Ruth Jones reveals her extreme bid to keep 'Gavin and Stacey' reunion plot a secret

Ruth Jones has revealed how she used her niece as a cover story and keep the return of Gavin and Stacey a secret.

The Welsh actress and co-creator James Corden announced in May that the hit BBC sitcom will be returning with a reunion special on Christmas Day.

Jones, 53, told a Q&A in London to promote the special episode that she had gone on an undercover reconnaissance mission to Barry in south Wales to see if they would be able to use the house on Trinity Street that served as Stacey’s childhood home in the original series.

Jones revealed: "Before anybody knew we were doing this I thought ‘I’m going to have to find out what’s happening in Barry, are we going to be able to use those houses again?'

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"I feel a bit ashamed of this but I took my niece as a decoy. Sometimes I’ve been back to Barry and if they [fans] see me they want to take a photo. And if I'm there on my own it might make people suspicious.

"So, I took her and had some photos taken outside so I could just say 'I'm just showing my niece'.

"I said to my niece, who calls the show 'Gayvin and Stacey' and doesn't know anything about it; ‘I’m going to show you where Aunty Ruth used to film a show.”

Fortunately, while she was there Jones bumped into Glenda, who owns the house and managed to get her phone number.

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"What a star she is to let us into her house again. All the people on the street were very very welcoming."

And Jones admitted she even lied to her friends about why she was travelling to Los Angeles to visit Corden - who now lives there while working as the host of The Late, Late Show.

She said: "My friends were saying ‘You’re going out to LA again? Is it for work?‘ 'No no just for a little holiday.' 'Oh you like it out there don’t you'."