Ahead of the Gavin And Stacey finale on Christmas Day, Mathew Horne has defended his co-star James Corden and addressed rumours of a feud between the pair.
Horne plays the titular Gavin on the hit BBC sitcom, while Corden, who plays Gavin’s best friend Smithy, co-created the show alongside Ruth Jones, who plays Nessa, the mother of Smithy’s child.
Horne and Corden also worked on their own sketch show together, and co-starred in the 2009 comedy horror movie Lesbian Vampire Killers too. However, the same year, claims began to surface online that the two had fallen out.
However, Horne has told The Times in a new interview: “the notion of us falling out wasn’t true” – he described it as a false narrative that “silenced” him when he wanted to talk publicly about Corden. And a few years later, Corden became popular in the US, hosting The Late Late Show and going viral for his encounters with some of the world’s biggest celebrities on the ‘Carpool Karaoke’ segment.
Horne explained, “I couldn’t really do anything about it. Because James then went off to the States, that was the narrative and however much I said that we didn’t fall out, no amount of protesting would have convinced people that it didn’t happen.”
He called it a “hectic time,” adding: “I really don’t want any more hectic-ness and chaos in my life. I just want to be grateful and enjoy the things that I’m so fortunate to have, which is a really interesting, fun career and a beautiful family.
“Honestly, I’m sick of talking about 15 years of this. It sapped my energy at the time and it’s not important … I think I’ve been silenced in discussing him because of this narrative that’s been imposed.”
Horne also touched on some of the comments that other celebrities have made about Corden – Mel B described him as “the rudest celebrity” while Sharon Osbourne called him a serial name-dropper – and said they’re based on jealousy.
He said: “The root of all of the flak that he takes – and it’s beyond flak – is jealousy. He is a phenomenally gifted actor and writer, and a brilliant working-class success story. So yeah, I am protective of him. But I think I’ve been silenced in discussing him because of this narrative that’s been imposed.”
Earlier this year, Rob Brydon – who plays Uncle Bryn in the sitcom – defended Corden, too. He said: “The James Corden I know is not the person I sometimes see people reported on. He gets a lot of stick.
“I’m hugely fond of him. I’d never heard of him when we met on a show in 2002, but I vividly remember saying to myself, ‘Oh I’ve got to pull my socks up here; this kid is really good’.”
Meanwhile, the trailer for the Gavin And Stacey finale is out now, ahead of the episode’s airing in a week’s time. It’s hinted that the audience might found out what really happened on the infamous fishing trip that Uncle Bryn and his nephew Jason went on three decades ago.
The episode comes five years after the last special ended on a cliffhanger with Nessa proposing to Smithy, and will air from 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day.
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