Gavin and Stacey's Ruth Jones made big health decision after ...

5 days ago

Gloucestershire Live

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Gavin and Staceys Ruth Jones made big health decision after

Gavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones has spoken out on her decision to quit drinking alcohol and revealed an 'unhappy' time filming the hit BBC show led to her making the change

Ruth Jones, renowned for her character in 'Gavin and Stacey', has shared a candid revelation about her struggles while filming the beloved sitcom, which led to her quitting alcohol. The actress divulged that she had an “unhappy” time on set, prompting her to forego drinking for nearly a decade throughout her 40s.

Speaking on the Bee Sober podcast, the 58 year old star reflected: "I didn't drink pretty much for that whole decade of my 40s."

Jones described how an especially challenging Christmas period during the show's production substantially influenced her health decision: "The thing that sort of stopped me. I had Christmas. We filmed Gavin and 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."

She illuminates how the festive atmosphere around the holidays led to a realisation: "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.

Ruth with Gavin & Stacey co-creator James Corden (Image: BBC/Fulwell 73 UK Limited/Tom Jackson)

"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,'" reports Wales Online.

The actress also touched upon the completion of 'Gavin and Stacey' with co-star James Corden, mentioning how their characters Nessa and Smithy culminated their love story in a Christmas special, which captured the attention of 12.5 million viewers.

Ruth shared the moment that sparked her decision to quit drinking, while also addressing the stigma surrounding those who choose to abstain from alcohol.

She recalled: "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 actress said she stopped 'enjoying' alcohol (Image: BBC)

The actress noted that people often react negatively to the decision to quit drinking, unlike other lifestyle choices.

She added: "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'."

She acknowledged that discussing her decision to stop drinking can be challenging, especially as a public figure. "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."