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'Why Gavin & Stacey stars called me at Christmas'

BBC Marco Zeraschi outside Marco's cafe in 2019, smiling at the camera and holding up a sign reading 'Do not feed the seagulls'BBC
Marco Zeraschi, pictured outside Marco's cafe in 2019, admits he fought back the tears watching the Gavin & Stacey finale go out on Christmas Day

The owner of a cafe made famous after featuring in Gavin & Stacey has said he fought back tears watching the show's last episode.

The finale of the hit BBC show – written by James Corden and Ruth Jones, who also star as Smithy and Nessa - aired on Christmas Day, and attracted 12.3m viewers.

Marco Zeraschi, who runs Marco's in the south Wales resort of Barry Island – where Stacey worked - said: "Ruth got in touch with me yesterday morning, Larry (Lamb, who plays Gavin's dad Mick) phoned me on Christmas morning, James sent me a lovely message."

Meanwhile, the BBC has confirmed that despite a report in one newspaper, there are no plans for a Gavin & Stacey spin-off show.

"Larry told me he is coming down in February to stay – he loves Barry," Marco told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

"He has said to me on several occasions that he would love to live here – he's a cold water swimmer, and has Barry Island on his doorstep."

Marco said there was a bumper crowd on the island in the Vale of Glamorgan the day after the show went out, as fans descended to see where the finale was filmed.

Tom Jackson/BBC/PA Wire The cast of Gavin And Stacey: The Finale looking at the camera, as seen on the Christmas Day programmeTom Jackson/BBC/PA Wire
The cast of Gavin & Stacey as seen in The Finale, shown on Christmas Day

They included one of Barry's real-life famous sons, the BBC Wales weather presenter Derek Brockway.

"It was lovely to see families out enjoying themselves, the weather wasn't the best - even Derek Brockway turned up to give me a weather report, and for a cup of coffee."

"A lot of them were Gavin & Stacey fans, which was lovely to see, but sad too, as that's it now. I did fight back a few tears watching it go out."

"I've had 17 years of this, and I can only describe it as one hell of a ride!"

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Corden thanked fans for tuning into the finale after it secured the highest Christmas Day ratings since 2008.

He wrote an emotional farewell to the show, which drew an average audience of 12.3 million on Christmas Day, according to overnight figures.

Corden also shared photos of him as Smithy and Jones as Nessa, along with the cast filming.

He wrote on Instagram on Thursday: "Here's some behind the scenes photos from the special. Thank you so much to everyone who watched last night.

"It means more than you'll know. All my love, James xx."