Will we finally find out if Uncle Bryn is gay in the Gavin and Stacey finale?

The Gavin and Stacey finale is set to be one of the most-watched shows of the year in the UK, but will it answer one burning question: is Uncle Bryn gay?

Rob Brydon has played Bryn West since the show began in 2007, and his return in James Corden and Ruth Jones’s festive farewell has fans hoping his sexuality – and what happened on that fishing trip – will finally be revealed. 

Gavin & Stacey ran until 2010, with a couple of Christmas specials, and in 2021, Brydon finally broke his silence on the character’s sexuality, telling Table Manners podcast hosts Jessie and Lennie Ware that he thought Bryn was gay.

“There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to say anything because I think it should be in the mind of the audience,” the Barbie star said. “Obviously, they have written it… but if it’s not ambiguous, is it? I mean, I’d be surprised if Bryn wasn’t gay. But I wonder if he’s [ever] acted on it.

“[The writers] never said [it] to me, it’s just what’s there in the script. But you know, the way he gazes at Larry Lamb, at Mick, though he’s a lovely looking boy.”

Some viewers believe the mysterious fishing trip Bryn took with his nephew Jason, the show’s only openly gay character, holds the clues.

Uncle Bryn seen wearing the 'My niece went to Greece and all I got was this lousy T-shirt' top while filming Gavin & Stacey Christmas special. He's still got it. 😂 pic.twitter.com/9Xp0QAFaQk

— LADbible (@ladbible) July 13, 2019

Corden and Jones have never directly addressed the speculation about Bryn, only suggesting that what happened on the trip was “perfectly legal” but “defies gravity.” Characters almost revealed details of the trip which has puzzled fans for 17 years in the 2019 Christmas special but they were interrupted.

Meanwhile, some sources claim an unaired scene reveals what happened on the fishing trip.

WalesOnline reported that Lisa Edwards, whose home was used as Bryn’s house, had seen a “script for an episode which was never aired. It was supposed to be Uncle Bryn and his nephew watching this VHS.”

Edwards went on to claim: “They watch it together to see what happened on the fishing trip. But they decided to not show the episode.” 

Supposedly, it was in the same episode that karaoke duo Bryn and Nessa took to the stage for their “biannual singalong” and sang an uncensored version of “Fairytale of New York’” which includes the “f****t” slur.

Is it possible Bryn felt comfortable saying the word because he’s gay? The jury’s out, but almost 900 people submitted complaints about the scene. The BBC defended the use of the word, saying it “isn’t linked to homosexuality”.

Speaking on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Tuesday (10 December), Brydon refused to comment on the possibility of Bryn dying in the finale, which Corden had previously joked about.

“People say: ‘You’re just an actor’, but [it’s been] 17 years doing this. Everybody loves everybody. There’s nobody who doesn’t get on with anybody else on it,” he told the Virgin Radio audience.

Sharing his emotion at filming the final scenes, Brydon added: “There we were, knowing it was going to be the very last episode, and so there were several times when I would feel myself kind of filling up. I would look around and see these people [who I’ve] been on this, for want of a better word, ‘journey’ with over all these years.”

Gavin and Stacey: The Finale airs at 9pm on Christmas Day on BBC One and iPlayer.

The documentary Gavin & Stacey: A Fond Farewell airs at 7pm on New Year’s Day on BBC One and iPlayer.

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