Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Gavin & Stacey: The Finale.
One Gavin & Stacey spotted an unexpected familiar sight when she tuned in for the last episode of the award-winning sitcom on Christmas Day.
And no, we don’t just mean Dave Coaches.
Former CBBC star Laura Aikman reprised her role as Sonia from the most recent festive edition of Gavin & Stacey in the new special, which saw her character preparing to tie the knot with Smithy.
Laura has already spoken out about the extreme lengths she took to avoid details of her cameo leaking in the press – which included sourcing a wedding dress for her character online.
“We couldn’t go wedding dress shopping (because of the secrecy), so this was from Vinted (it probably belonged to someone who watched the show!),” Laura wrote on Instagram last week, alongside a photo of herself in costume.
“Shout out to our costume designer [Shan James] who had to alter it massively as 48 hours before we shot the wedding it didn’t fit,” she added.
Costume designer Shan James recently popped up in the comments to confirm that Laura’s suspicions about the origins of her dress were, in fact, correct.
“[The dress] was from [Facebook Marketplace] and the lady selling the dress thought I was ‘well dodgy’ when I was so secretive!!” Shan wrote.
She then revealed she received a message from the seller on Boxing Day which read: “I just watched Gavin & Stacey and had the oddest feeling that was my wedding dress that Sonia wore – can I ask if that’s what you used it for?”
She replied: “I couldn’t say a thing as it was extremely top secret and I couldn’t take Laura to any shop in case she was spotted. You can now tell the world!
“I had to alter it quite a lot to fit her but it was worth it I think. She looked gorgeous so thank you so much.”
“That is amazing, it’s my absolute favourite show!” the seller then wrote back. “I had goosebumps when I watched it! This is so great I’m totally made up, thanks for letting me know!”
Five years after it last aired, Gavin & Stacey’s last episode pulled in a staggering 12.3 million viewers (not including those who watched it on iPlayer), making it the most-watched Christmas Day broadcast in 16 years.
Despite its popularity, Ruth Jones and James Corden have made it clear they won’t ever write any more, with the former Late, Late Show host insisting to BBC Breakfast earlier this month: “It can’t carry on after this. We can’t see [how] it could – you’ll have to wait and see!”