The Gavin and Stacey stars went to huge lengths to keep the plot top secret (Picture: BBC)
Gavin and Stacey star Laura Aikman has revealed the lengths she went to in order to keep a huge twist under wraps, which has left one lucky viewer very surprised.
The actress, 39, played Smithy’s bride Sonia in the Christmas special, leaving fans – and her own parents – gobsmacked at her return.
Ahead of the beloved final episode, the cast, including the likes of James Corden, Ruth Jones, Joanna Page and Mathew Horne, who all reunited for the festive special, kept all spoilers a secret, including Sonia almost marrying Smithy.
Many had assumed Smithy would marry Nessa from the start, after the agonising cliff-hanger from the 2019 special where she got down on one knee, and although the couple did finally get their happy ending, it only came after Smithy’s realisation at the altar.
Instead, most of the focus of the episode was on Smithy marrying Sonia, however, it’s now been revealed the cast went to extreme lengths to avoid the spoiler being leaked.
Laura returned Sonia in the festive special, surprising fans and even her own family (Picture: BBC One)
She almost married Smithy (James Corden) in a huge twist (Picture: BBC)
The cast reunited for one final time (Picture: BBC)
In fact, Laura wasn’t even able to be fitted for a wedding dress properly for the pivotal scene, and instead had to buy one second-hand so she wasn’t spotted, meaning one fan unknowingly sent her gown in to be worn in the final episode.
She explained on Instagram with some behind-the-scenes snaps: ‘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 #ShanJames who had to alter it massively as 48 hrs before we shot the wedding it didn’t fit.
‘Our formidable make up designer #marcuswhitney found me this amazing wig, yes IT’S A WIG. It was fitted & styled by gorgeous @alisonwebbxxmakeup who also did my make up and hid with me.’
Her stylist then revealed the moment the woman who had sold them the wedding dress realised it had been featured in the finale.
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Laura has now revealed some behind-the-scenes secrets (Picture: Instagram / Laura Aikman)
She even had to buy her wedding dress second-hand (Picture: Instagram / Laura Aikman)
Her costume designer Shan commented: ‘Thank you gorgeous lady! It was a pleasure to dress you an absolute pleasure even though it was a massive job altering that gorgeous dress for you.
‘It was from FB Marketplace and the lady selling the dress thought I was ‘well dodgy’ when I was so secretive!!’
Shan then shared a message from the seller, who had watched the Gavin and Stacey finale, and said: ‘I just watched Gavin & Stacey and had the oddest feeling that was my wedding dress that Sonia wore – can I ask if that’s what you used it for?’
Shan had replied: ‘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 in case 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 xx.’
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Nessa and Smithy finally had their happy ending (Picture: BBC)
The 2019 episode ended on a huge cliff-hanger (Picture: BBC)
The seller then told her: ‘That is amazing, it’s my absolute favourite show! I had good bumps 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.’
Laura also explained in the comments that she had to wear a wig to keep her natural hair dark for another job that she was still working on.
The actress had earlier joked had seriously she took her NDA, when she shared a clip of her family watching Gavin and Stacey on Christmas Day, and realising she was in it.
‘I take an NDA very seriously,’ she laughed.
At an earlier screening of the final, creator James also confirmed how hard it was to keep her role a secret.
Creators Ruth Jones and James Corden confirmed this would be the final ever episode (Picture: BBC/PA Wire)
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He said: ‘I do feel like it’s very, very important to say that Laura puts in as good a performance as you could ever really wish for – and isn’t here today for fear of it still just somehow leaking.
‘She stayed in different hotels, she was going into places in the dead of night [during filming]. She’s not part of any of this [promotion]. Such is her want and our want to try and protect the very feeling that we had here.’
Ruth added: ‘She hasn’t even told her mum and dad and she’s hoping to film her parents’ reaction [on Christmas Day]. She hasn’t even said she’s in it, so we hope that she will capture that.’
The Gavin and Stacey final scored the highest Christmas Day ratings since 2008, the BBC confirmed.
The emotional farewell to the hit sitcom drew an average audience of 12.3 million, beating the show’s 2019 Christmas special – which had an overnight audience of 11.6 million – by more than half a million viewers.
Gavin and Stacey is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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