Ruth Jones and James Corden reveal why they turned down big money Gavin and Stacey offer

The creators of Gavin & Stacey have admitted they turned down big money for a movie version of the show as they felt it “belongs in people's living rooms on Christmas night”.

The hit sitcom went out in style with critical acclaim and a huge record-breaking BBC audience on Christmas Day. At a London event for fans, James Corden and Ruth Jones gave behind the scenes secrets including how they considered taking Barry Island and the cast to the big screen.

Asked about big money offers, Ruth, 59 said: “For the finale we did consider making that as a movie. We wanted something different from what we had done before rather than having another special on Christmas Day. But then we just thought "No. It really belongs in people's living rooms on Christmas night.”

READ MORE: Gavin and Stacey's Ruth Jones to write new BBC sitcom - but without James Corden

James, 47, added: “People said ‘You could make so much money if you do it’. They were talking like ‘The Inbetweeners did this much money’. I understand that as The Inbetweeners could be reflective of a series, like four boys going to Ayia Napa to try and lose their virginity.

“It sits in that world of American Pie and teen comedy things. We could not shed that these people belong in the corner of a living room, you know?”

The pair have begun writing again in New York this week, with Ruth flying back with James as he had theatre commitments there but they want to crack on with work for their new Apple TV series called The Choir.

Little is known about the project so far although they will star as brother and sister Ben and Lisa, who haven’t seen each other for several years until Ben returns after events take a turn for the worse.

During the session at the London Palladium to promote a new Gavin & Stacey book released this week, they also said a surprise 40th birthday party for James led the them getting back to writing Gavin & Stacey again for a third series - as well as it being the venue for a special singing performance from Ruth.

James recalled: “All these friends came and Jules(wife) said "There is one more person who made the trip. When I saw Ruth I just lost my s***. I could not believe she had come.

“We proceeded to have one of the best weekends of our lives. Ruth did not give me a physical present. She gave me one better than that. One of my greatest regrets is that I was not at Ruth's wedding. It is very easy as we did not know each other then. Ruth apparently got up on stage and sang Wild Thing in a short dress.

“Then at my 40th there was this little band playing and Ruth went over and said "Do you know Wild Thing?" She got up on the stage and sang it like her life depended on it. It was so good, she left the stage and Harry Styles said to her "How did you do that?" When you consider that is what he does for a job, it tells you how unbelievably impressive it was. That weekend is where we started talking about writing a final series.”

The pair also said Smithy from the sitcom, full name Neil Smith, was originally going to be called Kyle but that Nessa - full name Vanessa Shanessa "Nessa" Jenkins - was always going to be Nessa.

The Christmas special finale ended with Smithy and Nessa getting married after a rollercoaster ride beforehand which saw Smithy almost marry Sonia, his stuck up girlfriend played by Laura Aikman,

Gavin & Stacey: The Finale is the UK’s most-watched scripted show across all broadcasters and streamers since current records began in 2002, with ratings of over 19.3 million. It has smashed the show’s own record from the 2019 Christmas special which reached 18.5 million viewers in 28-days.

The last ever episode of the hit British sitcom took the top spot on Christmas Day last year and was watched by a staggering 12.3 million viewers, beating their 2019 special and making it the biggest Christmas Day overnight since 2008.

It has since added over 6 million to its total, a number that will only continue to grow when the 28-day figures are published, which is well on track to reach over 20 million.

* When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between Is published by Bantam and out Thursday.

Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Communityor follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Threads- or visit The Mirror homepage.