Joanna Page has revealed one of the famous Gavin & Stacey scenes major secrets from the original festive episode in 2008.
The Welsh actress, who plays main character Stacey, said when her on-screen father-in-law Mick Shipman took to the keyboard to perform Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas the moment was actually fake.
Joanna explained that Larry Lamb, who played Mick, had piano lessons but it made no difference as he was still ‘dreadful’ on the instrument so editors made the decision to dub the scene.
In the episode, Mick ‘played’ the festive classic while surrounded by the main cast, Gavin, Pam, Smithy and Nessa, in the Shipmans’ living room after his wife gifted him the keyboard for Christmas.
Joanna explained: ‘Larry had piano lessons but it made no difference because he was absolutely dreadful at playing the keyboard.
‘If you look closely at the end, he’s not actually touching the keys – his hands are hovering over them.’
Mother-of-four Joanna went on to reveal that the big cover up is the reason why her young children prefer the original Christmas special of the sit-com over the 2019 festive episode as they find it ‘hysterical’.
The BBC star, who has also starred in a number of festive films including classic romcom Love Actually and Nativity 2 alongside David Tennant, gushed that her children are very loyal to her Christmas movies.
Joanna added: ‘I tried to put on Nativity 3 the other day but the kids said, “No, no mummy. We have to watch your one because it’s the best”. They think David Tennant is the best Doctor Who but I’m their favourite actor in Nativity 2, which is lovely to hear.’
It comes after Joanna crushed fans’ hopes of a Gavin and Stacey comeback, saying the legendary sitcom is unlikely to ever return.
Fans hoped co-writer and star James Corden moving back to the UK following his eight-year stint hosting The Late Late Show in the US would increase the chances of making another Christmas special.
And after James, 45, was spotted meeting co-creator Ruth Jones, 57, in London’s Soho last month, speculation went into overdrive.
But Joanna says the odds of the comedy returning are low because it was left on the ultimate cliffhanger on its last outing in 2019, when Nessa, played by Ruth, proposed to James’s character Smithy, who never gave her an answer.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Joanna said: ‘I can see them never doing any more because it was nice to leave it on a cliffhanger because it’s up to the viewer to imagine what would have happened. So I can imagine them ending it like that.’
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
