Ruth Jones addresses Gavin And Stacey success on NTAs red carpet
She was among the star-studded parade of famous faces arriving at London’s O2.
Ruth Jones celebrated the success of Gavin And Stacey’s Christmas special on the red carpet at the 25th National Television Awards.
The actress, who created the BBC show with James Corden, walked the carpet at London’s O2 with her co-stars, including Rob Brydon.
The sitcom returned after nearly 10 years for a one-off festive episode and drew an average of 11.6 million viewers in the overnight ratings.
Jones told the PA news agency: “We had no idea whether after 10 years people would be interested still.
“We thought a few people would watch it but we did not expect eight and a half million. It was a shock – a lovely shock and a huge compliment.”
She added: “We don’t have any plans at all (for a new series). That’s the truth.
“We still have the same situation, which is that James and I live on different continents, so getting together to write is very difficult, so who knows? At the moment there are no plans.”
A number of former Love Island stars also walked the carpet, including ex-champion and new father Jack Fincham.
The reality TV star, who won the 2018 series of the ITV2 show with his former partner Dani Dyer, stunned fans by revealing he had welcomed a baby girl this month.
He told PA: “It’s such an amazing feeling. When people say this to you ‘Oh, when you have a child you will feel different…’ – I get it now.
“I was holding her watching the TV, and I was just staring at her face. It just doesn’t get boring. It’s just amazing. You just keep looking at this little person thinking, ‘I created that’. It’s amazing.”
Fincham did not disclose the identity of the mother of the baby, called Blossom, although he said that they are not in a relationship.
He said he had not been watching all of the new series of Love Island, but added he was aware current contestant Shaughna Phillips fancied him.
He said: “I haven’t been watching it much because I have been training hard, so I haven’t been getting in until about 10pm. But from what I have watched… I know that Shaughna said she fancied me, so I watched her.”
Asked whether the feeling was reciprocated, he replied: “Yeah, I don’t know.”
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight told PA about the next series.
“(It’s going to be) better than ever. It’s the best yet,” he said.
“It’s moving the story forward. We always jump in time, so we are into the 30s. Expect the unexpected.
“Because of the nature of the decade, the 30s, we know what happened at the end – that war began. There are rumblings and rumours of war and that is overshadowing the whole thing.
“It makes it all the more… the stakes are higher.”
John Barrowman and the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK were the first on the carpet.
Series winner The Vivienne was joined by Baga Chipz, both sporting outlandish looks.
The National Television Awards is being broadcast live on ITV from 7pm.
