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An original Gavin & Stacey actor has revealed how the BBC casting director had to track him down to return for the highly anticipated finale after he ditched acting for a new career as a barrister.
Daniel Jeffrey portrayed Simon, one of Smithy’s stag-do companions during the first series of the hit show in 2007.
During the new behind-the-scenes documentary, A Fond Farewell, which aired on Wednesday night, Daniel revealed that he has since trained to be a barrister and now works in London.
However it was difficult for the show to find Daniel after 17 years as he was in fact using a ‘stage name’.
Speaking to creators Ruth Jones and James Corden on set, James said: ‘This is Gary and Simon, the original Gary and Simon. Lauren the casting director she did a bit of detective work to track you down.
Daniel explained: ‘I actually can’t believe she found me, I had a stage name Daniel Knightley because I was working in cinema at the time and I was like I need a better name.
Original Gavin & Stacey actor has revealed how the BBC casting director had to track him down to return for the highly anticipated finale after becoming a barrister
Daniel Jeffrey portrayed Simon, one of Smithy’s stag-do companions during the first series of the hit show in 2007
‘So I kind of just landed on a Keira Knightley poster and was like, “I’ll be Daniel Knightley” So I didn’t even have the same name.
‘She tracked me down from being in the police to being a barrister, she got in touch with my chambers, who then said, someone from a casting agency has contacted you.
‘And I was like, “That can only be one thing” because I’ve only ever really been in one thing.’
TV presenter James asked: ‘Are you a barrister now then?’
Daniel confirmed: ‘Yeah, yeah’.
Before joining Chambers, Daniel worked for the Ministry of Defence and as a police officer for the Metropolitan Police.
His career saw him work in Counter-terrorism, C.I.D, the fraud squad, and in specialist domestic violence/child protection roles that involved specialist interview training.
The BBC documentary, offered a glimpse at the making of the long-awaited finale, as well as taking a lookback at the show’s origins, and its 17-year run.
During the new behind-the-scenes documentary, A Fond Farewell, Daniel revealed that he has since trained to be a barrister and now works in London
Speaking to creators Ruth Jones and James Corden on set, James said: ‘This is Gary and Simon, the original Gary and Simon. Lauren the casting director she did a bit of detective work to track you down
Daniel explained: ‘I actually can’t believe she found me, I had a stage name Daniel Knightley because I was working in cinema at the time. She tracked me down from being in the police to being a barrister’
Ruth and James asked: ‘Are you a barrister now then?’ Daniel confirmed: ‘Yeah, yeah’
During the final episode, the stags reunited for Smithy’s stag do ahead of his wedding to Sonia
The Gavin and Stacey: The Finale drew in a whopping 12.5 million viewers to become the most watched show on Christmas Day.
Viewers had been waiting for five years to learn the fate of the BBC sitcom’s beloved characters and see if Smithy had accepted Nessa’s proposal.
The final episode was hailed ‘perfect’ by viewers, who were left in tears as the long-running show finally aired its last episode after 17 years.
The BBC won the battle of the channels when it came to ratings as 10 million also tuned in to watch the return of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
The series, which debuted back in 2007 after being created by stars James Corden and Ruth Jones, c
oncluded with on/off lovers Smithy and Nessa finally declaring their love for one another and tying the knot, but not without a few hiccups along the way.
Smithy was originally set to wed his girlfriend Sonia, with it revealed he’d never given an answer to Nessa’s proposal, which provided the cliffhanger to the show’s 2019 Christmas Special.
But after the entire Shipman/West clan finally declared that he was making a mistake, Smithy finally declared his love for Nessa, proposing to her in an emotional scene at Southampton Docks.
The episode then cut to Smithy and Nessa exchanging their vows at long last in an intimate ceremony in Barry, with the series ending with an emotional montage of the family marking the occasion at The Dolphin pub, before posing for a family snap together.
James and Ruth also have a book about the show due out next Autumn called When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between: A Story Of Love And Friendship.
Despite ruling out a return to the series, James has said he wants to work with Ruth again.
He said: ‘We don’t know if we have another idea in us but I can honestly say that if we didn’t attempt to try and even explore the idea of writing together then I’d be so disappointed.’
