Joanna Page, known for her role as Stacey West in Gavin and Stacey, has been working with James Corden since the BBC series first aired in 2007.
James later achieved huge success in the US as the host of The Late Late Show from 2015 to 2023, but the Love Actually actress insists that he hasn’t changed a bit, even with his newfound international fame.
In response to recent allegations of “diva behaviour” directed at the Smithy star, Joanna simply stated, “he’s still the same person”. Speaking to The Sun’s Fabulous Magazine ahead of Gavin and Stacey’s Christmas special, Joanna shared: “James has become massively famous. But he’s still the same person. He’s just James.”
She added, “When we started, I was only 29 and now I’m 47. All of us have got married and had children. So many things have happened, but when we got together it was like going back to the first series.”
This comes after James issued an apology for being “rude” during a 2022 episode of The Late Late Show, following reports that he was banned from New York City restaurant Balthazar due to his alleged mistreatment of staff.
The controversy began when James’ wife Julia ordered an off-the-menu omelette made solely of yolk, due to her severe allergy to egg whites. However, the British star confessed that he became irritated and “made a sarcastic, rude comment about cooking it myself” after the dish was served to the couple’s table containing whites multiple times, reports the Express.
James revealed on his CBS show back in October 2022, “My wife explained that she has a serious food allergy.”
He continued, detailing their restaurant experience: “The meals came, my wife was given the food that she was allergic to… we sent it back.”
This incident caught public attention when Keith McNally, proprietor of Balthazar, lashed out on Instagram branding Corden “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago”.
McNally soon lifted the imposed ban, explaining in a follow-up Instagram post that the British TV star had “apologised profusely” and “all was forgiven”.
Amidst widespread gossip about the event, James candidly addressed the matter during his show, admitting, “The truth is I have made a rude, rude comment. And it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment, it was ungracious to the server.”