Gavin & Stacey Friends". Corden claims to have been inspired by the story of his own real life best friend Gavin, who met his wife over the phone at work, and arranged to meet. They presented it to the BBC as a one-off play, but the BBC instead asked for a full series. The roles of Gavin and Stacey were cast through an auditioning process, but were almost immediately given to Mathew Horne and Joanna Page on the strength of their chemistry together. The roles of Nessa and Smithy were written by Corden and Jones for themselves. Some roles were written with certain
Stacey Jones has also represented New Zealand at two World Cups (1995 and 2000), three Tri Nations series (1999, 2005, 2006), and has played 41 games for the New Zealand Kiwis. He retired from the national team in 2004 while having a disappointing year at club level. However, on 15 October 2005 Stacey ended 2 years of international retirement, answering an SOS from Kiwis coach Brian McClennan intending only to play the Australasian section of the Tri Nations series. He then went on to play the rest of their round robin matches against Great Britain in England. Stacey Jones was an integral