Smithy and Nessa had to end together, says Corden

Gavin and Stacey co-creator James Corden said his character Smithy and on-off lover Nessa had to "end together" in the show's final episode.

Corden also revealed that the character of Sonia, who Smithy is seen preparing to marry at the start of the finale, was brought back because she "wasn't in people's minds".

"No-one would ever say, did he choose Nessa or Sonia?" he said in Wednesday's Gavin and Stacey: A Fond Farewell documentary.

The popular series ended on Christmas Day with Smithy finally marrying Nessa, played by co-writer Ruth Jones, after jilting Sonia (Laura Aikman) at the altar.

Corden said it was clear the pair would end up together following an earlier episode when Smithy urges Nessa not to marry Dave Coaches, played by Steffan Rhodri.

"And that's what he says in this last scene, 'I know it's messy and not perfect, but that's because we're messy and not perfect'."

Jones added: "When Smithy and Nessa got together, that really is the end, because we can never see them actually together.

"Seeing Smithy put the bins out, it just won't work."

A major surprise in the final episode came with Coaches ending up in a secret relationship with Stacey's mother Gwen West (Melanie Walters), whose husband Trevor died before the series started.

Jones said she had also "always wanted Gwen to have a relationship".

Corden also said the idea for the show came after he was invited to a wedding where all the attendees were from Barry Island, one of the show's main locations.

It took place after a friend married a woman he met after regularly speaking to her on the phone for work – as the show's Gavin and Stacey do.

Jones and Corden also revealed they almost decided against the show's 2019 Christmas special, which ended with Nessa proposing to Smithy.

"We were like, 'this is rubbish, this is awful, it's terrible'," Corden said.

"I remember saying to each other, well, thank god we didn't call the BBC'.

"So we ate dinner in my kitchen, and I said, 'Look, I think we probably owe it to the show to go back in and talk about why it's bad and say goodbye to it'."

He said the pair were about "two hours from saying bye to it".

In Wednesday's documentary, the series' cast can be seen reading through the script for the finale together for the first time, with Corden explaining what he hoped fans would get from the episode.

He said: "I think what we'd really, really love, both of us [Corden and Jones], is for the audience to feel a sense of closure.

"And also for them to feel like, 'oh, I'm satisfied by that, I've seen 17 years of these characters' lives and how they've grown and changed, and that's really never been lost on us."

The special finishes with the cast gathering together ahead of the final day of filming, where Corden tells them it is "something to be really proud of".

Jones adds: "If I die the day after tomorrow, I will die knowing that I have been very, very blessed to have been part of such a beautiful show, and to have worked with such a gorgeous group of people, both on and off screen".