Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page has opened up about being recognised by fans at the most inappropriate times – including soon after giving birth, and while being examined by a nurse.
The 43-year-old Welsh actress shot to fame in 2007 when she first played loveable Stacey West – the bubbly character who went on to marry Gavin Shipman, played by Mathew Horne.
Gavin & Stacey went on to be a critical and commercial hit – with record numbers tuning in to watch the Christmas Special last year.
As a result of her part in the show, Joanna has become one of the most recognisable actresses in the UK – and she has explained that she has been recognised at the most awkward moments.
Speaking to the Sun on Sunday’s Fabulous magazine, Joanna revealed she had been undergoing a smear test when the nurse who was performing the check-up suddenly realised where she recognised her from.
The actress said: “We were literally mid-smear as the nurse told me she knew who I was. When you have a speculum shoved up you and someone is saying: ‘I know who you are!’ that’s a bit weird.”
She went on to say she has never yet refused to accept a request for a selfie - even obliging when approached hours after she gave birth to one of her three children via C-section – despite being “sore, emotional and full of trapped wind.”
Joanna has been married to the 45-year-old actor husband James Thornton since 2003, and together they have three children; Eva, seven, Kit, five, and three-year-old Noah.
The actress had an amusing anecdote about conceiving her youngest while already a busy mother-of-two.
She explained: “I don’t actually even remember managing to have sex with James when we had two young children so I’ve no idea how we managed to get Noah! At some point we must have said ‘OK, we need a third one, let’s just quickly do it and be done with it.’
“But I do not remember having a sex life because it’s been non-stop children and exhaustion.”
A record 17 million Gavin & Stacey fans tuned in to watch the 2019 Christmas special – and Joanna has given hope that another special could be hitting screens in the not too distant future.
She said: “As a fan, surely they’ve got to do another one.
“I don’t think we’d ever do another series because I don’t think we could get everyone together for long enough, but I can’t imagine they could leave it the way they did. One more special, then done.”
