Ruth Jones on James Corden: We’ll always be friends

Gavin & Stacey star Ruth Jones has said she and James Corden will always be friends due to the “life-changing experience” they shared thanks to the hit TV series.

The Welsh actress, 56, and Corden have been co-writers on Bafta-winning TV comedy Gavin & Stacey since it first aired in 2007, with it running until 2010 and a Christmas special airing in 2019.

The festive instalment ended on a cliffhanger, with Jones’s character – Nessa Jenkins – down on one knee proposing to Corden’s Neil “Smithy” Smith, leaving fans waiting for news of a return of the hit show.

Jones, who is the cover star of Good Housekeeping’s November issue, said of Corden: “We’ll always be friends because we shared this life-changing experience; neither of our careers would be what they are if it wasn’t for Gavin & Stacey and we’re both incredibly grateful for that.

“It’s funny because it’s 15 years since the first episode and so much has happened since then, yet it feels like yesterday.”

The Little Britain actress, who first met Corden while working on ITV drama Fat Friends, also spoke about having previously met the Queen, who presented her with an MBE in 2014 during a Windsor Castle investiture ceremony.

She said: “I’ve met her twice.

“Once at a Charles Dickens bicentenary event at Buckingham Palace in 2012 – she was diminutive and quiet, very dignified and quite mesmerising – then when I received my MBE at Windsor Castle in 2014.

“I feel very lucky to have met her.”

Jones, whose other roles include Sky comedy Stella – for which she received a Bafta TV nomination in the best female comedy performance category, also found success playing Carry On star Hattie Jacques in a BBC biopic.

Having turned 56 this year, Jones reflected on being over 50, telling the magazine: “I’m not sure if it’s age or what’s going on in the world, but I’ve realised that I have to stop taking life for granted.

“When I was younger, I used to think that there was this magical point in the future when everything was going to be perfect… but, let’s be realistic, the majority of my years are behind me now.

“So this decade is about having my eyes open to the good things that are around me – and enjoying them.”

Jones has also published her third novel, titled Love Untold.

The November issue of Good Housekeeping is on sale from September 28.