Freaky Friday: 14 Things You Probably Never Knew About The Disney Classic

Posted on 09/08/2025 by Boris Clair

A version of this article was previously published in 2021.

After teasing us for literally decades, a sequel to Freaky Friday finally arrived in cinemas this week, reuniting the 2003 classic’s original leads Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, alongside a number of other familiar faces.

The original film (which itself was a remake of a successful Disney live-action film from the 1970s) centres around a quarrelling mother-daughter duo who switch bodies once a spell takes effect, with unexpected consequences.

So far, the remake has been well-received by critics, many of whom have hailed it as a worthy successor to the first instalment that so many of us already knew and loved.

In honour of the sequel’s release, we’ve rounded up 14 facts you probably never knew about the hit movie…

Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis in Freaky Friday

1. Lindsay’s character was originally supposed to be a goth

When the Parent Trap star read the original script, she thought Anna’s character was a bit too scruffy. “There was nothing there, no one can relate to the character when she’s really goth,” she told Vanity Fair in 2006.

To recreate her own envision, LiLo turned up to the audition dressed extremely preppy, which worked to her benefit as the character was rewritten.

2. The shots in the opening credits are actual photos of Jamie Lee Curtis and her daughter Annie Guest

We all love a fake snapshot or two at the beginning of a film, but who knew the photos at the start of Freaky Friday captured true moments from Jamie Lee’s real life?

One sees her daughter as a toddler laying on her mother’s back, with her arms tightly placed around her neck.

3. Lindsay had to give Jamie Lee precise lessons on how to say ‘shut up’

During a promotional interview on YouTube, the Everything, Everywhere All At Once actor admitted to needing help from her then-teenage co-star with the specific way she said “shut up!”.

“There’s a way she says ‘shut up’ that I couldn’t get. She had to give me a ‘shut up’ tutorial because it’s a very specific way,” Jamie Lee said.

Meanwhile, Jamie Lee, who was raising 16-year-old daughter Annie Guest at the time, claimed that starring in this film with a young person helped her see things from her child’s point of view.

“I think I probably have a judgmental bitch badge that I put on because I can be harsh, and I think that walking a mile in some very uncomfortable teenage shoes gave me the opportunity to see what it’s like on the other side,” she said.

4. Gwen Stefani was offered a role as a member of the band

According to IMDB, the US singer was offered a role as a member of Anna’s band, but sadly we didn’t get to see that happen – although we think she would have been a perfect addition to that cast.

5. Michelle Trachtenberg was supposed to be Anna

The Ice Princess star was first to be cast as the mouthy teenager, but had to back out of the project due to her her contract with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where she played Dawn Summers.

This was actually the second film Michelle turned down in which LiLo later landed the lead gig – the first being The Parent Trap in 1998, in which Lindsay made her name.

6. Kelly Osbourne also auditioned for the role

The star, known for her family reality show The Osbournes, was also offered the part of Anna after auditioning, but had to pull out after her mother Sharon was diagnosed with cancer.

Kelly later described how people told her it was the biggest mistake of her career, due to the success of the film.

7. Meanwhile, Madonna reportedly had her eye on the role of Tess

Madonna in 2003, the year Freaky Friday was released

Jodie Foster was the first pick, having played the teenage daughter in Disney’s first Freaky Friday movie, and when she declined the role, it went to Annette Bening.

However, Annette departed the project due to scheduling issues, while the American Beauty star reportedly also had “anxious” feelings about the script.

8. Because of this, Jamie Lee Curtis was actually cast just days before shooting began

Still, it was obviously a case of the stars aligning, as Jamie Lee and Lindsay’s chemistry was undeniable, and they’ve spoken highly about one another repeatedly over the decades.

9. Lindsay Lohan’s real mum also made an appearance in the movie

LiLo’s mum Dina can be seen in the final scene where Anna is dancing with Jake. Dina is in the background dancing with an older man, but there is an awkward moment where she is seen looking directly at the camera.

10. The famous Anna and Tess collision scene is similar to a scene in Bewitched

Anna and Tess’ idea to collide at full force in an attempt to reverse the spell is similar to a scene in 1966′s Bewitched: Divided He Falls, where Darrin is split into two people and Endora suggests he do the same to break the spell.

However, in this scene, the trick had the desired effect.

11. Lindsay had her first on-screen kiss in Freaky Friday

In a behind the scene YouTube clip, Lindsay admitted that the kiss she shared with co-star Chad Michael Murray was the first she had done on screen.

12. The film paid homage to Jamie Lee Curtis’ mother

A character named Mr Bates appears in the film as a tribute to the actor’s mother, Janet Leigh who is best known for her performance in the 1960 film Psycho.

Mr Bates is a reference to Norman Bates’ character in the classic movie.

13. A member of the band Orgy instructed Jamie on how to play the guitar for the last scene

Orgy, an American rock band formed in 1994, offered up one of their members to teach Jamie Lee how to play the guitar, and although the actor practiced making the concert scene look as authentic as possible, a studio musician dubbed over the guitar solo in the finished film.

14. Freaky Friday is actually based on Mary Rodgers’ 1972 novel of the same name

Rodgers’ story was adapted many times, including the original Disney version in 1976, which starred future Oscar winner Jodie Foster in her child actor years.

In 2020, it was the source for the movie Freaky, which focuses on a teenage girl who unintentionally swaps bodies with a middle-aged male serial killer.

Sarah Jessica Parker Opens Up About Deleted Sex And The City Scene That Could Have Been A Game-Changer For Carrie

Posted on 30/05/2025 by Boris Clair

Sarah Jessica Parker is lifting the lid on a deleted Sex And The City scene that would have given viewers more of an insight into her character’s background.

The Emmy winner played Carrie Bradshaw in all six seasons of Sex And The City, as well as its two spin-off films and the revival series And Just Like That.

Ahead of And Just Like That’s return, HuffPost UK spoke to Sarah Jessica about the fact that, despite Carrie having been on our screens for the better part of 30 years, there are still a lot of question marks around the character’s back story.

SJP explained that there has always been a “very conscious effort” to not shed too much light on any of the characters’ introduced in Sex And The City personal histories, but especially Carrie.

“There was a moment that we had a father for Carrie,” she recalled. “There was a scene shot where Carrie opens a desk drawer, and looks down and sees a photograph of her father, and shuts the drawer. And we cut it from the show.”

Sarah Jessica Parker at the premiere of And Just Like That season three

According to Sarah Jessica, showrunner Michael Patrick King opted to ditch the small scene as he felt it would have “complicated” the story, and might have “eclipsed” and “dominated” the bigger picture.

“I could not agree more,” she said. “There is a sort of alternate universe in which she lives, in which back story doesn’t exist.

“So, we’re not endowing her with qualities because… or saying she behaves this way because… or a parent or mother parented her this way and that’s why [she had] this response.

“[This approach is] so clean, and it kind of gives you more liberty to tell a story. Because in some ways, once you start introducing families, and the ways in which they’ve informed somebody, you lock yourself into, like, pathologies and choices and eccentricities.”

Carrie did briefly touch on her family life in season four of Sex And The City, when she disclosed that her father left the family home when she was a child.

“Do you think it really can be as simple as, ‘My father walked out, therefore I’ll always be messed up about men?‘’,” she asked Miranda in the episode A Vogue Idea, who responded: “My father came home every night at seven on the dot, and I have no clue about men either.”

The first episode of And Just Like That season three is now streaming on Sky and Now in the UK, with new instalments coming every Friday.

More interviews with the And Just Like That cast will be published on HuffPost UK in the coming days.

51 Iconic Met Gala Looks That Got The Whole World Talking

Posted on 05/05/2025 by Boris Clair

Every year on the first Monday in May, the world’s most famous people gather under one roof, dressed in their finest, for the Met Gala fundraiser event.

This means that on the first Tuesday in May, many of us here in the UK spend our mornings scrolling through social media, judging the A-list guests’ red carpet looks.

Well, folks, that fateful day is almost upon us. So, to prepare for this year’s event – co-chaired by Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, A$AP Rocky and Pharrell Williams, with the dress code “tailored for you” (in honour of the Met’s upcoming exhibit Superfine: Tailoring Black Style) – we’ve rounded up some of the best, most glamorous or, indeed, most outrageous looks in Met Gala history.

Expect repeat appearances from Met Gala staples like Rihanna, Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Kardashian and Doja Cat (some of whom we’re expecting big things from at Monday’s gathering.

Happy scrolling…

Rihanna (2015 – China: Through The Looking Glass)

Doja Cat (2023 – Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty)

Blake Lively (2022 – In America: An Anthology Of Fashion)

Jared Leto (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Zendaya (2018 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion And The Catholic Imagination)

Kim Kardashian (2021 – In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion)

Rihanna (2023 – Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty)

Madonna (2013 – Punk: Chaos To Couture)

Chadwick Boseman (2018 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion And The Catholic Imagination)

Cher (1974 – Romantic And Glamorous Hollywood Design)

Lupita Nyong’o (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Sarah Jessica Parker (2018 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion And The Catholic Imagination)

Zendaya (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Gigi Hadid (2022 – In America: An Anthology Of Fashion)

Rihanna (2017 – Comme Des Garçons: Art Of The In-Between)

Kim Kardashian (2022 – In America: An Anthology Of Fashion)

Beyoncé (2016 – Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology)

Lana Del Rey (2018 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion And The Catholic Imagination)

Jennifer Lopez (2021 – In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion)

Zayn (2016 – Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology)

Naomi Campbell (1995 – Haute Couture)

Billie Eilish (2021 – In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion)

Billy Porter (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Kim Kardashian (2024 – Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion/The Garden Of Time)

Ariana Grande (2018 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion And The Catholic Imagination)

Bad Bunny (2023 – Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty)

Sarah Jessica Parker (2006 – AngloMania: Tradition And Transgression In British Fashion)

Zendaya (2024 – Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion/The Garden Of Time)

Céline Dion (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Miley Cyrus (2013 – Punk: Chaos To Couture)

Demi Moore (2024 – Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion/The Garden Of Time)

Beyoncé (2015 – China: Through the Looking Glass)

Nicole Kidman (2023 – Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty)

Helen Lasichanh (2017 – Comme Des Garçons: Art Of The In-Between)

Lil Nas X (2023 – Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty)

Hailey Bieber (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Kim Kardashian (2013 – Punk: Chaos To Couture)

Princess Diana (1996 – Christian Dior)

Cardi B (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Jaden Smith (2017 – Comme Des Garçons: Art Of The In-Between)

Jared Leto (2023 – Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty)

Janelle Monáe (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Taylor Swift (2016 – Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology)

Lil Nas X (2021 – In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion)

Madonna (2018 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion And The Catholic Imagination)

Tyla (2024 – Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion/The Garden Of Time)

Timothée Chalamet (2021 – In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion)

Jennifer Lopez (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Rihanna (2018 – Heavenly Bodies: Fashion And The Catholic Imagination)

Doja Cat (2024 – Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion/The Garden Of Time)

Lady Gaga (2019 – Camp: Notes On Fashion)

Zayn Malik Marked 10 Years Since He Left One Direction With This Surprise Cover

Posted on 26/03/2025 by Boris Clair

Zayn Malik surprised fans at his show on Tuesday night with an impromptu throwback to his One Direction days – on the anniversary of his exit from the band being announced.

The chart-topping singer is currently nearing the end of his first ever solo world tour, but kicked things off in a different way at his show in Mexico City.

Much to fans’ delight, Zayn opened the set with a live performance of Night Changes, which also happened to be the last single One Direction released with him still a part of the group.

Zayn with his One Direction bandmates Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles in 2012

Zayn had not performed the song – which he co-wrote alongside all four of his former bandmates – since parting ways with 1D in 2015.

Unlike the other four members of the group, One Direction songs have never formed part of his live setlists.

It has been an emotional few months for Directioners, following the shock death of Liam Payne in October 2024, at the age of 31.

Back in November, Zayn joined his bandmates Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson – with whom he’d not been seen in public since his departure from the group – at Liam’s funeral.

Prior to that, he paid an emotional tribute on Instagram, writing: “I lost a brother when you left us and can’t explain to you what l’d give to just give you a hug one last time and say goodbye to you properly and tell you that I loved and respected you dearly.

“I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever, [I have] no words that justify or explain how I feel right now other than beyond devastated. I hope that wherever you are right now you are good and are at peace A and you know how loved you are.”

He signed off the emotional message: “Love you, bro.”

Nathan Lane Says He Didn’t Get This Big Film Role Because The Director Thought He Was ‘Too Gay’

Posted on 25/03/2025 by Boris Clair

Nathan Lane has revealed that he was up for a part in Space Jam but ultimately didn’t get it because of his sexuality.

“Apparently the director [Joe Pytka] saw me hosting the Tony Awards and thought that suggested I was too gay to play the part,” the Broadway star said in an interview with Vanity Fair published on Monday.

The Tony and Emmy winner had been asked about whether homophobia had limited his opportunities in Hollywood, leading him to mention his experience with the 1996 film, which starred NBA icon Michael Jordan alongside the cast of Looney Tunes.

Nathan had apparently been in consideration for the part of Jordan’s assistant Stan Podolak, a role that eventually went to Seinfeld star Wayne Knight.

However, Nathan noted that the film was one that he “didn’t really care about”, quipping: “So thank God, I didn’t have to do Space Jam…”

“But I don’t know,” he continued. “I’ll never know what people say. Homophobia is alive and well, still.”

Michael J. Fox and Chevy Chase were other names considered for the same part, the Space Jam director revealed to Entertainment Weekly in 2016, but Warner Bros. wasn’t fond of these choices.

Wayne Knight’s Seinfeld co-star Jason Alexander was also reportedly offered the role but politely declined it as well.

“Nobody wanted to be in this movie,” Pytka told the Chicago Tribune in 2009.

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Nathan, who publicly revealed he was gay in 1999, has previously detailed the challenges of being gay in Hollywood.

In a 2023 interview on Sunday Today, he recalled being “not prepared” to discuss his sexuality when he and Robin Williams, his co-star in the 1996 comedy The Birdcage, did an interview with Oprah Winfrey around the time of that movie’s release.

The two played a gay couple in the film, whose son is set to marry the daughter of a conservative couple. Nathan said he was “so scared” of how the interview could go down as he feared how Hollywood would react to him talking openly about his sexuality.

The actor retold how, when the host asked him whether he was afraid of being “typecast” for the role, Robin then jumped in and diverted the talk show host “because he was a saint”.

“Robin was just the greatest person ― such a beautiful, sensitive soul and so kind and generous to me,” he said of the late Oscar winner.

There’s 1 Hidden Detail Lady Gaga Fans Should Look Out For In Her Abracadabra Music Video

Posted on 05/02/2025 by Boris Clair

Lady Gaga has said that fans should be keeping their eyes peeled at all times while watching her new music video – as they might spot one or two familiar items.

During an ad break in Sunday night’s Grammys ceremony, Gaga premiered her new single Abracadabra and its accompanying video, which have both been massively well-received by fans and critics.

While the Poker Face singer has already lifted the lid on the hidden meaning in Abracadabra’s lyrics, she also opened up to Elle about the making of the music video.

“Something that was important to me was in a video of this size that we were also environmentally conscious to not overproduce and make too many new things,” she explained.

As a result, the white cape she wears was “upcycled using old wedding dresses”, while the dancers’ outfits were largely made of “deadstock fabric” (“that’s fabric that’s been in warehouses for long periods of time,” she clarified).

Lady Gaga revealed she explored her own archives for the Abracadabra music video

“We also use pieces from my archive; so old costumes are reinterpreted,” she added.

“There were a few new pieces. But we were trying to make something that was in the spirit of love the whole way through, something that was made with a really warm heart and community in mind.”

In other words, those of us who’ve been following Gaga’s career since her DIY, blunt fringe, “disco stick” days might spot some familiar sights when we’re watching Abracadabra for the millionth time in the space of two days.

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Abracadabra is still the number one trending music video on YouTube, while the track itself premiered with the biggest solo streaming figures of her career (overtaking a record set by her previous single Disease).

Meanwhile, Gaga’s 2024 hit Die With A Smile, featuring Bruno Mars, is still at number one in the global Spotify chart.

Abracadabra, Disease and Die With A Smile will all be featured on Gaga’s long-awaited seventh album, Mayhem, which is released next month.

People Are Sharing The Things They Believed As Kids (Which Turned Out To Be Untrue)

Posted on 27/01/2025 by Boris Clair

When you’re a kid there are lots of things you believe that aren’t necessarily true.

Most of the time this is down to what your parents have told you (like the police will tell you pull you over if you don’t turn the light off in the back of the car), but other times it’s just what you’ve made up in your head – and nobody has questioned it, so it’s taken as gospel.

In an amusing thread posted on Mumsnet, user @Carryonrunning asked the masses: “What do you remember from your childhood that you now realise you really misunderstood?”

Cue, a hilarious thread of eyebrow-raising confessions… (If you’re a parent reading this, it’s a useful reminder that kids take things very literally.)

I thought you got given an actual sack when you lose your job

“My dad came home from work one day with a hessian sack he’d acquired from somewhere. He then told my mum, ‘I’ve been given the sack’. It took me years to realise that a) he was joking and b) you don’t get given an actual sack when you lose your job.”

– BlossomCat

I thought you became an adult at 100 years old

“As a young child I thought you became an adult at 100 years old. Imagine my shock when someone at primary school told me it was just 18. I had a full on existential crisis when I realised most people don’t even live to 100!”

– Flustration

I thought you were meant to drive with one wheel either side of the central road line

“My family didn’t have a car, so my main experience of driving when I was really young was my grandad. He only drove us occasionally and from these rare experiences I worked out that the white line in the road was a guideline to keep you straight – a wheel each side of it. When I got to about 8 I began to wonder how cars going in opposite directions could both straddle the centre line without crashing. As I got older I realised my grandad was a really bad driver.”

I thought ‘cash back’ was free money

“In the shop when my mum and dad answered that they didn’t want cash back I always wondered why they turned down free money.”

– EdithGrantham

I thought it was the last day of the world

“I remember leaving primary school one day and I heard the teacher say to a friend’s Mum, ‘It’s the last day tomorrow.’ I must have been about five. I actually thought she meant that it was the last day of the world. I remember laying in bed that evening and worrying and worrying… In the end I went downstairs, crying to my Mum and asked her if it really was the last day of the world the next day.

“To my amazement, she looked at the calendar. I remember thinking, surely the people who make the calendars wouldn’t know when the last day is?! In reality she was just checking that it definitely was the last day of term. She hugged me and explained that the next day was just the last day of term, not Armageddon!”

– Feelinghurt2

I thought my mum’s heart would miss a beat and she would die

“I heard my mum talking on the way home from picking me up at school, to some of her mum friends. She said something like ‘my heart missed a beat’ and from that moment on for YEARS I was afraid that hearts could do this. I worried that my mum’s heart would miss more beats and she would die, or that my heart might miss a beat and something bad would happen. I’d lie in bed listening to my heartbeat and wondering if I’d notice if it missed one…”

– Vroomfondleswaistcoat

I thought giving the middle finger meant ‘up and over’

“I remember my dad giving the 1 finger salute when driving and me asking my mum what that meant. With a rather frosty look at my dad she said it meant up and over. I then got confused as to why I got into trouble doing it.”

I thought the olden days were actually black and white

“I thought that the ‘olden days’ really were black and white and there really was no colour – just like the photographs. I thought that at least they had grey and different tones of black and white.”

– Whatthechicken

I thought To Let signs meant public toilet

“I used to think that when you saw a ‘To let’ sign on a building, it was a polite way of saying there’s a public toilet in there.”

– MathsMum3

14 Things You Probably Never Knew About The Christmas Classic The Grinch

Posted on 25/12/2024 by Boris Clair

In the last two decades, the 2000s big-screen adaptation of The Grinch has become an undeniable festive classic.

A surefire annual rewatch once cosy season rolls around, the live-action film depicts just how the frosty green heart of Jim Carrey’s character is thawed by the inhabitants of Whoville.

As familiar as you are with the tale, though, you might not know these behind the scenes facts about The Grinch, The Whos and even Mount Crumpit.

Here are 14 behind-the-scenes facts about The Grinch…

1. Jim Carrey underwent torture endurance training to help him tolerate the Grinch prosthetics

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According to an interview on Graham Norton’s BBC talk show, the actor was trained by the actual CIA to help him endure the hefty costume required to transform him into the green meanie.

In 2022, the Canadian star said filming The Grinch was like “being buried alive every day” due to the heavy prostheses, and he could often be found smoking in full costume (complete with an oversized cigarette-holder to avoid anything going up in flames) to help him through the process.

2. Director Ron Howard became The Grinch on set for a day

So intense was the costume, that director Ron Howard finally decided to give it a whirl to see what all the fuss was about – and he also directed the production decked out in it for a day.

“It must’ve been very confusing for everyone else,” he said.

3. The Grinch is actually an Oscar-winning film

When you think “Grinch”, you don’t necessarily think: Academy Awards – but you should.

The film won an Oscar in 2001 for best makeup and hairstyling, which actually makes sense when you consider what Jim Carrey was put through on set.

4. The film almost featured a cameo from another Dr Seuss creation – The Cat In The Hat

The author’s widow, Audrey Geisel, actually put a stop to an Easter egg referencing another one of his creations, the sartorially advanced feline.

She spoke to Newsweek, and revealed that the Grinch nearly had a stuffed version of the Cat In The Hat on his wall – but she vetoed it.

The Cat In The Hat was later adapted in a similar style to The Grinch starring Mike Myers in the title role, although it was far less well-received.

5. Bryce Dallas Howard appears in the film

Bryce Dallas Howard is credited as Surprised Who – and when you realise her dad was the film’s director, it makes sense for the then-19-year-old to have a cheeky cameo.

6. Eddie Murphy auditioned for the role of The Grinch

Though the role went to Jim Carrey, multiple other actors auditioned, including Jack Nicholson.

7. Welcome Christmas was written to mimic Latin

The song Welcome Christmas was written in gibberish, but it was made to mimic the sounds of the ancient roman language Latin. Producers did this so well, in fact, that some fans asked for translations of the jingle.

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This Is Why The Original Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special Is Still A Festive Masterpiece

Posted on 22/12/2024 by Boris Clair

While every year there are the same moans and groans about the Christmas TV schedules being packed with repeats, there’s one show that we definitely don’t mind watching again and again – the original festive special of Gavin & Stacey.

The BBC sitcom had been running for two seasons by the time we got the first festive episode in 2008, and what a seasonal delight it was.

While we’d seen plenty of interactions between the entire Shipman and West clan in the years previous, there was a real moment of joy seeing them all prepare for their first Christmas together following Gavin and Stacey’s wedding.

Not only did the hour-long episode deliver on comedy and plot, but it also highlighted all those little Christmas foibles that go on in households up and down the country come 25 December.

And as much as we loved having the gang back together in 2019 for the much-anticipated reunion episode, there’s something magical about the original that made it such a festive masterpiece.

Here’s why it’s a show that’s worthy of repeat viewing every December…

1. Pam’s stance on Christmas cards

Pam had strong views on when to send Christmas cards

Prior to 2008, we were always baffled as to why some people would send their Christmas cards before December had even rolled around, but Pam Shipman imparted some serious wisdom on us that made us completely reverse our stance.

“What is the point of sending cards that arrive on Christmas Eve? They’ll get taken down in a few days. That’s why I send all mine on the first of November. Gives people seven weeks to enjoy them,” she said.

You have to admit, she has a point, right?

2. John who?

Speaking of Christmas cards, Pam and Mick also tapped into something we’ve all heard our parents say when they receive a festive greeting from someone they cannot quite place.

“Oh, look at that, ‘From John’… It could be mechanic John… It won’t be John from Ann and John.”

3. Doris being ‘absolutely twatted’ before lunchtime on Christmas Eve

A relatable queen.

4. Nessa in the grotto

An inspired piece of writing from Ruth Jones and James Corden.

5. Gavin and Smithy’s sing-a-long

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It’s the scene that inspired James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke, and despite the fact he was eventually joined by the likes of Adele, Britney Spears and Lady Gaga in his car to sing along to their biggest hits, it’s still Smithy’s duet down the phone on Do They Know It’s Christmas? that remains the original and the best.

We’ve also never been able to say Midge Ure’s name the same way since.

6. The mint Baileys scene

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The scene where Gwen and Bryn share their first ever mint Baileys before boarding the coach to Essex wasn’t big or flashy, but it had a quiet comfort and poignancy about it, which Gavin & Stacey always nails so perfectly.

7. Mick’s turkey saga

Are you basting it? Are you soaking it overnight? Are you doing it the Nigella way? Or are you sticking to Jamie Oliver, because you “know where you are with him”?

Through the characters of Mick and Pete, the Christmas special managed to perfectly encapsulate the bizarre obsession and competitiveness dads have with other men about their turkeys each year.

8. The fight

Pam wasn't exactly thrilled with Gavin's news — Pam wasn’t exactly thrilled with Gavin’s news

Pam’s eruption after finding out her “little prince” was planning on relocating to Barry set off a chain of events that made this scene one of the most memorable in Gavin & Stacey history.

Not only did Alison Steadman absolutely commit to the moment, but we also saw Gwen finally stand up to Pam, Nessa threaten to “see her outside” (and Pam stupidly believe she could take her on), before Pete went toe-to-toe with Dave Coaches to defend Dawn’s honour.

Admittedly, there’s some language that we’d hope wouldn’t make it into the script in 2024, and we were very pleased when they all put the row behind them. But it has to be said, this scene shook up the dynamic between all the characters and also sent up those fights that happen in every family each festive season.

9. Pam and Mick’s royal romp

We learned that Pam’s royal obsession translated into the bedroom as she prepared to be “knighted” with Mick’s “special sword” – all while he was wearing a comedy pair of King Charles ears.

10. Pam’s vegetarianism comes unstuck

As “Three Steaks Pam” faced the prospect of a turkey-less Christmas after her long-standing lies about being a vegetarian, it transpired she hadn’t fooled anyone with her stance on meat – except for Gwen that is, who had bought her a vegetarian cookbook for Christmas.

11. The opening of the ‘presents’

Nessa and Dave gifted everyone a single chocolate from a box of Celebrations

Never before had we been so eager to see which Celebration someone was eating, and we definitely still relate to Smithy wrapping all his presents in tin foil for ease.

Doris gifting Gwen talcum powder, despite her still having a stack of it unused at home from previous years, was also a foible we’ve seen play out during present openings over the years.

12. The Nessa and Smithy sexual tension

Smithy didn't want Nessa to marry Dave — Smithy didn’t want Nessa to marry Dave

Years before we got the 2019 Christmas proposal, there was a special moment between Nessa and Smithy that gave fans hope that the characters would finally end up together as Smithy urged her not to marry Dave Coaches.

13. The end song

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No, you’re crying.

All episodes of Gavin & Stacey are available to watch on BBC iPlayer. The final episode of Gavin & Stacey will air on Christmas Day at 9pm on BBC One.