Revealed: The actual purpose why James Corden introduced again Gavin & Stacey, as TV insiders inform KATIE HIND the reality about strained relationships along with his co-stars

When James Corden relocated to the UK after eight years as Hollywood’s golden boy, he must surely have expected a huge fanfare. After all, with a high profile television career at the helm of The Late Late Show, one of America’s most prestigious nightly chat-shows, he had achieved an enviable level of fame in the US that few other Brits have managed.

He was on first-name terms with a string of A-listers and the chatter from industry insiders was that a huge deal with a British broadcaster or streaming giant such as Netflix or Amazon was inevitable.

Although 46-year-old Corden insisted, modestly, that he simply wanted to spend more time with his family once back on British soil, those who know him say there was little doubt he was hoping for the same sort of adoration he was afforded in Tinseltown.

Only, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Stories have swirled that he is unpopular in the industry.

There have been no public announcements of projects in the pipeline, except for a role voicing a character in next summer’s animated The Smurfs Movie. And sources say he has also been reluctant to replicate his Stateside career and front a chat-show here – because it’s ‘too much work’.

Indeed, if it wasn’t for the forthcoming Christmas special of Gavin & Stacey – the hugely popular show Corden co-wrote with Ruth Jones – his big British comeback would almost certainly have been something of a damp squib, insiders say.

Bringing back the show that made his name is, I’m told, his trump card – one of the only things he can do that is guaranteed not only to be a hit but to catapult him back into the limelight.

James Corden with Ruth Jones in a Gavin & Stacey Christmas special

James Corden and Ruth Jones filming the 2024 Christmas special of Gavin & Stacey in Barry, South Wales

One source tells me: ‘There was a huge expectation that James was going to get a big deal somewhere. He didn’t want the daily grind of doing a nightly show as it is a lot of work and is exhausting, but there was talk of some big projects.

‘Nothing materialised apart from an impressive, yet short, stint at a London theatre, which has been baffling for the television industry.

‘You have to wonder why. James loves the limelight, he loves being the centre of attention, but this was simply not happening.

‘But then bang, out of the blue, Gavin & Stacey is back and James is back on the radar.’

This time, too, the comedian, born in Hillingdon, west London, appears keen to retain as much creative control as possible over the project, which will be the last ever episode of the sitcom.

As usual, it will be shown by the BBC but, for the first time, it is being made by Fulwell 73, the production company backed by Corden, and Jones’s firm Tidy.

‘James is in charge,’ said a source on location in the Welsh seaside town of Barry, where Gavin & Stacey is filmed. ‘He and Ruth wrote the script and he has a personality that is somewhat dominating.’ Another added: ‘James has held the key to the comeback, and in a way it has given him some power over the BBC.’ 

James Corden with popstar Harry Styles, whom he counts as a friend, on The Late Late Show in 2023

James Corden and Ruth Jones with their script of this year’s Gavin & Stacey Christmas special

Whether that will open doors for him in the longer term is unclear. But Corden is said to have ‘really enjoyed’ his time back at work when the episode began recording in September and appeared to be on the charm offensive.

He was seen mixing with fans and even filming them for a BBC documentary about the making of the Christmas special. He was said to be overtly friendly with both supporters and the paparazzi.

But within the cast there have been tensions – particularly between Corden and his once-close friend Mathew Horne, 46, who plays Gavin Shipman. The pair had their own Horne & Corden TV show, and were often to be found at Cardiff’s Tiger Tiger nightclub during filming for previous Gavin & Stacey series.

I’m told, however, that contact between them was more limited this time. The pair fell out after critics savaged their show, and Corden moved on to make friends with those higher up the fame chain such as David Beckham, Adele and Prince Harry. He has not looked back.

Sources say their relationship hasn’t improved, disclosing that while they both stayed in suites at the five-star Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff during filming the Christmas special, they didn’t socialise.

‘James and Mat’s lives went in completely separate directions,’ says a source who knows them both. ‘They were inseparable, spending most days together, but then when their projects started to go wrong, that was it.’

Corden’s funny-man halo began to slip some time ago. In October 2022 he was banned from New York’s Balthazar brasserie after owner Keith McNally described the star as a ‘hugely gifted comedian but a tiny cretin of a man’ for being rude to his waiting staff.

McNally claimed Corden demanded two rounds of free drinks for his table after he found a hair in his food, and on a second occasion had screamed at the waiting staff after finding traces of egg white in his wife Julia Carey’s egg yolk omelette.

The ban was lifted when Corden ‘apologised profusely’, but the reputational damage was done.

James Corden with his wife Julia Carey at the 2024 Met Gala in New York

James Corden, Mathew Horne, Joanna Page and Ruth Jones in season one of Gavin & Stacey

Derogatory anecdotes about Corden’s allegedly poor behaviour have also regularly featured in gossip newsletter Popbitch.

Despite these PR hiccups, his life today is rather more domesticated. His three children need to be ferried to their fee-paying North London schools and he has been spotted using rental bikes to get around the capital with his friend, singer Harry Styles.

He has also been seen hanging out in Soho House’s newest London club, 180, and at celebrity haunt Chiltern Firehouse.

But once the curtain falls on Gavin & Stacey this Christmas, some have questioned what might come next. As one source says: ‘Gavin & Stacey was James’s golden goose – he always had it in his back pocket to pull it out at the best time. He has used that now.

‘So let’s wait and see if any big opportunities come his way.’