Mathew Horne fought back tears while telling crowds he’d just been told a crew member from Gavin and Stacey had died.
The actor, 46, starred as Gavin Shipman in the BBC comedy alongside Joanna Page, James Corden, and Ruth Jones since it began in 2007 until its final episode on Christmas Day 2024.
He was being interviewed on stage for an In Conversation With session in Taunton, Somerset, when he suddenly became emotional and told the audience he’d only just received the news when it had been shared on the cast WhatsApp group.
Horne said, via The Sun: ‘Sorry. I got distracted. Earlier on… we had a driver on the finale called Rob and he was in his early 40s… and I found out via the Whatsapp group earlier that he has passed away and I got slightly distracted there.
‘It’s really, really sad. I got distracted by losing Rob.
‘He was a really lovely guy and he’s left a four-year-old behind and that is really, really, really sad.’
Horne also shared how close the cast had become since bonding ‘like a family’ over the last 18 years. For the main actors, their lives changed beyond recognition and the show became one of the most popular British comedies of all time.
He explained: ‘In 2019, before the Christmas special – part one of the finale if you like – aired, I lost my mother and Alison really stepped up and she became my surrogate mother off screen as well.
‘Whenever she texts me even now she signs it “Mum”. And that is cool. That is so beautiful. And she says, “How are you, my little prince?” It means the world to me.’
Gavin and Stacey ended on Christmas Day, 2024, with a feature-length episode that attracted a staggering 19.1million viewers.
Fans waited five years to find out if Smithy accepted Nessa’s proposal to quickly discover he was getting married – but not to her.
Instead, the episode followed Smithy gearing up to marry Sonia – his insufferable girlfriend who his friends and family couldn’t stand. Thankfully, fans got their happy ending, Smithy jilted Sonia at the aisle and raced across the country to find Nessa and get down on one knee.
There has, however, been talk of potential spin-offs with other characters such as Dawn and Pete, played by Julia Davis and Adrian Scarborough respectively, keeping the spirit of Gavin and Stacey alive.
Gavin and Stacey is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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