James Corden Says Potential Gavin & Stacey Comeback Is Up To Ruth Jones

"I wish I could say it’s up to me.”
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Ruth Jones and James Corden in character as Nessa and Smithy
BBC

James Corden has admitted that it will be up to his Gavin & Stacey co-star and co-writer Ruth Jones whether the show ever makes a comeback.

As well as playing Smithy and Nessa, James and Ruth co-wrote the Bafta-winning sitcom, which returned for a critically-lauded one-off Christmas special in 2019.

During an interview on Radio 2 on Tuesday, the Late, Late Show host was asked whether more Gavin & Stacey could be in the pipeline, to which he said: “I wish I could say it’s up to me.”

The best thing about Gavin & Stacey is that it’s Ruth and I, and, if I’m being completely honest, her judgment is exceptional,” James explained.

Acknowledging the Christmas special’s cliffhanger ending “very definitely teases something else”, he said: “It’s always been the two of us, it’s always been and we can’t write separately.

“We’ve never been able to write over Zoom or anything at all. We’ve just got to be in a room together, talking with a pack of Post-It Notes and a pen, and at some point we get a laptop out, but that’s even way down the line – and she just always knows. I trust her so much.

“She is, I think, a genius… I would be excited just to be in a room with her. I’m going to see her this summer, but I doubt we’ll talk about the show. The last few times we’ve talked we haven’t even mentioned it really… it’s always a friendship first.”

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James and Ruth at the TV Baftas in 2008
Eamonn McCormack via Getty Images

James added: “She’ll know when it’s right and together we’ll figure it out. If that ever happens. But I do think it’s a big if, I don’t think it’s a when.”

After relocating to the US in 2015, James confirmed recently that his tenure as host of the US talk show The Late, Late Show would be coming to an end next year.

It’s since been reported that he will be returning full-time to the UK when his time on the show is over.