An emotional James Corden and Ruth Jones have said working on Gavin & Stacey has been a “privilege” and a “wonderful journey”, as they prepare to say goodbye after 17 years.

The beloved sitcom, which they created together, follows the love story of Gavin from Essex (Mathew Horne) and Stacey from Barry in Wales (Joanna Page), and the lives of their families and friends.

It ran for three seasons between 2007 and 2009, becoming one of the most successful British comedies of all time, before returning after 10 years for a Christmas Day cliffhanger episode in 2019.

More than 18 million people watched as Jones’s character Nessa got down on one knee and declared her love for Corden‘s Smithy, but never got to find out his answer.

Now, the BBC show returns at Christmas once again for what Corden and Jones have said really will be the final episode, giving viewers the chance to see how their characters’ unconventional off-more-than-on romance pans out.

The co-writers introduced Gavin & Stacey: The Finale at a special screening in front of cast and crew members in London on Wednesday, with Jones becoming emotional as she told the audience that a “sense of love” had remained throughout the series.

“Love between friends, love between family members, conventional boy-meets-girl love stories, and unconventional relationships,” she said. “I think that’s kind of remained the same. And the lack of cynicism has remained the same – all the characters in the show really do love each other.”

Corden said it had been a “dream come true” to have a show successful enough to be “considered worthy of a Christmas special” the first time around, let alone again.

Both have remained tight-lipped on how the story ends.

Reflecting on why Gavin & Stacey is so beloved, Corden said: “The more I’ve thought about it, I wonder if actually it’s a lesson in patience. We’re sort of told now, particularly in television, or the way we consume stuff – we talk about content and we talk about consumers and we talk about speed.

“Here’s a show that ended 15 years ago, waited 10 years to tell another hour of the story, and waited five more years to end it. Maybe the lesson for all of us – for people that write about television, for people that talk about television, for people that write television – is actually maybe time and patience and care might be the answer for things to have a longevity outside of what we consume on our phones.”

Both Corden and Jones said that after the Christmas 2019 cliffhanger, they did not know whether they would bring the show back. But in the summer of 2023, they decided to work on some ideas together.

“We both had the same idea, didn’t we?” Jones said.

Gavin & Stacey also stars Larry Lamb and Alison Steadman as Gavin’s parents, Mick and Pam, Rob Brydon as Stacey’s uncle, Bryn, and Melanie Walters as her mother, Gwen.

“It may sound like complete nonsense [but] it doesn’t really feel like we’re in charge of writing it,” Corden said. “I feel like we just have to be together, and we sort of open a portal and the characters arrive and tell us.”

“Our cast just inhabit those roles,” Jones added. “I think it’s been very much a joint venture, in more ways than one.”

Jones praised the Gavin & Stacey crew for “making it so special, this final foray”. She also thanked Corden “for being my travel companion on this wonderful journey”.

Corden added: “What a privilege to have an idea with someone for whom it is just a joy to write with. I love you very much. I’m very proud of all of it. Thank you.”

Gavin & Stacey: The Finale airs on BBC1 at 9pm on Christmas Day

Gregg Wallace will be replaced by restaurant critic Grace Dent in the next series of the BBC’s Celebrity MasterChef.

Dent, a Guardian columnist and former I’m A Celebrity contestant, will join regular MasterChef presenter John Torode as a judge during next year’s 20th season of the TV cooking competition.

Wallace is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour from more than a dozen people across a range of shows over a 17-year period.

It was announced last month that he would step away from his presenting role on MasterChef amid an external review into historical allegations of misconduct.

‘So excited I can’t eat’

Dent, 51, has appeared regularly as a guest on the show and last year took part in MasterChef: Battle Of The Critics.

She is The Guardian’s restaurant critic and also hosts the Comfort Eating podcast where she chats with celebrities about food.

In a statement after the announcement, she said: “I’ve been watching MasterChef since I was a girl sitting with my dad on the sofa. My whole family watches it. It’s all about uncovering and championing talent – and to have ended up in this position, is more than a dream to me.”

She added: “I’m so excited that I can’t eat, which is severely detrimental to a restaurant critic. I feel very lucky to be stepping in for the next Celebrity MasterChef. I can’t wait to meet the fresh celebrity faces for 2025.”

Torode said: “I have loved working with Grace on MasterChef over the years. She has been an excellent guest, an inspiring critic and also set some incredible challenges. Expertise is what MasterChef is all about, from the contestants to our wonderful production team, to us as judges.

“The love of food, the love of MasterChef, and that unquestionable expertise, makes Grace the perfect person to step in alongside me as judge for the forthcoming Celebrity MasterChef series.”

Read more:
Torode on ‘truly upsetting’ Wallace allegations
Wallace claims ‘tip of the iceberg’ – former contestant
Nestle memo shows BBC knew of ‘unacceptable’ behaviour
Wallace apologises for dismissing his accusers

MasterChef executive editor David Ambler also hailed Dent’s “expertise”, as well as her “wit and finely-honed palette”.

Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment at the BBC, added “energetic” Dent is the “perfect choice”.

The most recent series of MasterChef: The Professionals continued to air amid a storm of allegations against Wallace.

However, two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials, a Celebrity MasterChef Christmas Cook Off and a MasterChef Strictly Festive Extravaganza, featuring Strictly Come Dancing professional dancers, have been pulled from the BBC’s festive schedule.

Wallace’s lawyers previously told the BBC: “It is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.”

Downing Street criticises Wallace’s remarks

Shortly after the allegations first emerged, Wallace recorded a video where he dismissed his accusers as “middle-class women of a certain age”.

His remarks were met with huge criticism – including from Downing Street, where a spokesperson for the prime minister described them as “completely inappropriate and misogynistic”.

Wallace responded by posting a follow-up clip where he apologised and said he “wasn’t in a good space” when he posted the comments.

A lawyer representing an alleged victim of Sean “Diddy” Combs has told Sky News she believes the criminal case against him is “just the tip of the iceberg” and there are “hundreds” more who may be “too afraid to come forward”.

Lisa Bloom is representing singer Dawn Richard, a former member of two groups formed by the rapper, who has filed a civil lawsuit against him.

Richard is one of dozens of people suing Combs following his arrest in September. The 55-year-old is currently in jail in New York awaiting trial over criminal charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, which he has strenuously denied.

Warning – this story includes details some may find upsetting

“I think this is just the tip of the iceberg, what we’re seeing right now,” said Bloom. “I think we’re going to see a lot more accusers come forward.”

The lawyer said she had “no doubt there are hundreds more people” who have allegations of “sexual assault, physical violence, threats, sex trafficking” against Combs, as well as “people associated with him”.

However, she says many alleged victims may feel scared or unable to speak out, or “think they have no rights” after signing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

The criminal case against Combs claims that, with the help of some employees, he coerced and abused individuals for years, and used blackmail and violence to silence alleged victims.

On top of the criminal charges, the hip-hop mogul also faces a mounting number of civil suits, with more than 20 filed so far.

‘She alleges she was groped and grabbed’

Richard appeared on the TV show Making The Band, for which Combs was an executive producer, in the early 2000s.

She was a member of Danity Kane, a girl group formed on the show who signed to his label, and later performed alongside the rapper in the trio, Diddy – Dirty Money.

She accuses him of subjecting her to years of inhumane working conditions, and threatening her life.

“She alleges that during the show, she and the others were subjected to horrendous conditions,” Bloom said. “They weren’t allowed to eat, they weren’t allowed to sleep, they were locked in places and not allowed to leave.

“They were subjected to all kinds of gender comments… calling them names, insulting them.

“She alleges that she was groped and grabbed by Sean Combs, that she witnessed him physically assaulting other women, that he restrained her, locked her into cars and other places, falsely imprisoned her, and it was just a really terrifying experience for her.”

When Richard tried to speak out on behalf of other women Combs was allegedly abusing in her presence, she was threatened and felt “very fearful”, Bloom said.

Combs’s lawyers say Richard’s allegations are “an attempt to rewrite history”. They say they are false claims manufactured by a singer who has an album out and who’s “trying to get a pay day”.

They also say that if she had such “a negative experience” working with the rapper and producer while in Danity Kane, she would not have returned to work with him a second time in Diddy – Dirty Money.

‘People turned a blind eye’

Richard has spoken with the officers from the US Department of Justice, Bloom said. She believes there will be “more criminal charges to come” against Combs, as well as more civil lawsuits.

“She’s sat and answered questions,” Bloom said. “I assume other people probably have as well. So [criminal charges] could very well be forthcoming… I think there will be more civil suits as well.

“Sean Combs is the top of the pyramid, he was the one orchestrating everything, but those who helped him also need to be brought to justice.

“We want to hold accountable anybody who’s complicit, because to victimise people on this scale where we’re probably talking about hundreds of people, you can’t do that alone, you have to have helpers… people who actually saw incidents of abuse turned a blind eye to it and continued funding these events where things happened. They should be held accountable, and we intend to do that in our case.”

Bloom said she also expects other famous names to be brought up.

“People used to brag about going to Diddy parties, a lot of people were there, maybe some of them didn’t know what was happening but surely many of them did,” she said. “Being a celebrity does not mean that you’re above the law, as I think some of them think.”

Read more from Sky News:
‘They share women. They share secrets’
The allegations against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

For now, the civil cases against Combs are running concurrently to the criminal case against him.

The rapper has not asked for a stay, “which would essentially freeze” the civil cases, Bloom said, so she is “aggressively moving ahead” with Richard’s claim.

From behind bars the rapper, through his lawyers, has said he is “confidently standing on truth and looks forward to proving that in court”.

“I look forward to taking Sean Combs’s deposition in prison,” Bloom said. “For one thing, he can’t say he’s unavailable and out of town.”