in 2018] and my wife, Jules, organised a birthday weekend in Mexico. She flew in my oldest school friend, Sheddy, and she had friends from all over the world fly in. But it was all a massive surprise."
Ruth shared: "Julia messaged me and asked, 'Would you consider coming to Mexico for it?' And it was strange because you and I hadn't really been massively in touch.
"In fact, I think the last time we'd seen each other was the previous Christmas when you came over from Los Angeles and were staying in a hotel in London, and I remember going there to see you, and being very polite in front of you. Because at that stage, you'd so gone into the stratosphere, fame-wise.
"And I think that disparity is difficult for people sometimes."
She continued: "So Mexico was really key because then we spent time talking about what a new Gavin and Stacey episode would be. [Before that], I just didn't want to go back there at all. And I think you did.
"Then in Mexico, we all had to hide away. We knew that you were going to be inside this villa thing, and we all had to gather outside and put sombreros on. One by one, people had to go in."
A mariachi band rocked up in the villa, followed by his pals, comedian John Bishop, 58, Sheddy and lastly Ruth - whom James was delighted to see.
And during the surprise weekend bash, the duo discussed making more Gavin and Stacey episodes.
James remembered: "At some point during that birthday weekend, I said to you, 'Do you want to think about doing more Gavin and Stacey? You know, I think it might be time.'"
Ruth recalled: "Yeah, we had that conversation sitting by the pool during the day. It wasn't like a drunken, sudden decision or anything."
Despite not wanting to return to Gavin and Stacey, Ruth admitted she did think about reviving the series.
She added: "It had been mentioned over the years so many times, and while I said I wasn't keen to do it, there were times when I did think about it, because I remember I used to make notes and write down my thoughts about what could happen if we did do a new episode.
"And we used to text each other ideas and things like that as well. So it just felt - because now we'd finally come together after this period of not really being in touch, maybe that made it feel more concrete.
"I came away from the Mexico trip thinking, 'Right, let's do this...'"
