The final episode of Gavin and Stacey might be over, but the conversations around it aren’t. Fans have been sharing their favourite moments from the episode, as well as pointing out small inconsistences, after the cast and crew went to extreme lengths to keep the storyline hidden before it aired.
Millions of viewers were stunned after it is revealed at the beginning of the episode that Smithy (James Corden) is planning his wedding with Sonia (Laura Aikman), rather than the presumed Nessa (Ruth Jones), who proposed to Smithy at the end of the 2019 Christmas special.
But one viewer in particular got an even bigger shock during the show, as they began to realise they played a part in the making of the episode, without even knowing.
In order to keep the storyline a secret, Aikman’s participation in the episode was kept extremely hidden. Director Christine Gernon explained Aikman had to stay in different hotels and miss cast parties as a result.
Aikman was so committed to keeping it hidden that she didn’t even tell her own family she was returning to the show.
Because of this secrecy, Aikman and the rest of the cast and crew knew she couldn’t be seen wedding dress shopping to pick something out for Smithy and Sonia’s big day.
So she ended up purchasing the dress on Facebook Marketplace.
In an Instagram post Aikman shared how she ended up with the dress.
“We couldn’t go wedding dress shopping (because of the secrecy), so this was from Vinted (it probably belonged to someone who watched the show!) Shout out to our costume designer Shan James who had to alter it massively as 48hrs before we shot the wedding it didn’t fit.”
James then added more details in the comment section, including the original owner’s response when they realised their dress had been used in the episode.
“It was a pleasure to dress you, an absolute pleasure, even though it was a massive job altering that gorgeous dress,” James wrote. “It was from FB Marketplace and the lady selling the dress thought I was ‘well dodgy’ when I was so secretive!! She messaged me on Boxing Day.”
James then shared the messages between her and the original owner.
The owner, Laura Back, wrote, “I just watched Gavin & Stacey and had the oddest feeling that was my wedding dress that Sonia wore – can I ask that’s what you used it for?”
Now that the story was no longer a secret, James told Back it was her dress in the episode.
“Hi there! I tried to find these messages yesterday so that I could let you know exactly that!
“I couldn’t say a thing as it was extremely top secret and I couldn’t take Laura to any shop incase she was spotted. You can now tell the world! I had to alter it quite a lot to fit her but it was worth it I think. She looked gorgeous, so thank you so much.”
Back was delighted, saying, “That is amazing, it’s my absolute favourite show! I had goosebumps when I watched it!
“I noticed the panel in the back, Oh bless! This is so great I’m totally made up, thanks for letting me know. What a cool job you have too!”
Back also shared the fun detail to her personal Instagram, writing, “When you watch @gavinandstaceyuk and Sonia is wearing your old wedding dress!! I sold it to a dressmaker in London for a prop and now it’s on the finale of the best TV show ever!”