Ruth Jones admits 'unhappy' time while filming Gavin & Stacey led to health decision
Gavin & Stacey star Ruth Jones revealed she had an 'unhappy' time filming the hit sitcom which led her to make a major decision about her health as she decided to quit drinking alcohol.
The actress told how she gave up booze for 'pretty much the whole decade of my 40s' after she stopped 'enjoying' it. The Gavin & Stacey co-creator said it was an 'unhappy' experience filming the show that gave her the push to make the big change.
Speaking to the Bee Sober podcast, Ruth, 58, said: "I didn't drink pretty much for that whole decade of my 40s.
"The thing that sort of stopped me. I had Christmas. We filmed Gavin & Stacey, and for various reasons - the whole thing was great filming it - but there were a couple of things that went on during it that made me really unhappy.
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"It was sort of party-ish, everyone was socialising. We got to Christmas and it was that inbetween time, the day after Boxing Day. You're eating up leftovers, and you're just slobbing around aren't you. You're eating loads of chocolate. It doesn't matter if you start drinking at lunchtime.
"I just thought: 'What am I doing.' I'd have a few glasses of red wine and i thought: 'I'm just not enjoying this at all. I don't like the taste of it, it's not even giving me a buzz.'"
Ruth wrapped up Gavin & Stacey with co-creator James Corden as their characters Nessa and Smithy finally got together for good on the Christmas Day special. The episode was watched by a huge 12.5 million viewers.
The star revealed what kickstarted her desire to give up alcohol as she criticised the 'stigma' aimed at people who make the same decision as her.
Ruth revealed: "It must have been the 29th of December and I said: 'That's it, I'm going to stop.' Now you've got such a proliferation of podcasts and communities, books, counselling, coaching, so much.
"The stigma with alcohol is so great. If you said 'I don't eat sugar' or 'I don't eat meat,' people just accept it. People don't react badly to it. People don't go 'why'.
"It's still difficult to sometimes talk openly to decide to stop drinking alcohol. Especially being in the public eye.
"Someone could listen to this podcast and go: 'Ruth Jones had a problem with alcohol.' Probably no more of a problem than the population of Britain."
Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell looks back on the popular sitcom that touched British hearts. It airs at 7pm tonight (Wednesday, January 1) on BBC One.
