Ruth Jones shares huge career update after Gavin and Stacey finale
Ruth Jones shares huge career update after Gavin and Stacey finale
Gavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones has announced an exciting career update following her recent BAFTA win
BAFTA TV Awards 2025: James Corden emotional at Ruth Jones' speech
Last weekend's BAFTA awards were abuzz with the crème de la crème of British talent, but it was Ruth Jones, adorned in Royal blue satin and renowned as the co-creator and star of Gavin and Stacey, who shone particularly brightly.
She made a memorable impression as she accepted her well-earned award for Best Female Performance in a Comedy.
Her acceptance speech was packed with the same charm fans adore from Nessa, as Ruth exclaimed in her rich Welsh twang: "I'm not gonna lie, this is immense," mimicking her alter ego's candid style.
"I weren't expecting to win this – no way. I won a Bafta before. Of course, I have. In 1976. It was the Barry Arcade Fruity Technician Awards. And I was grateful for that – but this... this is cracking!"
In true gratitude, Ruth gracefully acknowledged the entire Gavin and Stacey cast and crew, showing a touch of emotion as she spoke of her affection for James Corden, with whom she penned the upcoming book, When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between: A Story of Love and Friendship, set to be released this October.
Ruth shared her joy at collaborating with James, saying : "I love working with James. I often say he's like my annoying younger brother and I'm like his very bossy older sister, but it just seems to work. We have such a good laugh together and I hope that continues now Gavin and Stacey is finished."
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However, before that, she's going solo to discuss her new novel, By Your Side, which is set to be published on Thursday (May 22). This marks her fourth fiction release following Never Greener, Us Three and Love Untold, reports the Express.
Ruth Jones loves working with James Corden
(Image: (Image: PA) )
This just goes to show the unstoppable force this award-winning actress and scriptwriter has become. So, what's the scoop on her new story?
"The main character is a 55-year-old woman named Linda Standish," Ruth discloses about her protagonist. "She works for the Unclaimed Heirs Unit which tracks down next of kin of those who've died friendless and alone.
"Linda's on the cusp of retirement and she's taking on her last case – that of Welshman Levi Norman who spent the end of his life on the fictitious Scottish island of Storrich. But why did he end up there alone, apparently friendless with no family? As Linda solves the mystery, she finds out more about herself and her own life."
Ruth's initial inspiration for the story stemmed from her fascination with the work of real-life individuals whose jobs involve investigating.
She elaborates: "These people often attend funerals as the only mourners of those who have passed away with no next of kin. I thought there was something so sad yet compassionate about going to the funeral of a complete stranger just because everyone deserves a farewell.
"Then I wondered what it would be like to find out in your 30s that one of your parents was not biologically yours, and the impact of that.
Ruth Jones was hugely successful at the BAFTAs this year
(Image: (Image: BAFTA via Getty Images) )
"I was also inspired by the Thomas Hardy novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge, in which the principal character of Michael Henchard keeps a terrible secret from his daughter with huge repercussions.
"Finally, I wanted to set something in the Scottish Highlands because it's a place I know well and is absolutely stunning – so ancient and dramatic. I really missed Linda when I finished By Your Side. I became particularly fond of her."
Linda's character shares some similarities with Ruth: "She's a similar age to me and we share some of the same pet hates. As a writer, it's important to bond with your characters. I suppose I feel if I'm not interested in them, then my readers won't be."
On her love of writing, Ruth continues: "It's something I can do at any time of the day or night and I don't even have to get out of bed to do it – although obviously, that's preferable!
"I think I've taken to novel writing so well because you can work in your pyjamas if you want to. I write on my laptop but also make voice notes and written notes on my phone.
"I'd say I'm a have-laptop-will-travel type of writer. I love writing on trains. If I've got my laptop and nowhere to be in a hurry, a delayed train is an absolute gift!
"I do get writer's block massively at times, though. I write anywhere but there is one place that I write which has a magnifying mirror and tweezers, and I sometimes think I'll just check my eyebrows when I should be writing. Plucking away and I'll be in a whole world of eyebrow life.
BAFTA-winning actress Ruth Jones is married to David Peet
(Image: (Image: imdb) )
"I do get easily distracted and it's a good idea to leave the phone somewhere else in the house. Otherwise you're on the clickbait looking at 'a woman found a spider coming out of her head, look what happens next!' And you can't help but click on it and then you're desperate to know what happened!"
Ruth previously shared how writer's block nearly disrupted the 2019 Christmas special of Gavin and Stacey. The pair were exchanging dialogue and script ideas from afar, as Corden was residing in America at the time.
Inspiration failed to strike, until they met up for dinner with their respective partners and the conversation started flowing.
"Out of the blue we just got this idea and I think that was the heart of the Christmas special," Ruth stated at the time.
The friends have also joked about secluding themselves in hotel rooms for hours to find their writing flow, sticking Post-It notes to the walls and munching on chocolate buttons between naps. But speaking today, she says she has no writing rituals.
"I wish I was one of those people who had routine, and started and finished at a certain time," she confesses. "But I will say in my defence that once I start, I don't stop."
For 26 years, Ruth has been happily married to fellow media professional David Peet, whom she encountered during her time at BBC Wales, and joyfully embraces her role as step-mother to his three adult children.
"He's the one who has to read everything," she jokes about her husband's routine involvement with her work. "I feel sorry for him as he has to hear me moaning. He's great in that regard and it's better for me to say it out loud rather than mull it over in my head."
Ruth's writing is beloved by many for its heartfelt warmth, delicate humour, and the perpetual glimmer of hope that pervades her stories.
"I find it very hard to write anything that's dark. There are plenty of better writers than me who can write about that," she humbly confesses. "I don't want to write about it as there's enough horribleness going on in the world."
She aims to be a source of encouragement through her words, "I want to give people something to uplift them. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I've written novels. I look at them and think, 'Who wrote these?'"
Ruth Jones starred as Nessa in the hit sitcom
(Image: (Image: PA) )
In reflecting on her career switch from on-screen to print, she reveals her initial concerns, "When I was first taken on by my publishers, we talked about how people would perceive me as a novelist and whether they would expect everything I wrote to be about the life and loves of Nessa, or, 'Hang on, she can write something else.'"
Despite those early doubts, Ruth's transition was well received, "I mean, I had written my comedy-drama Stella for Sky. I think I thought people would have a particular expectation about me but then the first book went down well.
"One of the benefits of being an actress is that I can read the dialogue out loud and hear how it sounds, and that helps a lot. You kind of write something as a scene with dialogue but also recreate the environment that you're in."
Currently, Ruth is back in her role as an actress. "I'm working on an adaptation of the Harlan Coben novel Run Away for Netflix, I'm having a great time," she says.
"I play a private investigator who used to be in the police. She's a great character and it's so different for me. Another genre I'd like to appear in is a good period drama. I'd have loved to be in The Crown. I think I'd say I enjoy writing and acting the same.
"I'm very fortunate to do all of them, and I get a variety of work, which is a great privilege. Writing-wise now, what I'd really like to do is write a film script."
Having already created and co-penned an iconic sitcom, in addition to four novels, it's only a matter of time before she achieves her next goal.
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Gavin and Stacey is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. By Your Side will be published on Thursday (May 22)
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