Sheridan Smith says she’d ‘definitely’ return to Gavin and Stacey for a new series

Sheridan Smith has admitted that she’d be keen to return to Gavin and Stacey if co-creators James Corden and Ruth Jones decide to write a new series.

The much-loved sitcom made a long-awaited return to the BBC on Christmas Day after almost a decade off screen.

The festive special proved a huge hit with audiences, watched by 18.5 million people and becoming the most viewed scripted programme of the decade.

The episode reunited Corden (Smithy) and Jones (Nessa) with former co-stars Mathew Horne (Gavin), Joanna Page (Stacey), Rob Brydon (Uncle Bryn), Alison Steadman (Pam) and Larry Lamb (Mick).

However Smith, 38, who played Smithy’s younger sister Rudi, did not feature.

Discussing the possibility of reprising her role in the future, Smith told The Sun: “I’d definitely come back for a series. I’m not in touch with James - he lives in America.

“If I saw him here, we’d hug. I’ve got a lot of love for him but we don’t see each other.”

The Christmas special finished on a shocking cliffhanger and prompted fans to call for another episode or even a new series.

However, Corden dashed viewers’ hopes last month when he confirmed that he and Jones currently have “no plans” to return to Barry Island.

“We have no plans to make another, not at the moment,” he told Lorraine during a live broadcast from the Oscars red carpet.

“We’ll have a sit down and think about that at some point but we certainly haven’t had that discussion yet,” he added, before noting that he and his co-writer are “over the moon” that a “mind-blowing number” of people had sat down to watch the special.