Mathew Horne fights back tears as he reveals sudden death of Gavin and Stacey crew member

Horne played Gavin Shipman in the fans’ favourite series 

Horne featured in the series alongside James Cordon and Ruth Jones all the way from its 2007 pilot until the 2024 finale, and says that the group of actors and wider crew became “like a family” over the years. 

Horne, now 46, had been appearing in a live episode of his “‘In Conversation With...’ series in Taunton, Somerset when he said he received the tragic news. 

Per The Sun, Horne said: “We had a driver on the finale called Rob and he was in his early 40s… and I found out via the Whatsapp group earlier that he has passed away and I got slightly distracted there.

“It’s really, really sad. I got distracted by losing Rob.

“He was a really lovely guy and he’s left a four-year-old behind and that is really, really, really sad.”

Gavin and Stacey had three seasons as well as three Christmas specials that ran over a 17-year-long period.

It launched the career of James Cordon, who played Smithy in the show, and has gone on to become one of the most recognisable faces in the British and American media landscape.

The 2024 finale was the best watched episode of the entire series. 

Airing on Christmas Day last year, 19.1 million viewers tuned in.