I lived in Uncle Bryn’s house during Gavin and Stacey filming – the stag do left the house stinking and we moved out
A couple who unknowingly moved into Uncle Bryn’s house from Gavin and Stacey have revealed how filming chaos and obsessed fans forced them to leave their dream home.
Lisa Edwards and her husband Michael moved into the unassuming terraced house on Trinity Street, Barry, in 2006.
They were totally unaware it would soon become one of the most recognisable houses on British TV.
The series hadn’t aired yet, so the pair had no idea their home would be immortalised as the cosy pad where Rob Brydon’s Uncle Bryn taught Gavin the wonders of the internet.
Lisa, 41, recalled the shock of seeing her own house on screen for the first time.
She said: “The first time I realised I was in the house watching it on TV. I thought it looked like my living room at the time, and it was the weirdest feeling.
“Our neighbours were away at the time so I couldn’t ask them so I rang the BBC. They said due to data protection they couldn’t tell us – they said they were filming series two and if someone knocked on my door then we would know.”
The knock on the door eventually came and during filming, the couple got to meet the cast, including Ruth Jones (Nessa) and Rob Brydon himself.
The girl guide leader told Wales Online: “We got to stay in the house for filming so we saw more than everyone else.
“For season two they completely re-did the living room. There was stuffed animals and tanks – it didn’t look even slightly like our living room.
“They catalogued everything and had to put it all back in the right place.
“We had this DFS sofa and when we moved it in it was a really struggle so they said they wouldn’t bother to move it.
“We actually sold it on eBay and put on the listings that it was a famous sofa.”
But while the cast were friendly, living in the house got a bit too much.
And after the show became a smash hit, Lisa and Michael’s home turned into a hotspot for die-hard fans of the series.
The constant stream of visitors made life unbearable.
Speaking to Gavin and Stacey fans over on Reddit, Lisa continued: “We had people knocking on the windows late at night asking for a tour.
“When we moved out we got a bit sick of all the attention as we had people knocking on our door to have a look around.
“Now I can look back with fondness and I am really excited about the special.
In fact I took my Girl Guides to see the last bit of filming on trinity street.”
Asked how the stag do episode went by one Reddit user, Lisa said: “This was the most they set up the living room, it was also there for the whole weekend and they left pizzas out on markers that couldn’t be moved.
“They smelled lovely to start with but the whole room stank by Monday. They also had a subbuteo set laid out. We did have a nose around in there!”
Lisa still has fond memories of living in the iconic TV house.
A final Gavin and Stacey special will air on Christmas Day on BBC One at 9pm.
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?