HOW RUDE
EastEnders’ Natalie Cassidy reveals she was snubbed for iconic Gavin and Stacey role after auditioning for part
Natalie has now reminded James Corden about their encounter
EASTENDERS star Natalie Cassidy has revealed she auditioned for an iconic Gavin and Stacey role - but didn't get the part.
Natalie, who is best known for playing Sonia Fowler in EastEnders, says she auditioned for the character alongside James Corden more than 17 years ago.
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The actress had hoped to bag the role of Rudi, who is the sister of James' character Smithy, but was snubbed in favour of Sheridan Smith.
She has now reminded James of her audition during a special episode of hers and Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page's joint podcast, .
Natalie spilled the beans while she and Jo chatted to Adrian Scarborough, who plays Pete, and Robert Wilfort, who plays Stacey's brother Jason in the show.
Natalie asked the pair: "Can I tell you a secret?"
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As they agreed, she continued: "It's not about me, but I've got one tiny link to Gavin and Stacey.
"I auditioned for the part of Smithy's sister."
There were audible gasps before Adrian said: "You could have been Rudi? Oh my gosh."
Natalie confessed to previously telling Joanna her secret but hadn't "said it out loud" to anyone else.
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She continued: "I went up Oxford Street into Baby Cow, did my read with James and it didn't go to plan unfortunately. But yeah."
Once the girls had bid farewell to Adrian and Robert, they were joined on the podcast by James and the show's director, Christine Gernon.
Gavin and Stacey Finale Trailer
After saying hello to James, Natalie was very quick to remind him about her audition more than 17 years ago.
She told him: "I was only telling Adrian Scarborough earlier and Rob how I nearly, nearly got to play Rudi.
"Do you remember that, James?"
James replied: "I know. You were there. You were the person we were thinking about.
"I remember chatting to you on the phone about it. You'd have been amazing."
Vying for a future role with James, Natalie quipped: "It's alright. Next sitcom, yeah?"
Gavin and Stacey's Best Moments
With the news that the show is set to make an exciting return to screens, let's take a look at some of the comedy programme's biggest and best moments...
- Smithy and Rudi's American Boy rap - No one will ever forget when James Corden and Sheridan Smith rapped perfectly word for word the Kanye West and Estelle hit American Boy as they walked across the car park on the phone to Gavin.
- Pam's Vegetarian faux pas - Despite loving a cheesburger, Pam found herself caught up in a web of unexpected lies when she claimed to be Vegetarian. She is forced to keep up the secret throughout the entire show and uses hubby Mick to help her scoff meat. She is later rumbled when Stacey catches her in the act as she scoffs ham in the kitchen. Stacey says to her: “Is that ham, Pam!?… “I’ve seen you, Pam. A scotch egg here, a bit of bacon there, putting those regular sausages into the Linda McCartney box”.
- THAT fishing trip - It remains one of the biggest mysteries in Gavin and Stacey history as to just exactly what did happen on the ill-fated fishing trip. Bryn appears to be hiding a secret as to an occurance between him and his nephew Jason which has left relations fractures. Ness' on-off boyfriend, Dave, is the only other person to know the whole truth. Bryn did appear to allude to him and Jason lying together naked to keep warm as he said to Dave: “We’re going to have this out, once and for all, man to man, you may know what happened, David, but you don’t know why it happened! It was freezing cold, it was! And when you are that cold…”
- Islands in the Stream - No one can ever forget the classic Karaoke performance of Islands in the Stream. Nessa and Bryn performed the track in front of all their nearest and dearest. It saw the whole pub burst into some line-dancing as they enjoyed a boozy night out.
- The Xmas special proposal - In 2019, fans were left overjoyed when the show made a comeback but it ended on the ultimate cliffhanger. Nessa asked Smithy if she would marry him as she finally laid bare her feelings for him. Fans were gutted as the show then cut straight to the credits as they never found out just how Smithy answered. Will all be revealed in the brand new episode?
Gavin and Stacey first hit the small screen in 2007.
Its popularity quickly rocketed and the last Christmas special, which aired in 2019, drew in a staggering 18.49million viewers.
This Christmas Day, Gavin and Stacey will return for one final and extended festive special.
The entire cast have reunited for the 90 minute finale episode, which creators James and Ruth have insisted will be the very last one.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, James said: "It's definitely the last time you'll ever seen them, no question."
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Ruth, who plays Nessa in the comedy, added: "When you see this episode, you'll go, 'There's nowhere to go after this'."
- Gavin and Stacey: The Finale, 9pm, BBC One, December 25
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