Gavin and Stacey actress Melanie Walters experienced an embarrassing moment on set during the filming of the festive special, due to a hilarious blunder.
The adored cast came together in 2024 for the recording of the series’ final episode, eagerly anticipated to unveil the outcomes for characters Smithy (played by James Corden) and Nessa (portrayed by Ruth Jones), after fans had been left hanging for five years.
While off-camera, Melanie, known for her role as Gwen West, unwittingly gave the team quite the shock when she started to disrobe, oblivious to the fact that the cameras were still capturing the scene.
In a conversation with Joanna Page, who stars as Stacey Shipman, they reminisced about the comical incident.
Joanna remarked: “We chatted to her on Zoom and stuff and they said, ‘Right we’re going to go now because we’re coming to the end of the show’. And they obviously must’ve left it running because we were all going to do a big goodbye, so they assumed Mel would be included in it as well,” reports Wales Online.
And this is where I went wrong, added the 62-year-old star. “She thought we’d just say goodbye and she was going,” Joanna elucidated.
Melanie, believing that she was no longer being filmed during downtime, commenced changing clothes, not realising everyone could still see her displayed on a large screen back in the studio.
Continuing the story, Joanna revealed that amid a touching exchange with Matthew Horne, she suddenly spotted her fellow actor undressing on the monitor.
Melanie Walters and Joanna Page
(Image: BBC)
“I’m sitting on the sofa with Matt all of a sudden he went, ‘Jo, Mel is taking her clothes off. She doesn’t think that we’re watching her, she doesn’t think we’re still on camera, they haven’t turned it off she’s still on camera’.”
As Joanna glanced up, she was met with the sight of Melanie in just a brown vest and pants, moving around the room.
“I thought, ‘Oh God, I can’t let this happen’, I had to warn her,” she recounted with a laugh.
The actress described how, trembling, she quickly sent a message to her co-star which said: “Mel, stop! We can see you!”
Eventually, Melanie saw the text and ceased her undressing.
“I was just about to take my top off,” Mel later shared, chuckling during the Off The Telly podcast.
“It was absolutely hilarious,” Joanna added, while her co-star confessed: “It was mortifying.”