Warning: this article contains spoilers for the final episode of Gavin &Stacey.
Gavin & Stacey first aired all the way back in 2007 and, since then, its characters have become firmly enmeshed in the UK public consciousness.
The Essex-meets-Wales comedy may have first revolved around the long-distance relationship between us to the titular Gavin and Stacey (played by Matthew Horne and Joanna Page) but latter seasons have been concerned with the fiery relationship between Smithy and Nessa (played by James Corden and Ruth Jones, who also co-write the show).
While the show has only had three seasons, airing between 2007 and 2010, it has returned for a number of festive specials. The last of these specials was shown on Christmas Day 2019 – a whole half a decade ago!
In May, when James Corden announced that the show would be returning for a final episode on Christmas Day 2024, we were more than a little gagged! And the show lived up to the hype, topping the Christmas Day overnight ratings with a whopping 12.2 million viewers!
So, a little context: the beginning of the 2024 episode suggested that it would pick up from where the 2019 episode left off, with Nessa proposing to Smithy at the end of the earlier special. Specifically, the 2024 episode shows Smithy readying himself for marriage but, as it turns out, he is preparing himself for a wedding to Sonia (his girlfriend who first appears in the 2019 episode) and didn’t respond to Nessa’s proposal.
Viewers, naturally, were more than a little enraged at this twist, with reactions on X like:
“If Nessa doesn’t turn up and end up marrying Smithy instead we riot”
“I’m turning it off already”
However, this anger quickly dissipated as the writers gave fans the happy ending they wanted for Smithy and Nessa.
Specifically, Gavin interrupts the Smithy-Sonia wedding and urges his friend not to go ahead. Smithy then hurries to meet Nessa before she heads off on a boat to Southampton, proposing in the cutest way.
“We’re messy and not perfect,” he says. “But I love you Nessa and I always have. Well, not always, but most of the time… I love you, will you marry me?” Adorbs!!!
The episode then concludes with a marriage between Nessa and Smithy, attended by the show’s main characters. *Cue tears!*
Fans of the show have taken to social media platforms like X and to the comments section on Instagram to share their big feelings about the ending, check out some of our faves below!
“Laughed until I cried then cried with joy at the end. Pure comedy brilliance 🙌😍😂”
“HE FINALLY CHOSE NESSA”
“SOBBING at gavin and stacey it’s about bloody time nessa and smithy ffs heart is healed finally.”
“17 years later… FINALLY married and where they should be. Holy moly.”
“GAVIN AND STACEY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL YOU WERE EVERYTHING I WANTED AND MORE.”
I’m not crying, you’re crying!