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
Ruth Martin-Jones Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. In 1978, Martin-Jones won the first heptathlon event in the world at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Ruth Martin-Jones Ruth Martin-Jones (also known as Ruth Swinhoe and Ruth Howell, born 28 January 1947) is a former long jumper and heptathlete. She competed for Great Britain at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, finishing 28th in the long jump event. She was the first Welsh women to compete at the Olympic Games. At the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, she won a bronze medal competing for Wales. Her jump was equal to silver medalist Brenda Eisler,