Gavin and Stacey fans have finally worked out Nessa’s age

Keen-eyed Gavin and Stacey fans have worked out Nessa Jenkins’ real age is 54.

The show’s viewers were left shocked during Wednesday night’s Christmas special, when Nessa revealed she would have been 35 years old when Stacey, played by Joanna Page, was 17.

That meant Nessa, played by 53-year-old Ruth Jones, was 18 years older than her best friend, who was 26 at the start of the series in 2007, with some fans taking to a group about the show to share their findings.

One fan, commenting on the Gavin and Stacey Fans/Quotes group on Facebook, said: ‘I think I’ve worked out how old Nessa is. She said in the Christmas special that when Stacey was 17, she was around 35 (if I’m remembering correctly). 

‘This means that she is 18 years older than Stacey. When the show first started, it says that both Gavin and Stacey are 26, meaning Nessa was 44 at the start.

‘Add 10 years onto that, and she’s now 54, meaning she’s around the same age as Bryn. Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m just using information I’ve got from the show and behind the scenes.’

But others disagreed with the maths, with one suggesting Nessa is actually 56. 

Nessa has never previously revealed her age, with Stacey announcing in series two that she didn’t think even Nessa knew.

During a tense scene with Pam, Mick and Stacey as they prepared to drive to Barry Island where Nessa had gone into labour with Neil the Baby, Pam said: ‘A month early, that’s unheard of at her age.’  

Mick added: ‘How old is she is by the way.’

Stacey replied: ‘I don’t even know, no one does. I don’t think Ness is 100%’ 

Fan interest in the comedy show has gone through the roof following its hugely successful Christmas special, which ended on a heart-stopping cliffhanger when Nessa confessed her love for Smithy and proposed to him. 

The pair had been co-parenting their son Neil for over a decade, and it was heavily hinted in the show that they continued to meet up for sexual liaisons until Smithy began dating his girlfriend Sonia.

But after Sonia failed to gel with Smithy’s surrogate family in Barry, Nessa decided to come clean about her feelings, leaving fans of the show stunned.

The revelations came after it was revealed the child actor who played Nessa and Smithy’s baby gave up a family holiday in Florida to film the Christmas special a decade later.

Oscar Hartland, from Machen, Caerphilly, first played Neil the baby in the third series of the cult BBC show in 2009 before again appearing in Wednesday’s special.

He jumped at the offer to play the role again, despite its July filming clashing with his family holiday.

He told Wales Online: ‘I would rather film. I didn’t feel I missed out at all. I missed them but I didn’t feel like I missed out.’

Oscar played the part of Neil during a few scenes between episodes two and five in series three, alongside several other babies.

He was described as ‘absolutely fantastic’ by James Corden on the back of a signed memorabilia photo frame gifted after filming ended.

Oscar was delighted to get a shout for the audition – but didn’t know what part he would get. 

‘Because it’s Christmas time they gave me a carolling scene to do,’ he revealed.

‘So I had to knock on the door and act really not bothered about it. My mum knew about half an hour after the audition, but I didn’t know until a couple of weeks later.’ 

‘I thought I was playing that small part, but then my mum said I was playing Neil. Oh my god. I couldn’t contain myself.

‘It’s so cool. There are no words I can use to describe how cool it is to be on set with everyone. Meeting everyone was the best part and working with them was just as good.’

‘It was unbelievable thinking I would meet Rob Brydon, Joanna Page, James Corden, Matthew Horne – it’s so cool.’

But Oscar said he formed his tightest bond with his on-screen mother Nessa.

He performed the majority of his scenes with Ruth Jones and found he performed naturally in her company.

‘It’s really believable that we are a family,’ Oscar said. ‘You could tell. Everyone was laughing. Joanna Page was laughing about it.’

Oscar and his family watched the Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special at home with a big party to celebrate.

‘Hopefully I get another job,’ Oscar said. ‘I would love to do more work or filming. My favourite movie is Star Wars and if I was in Star Wars – that would be top.’