Gavin and Stacey stars Mathew Hoorn has become a father before reprising his role on the show Christmas special.
Mathew, 45, is best known and loved for his role as leading man Gavin Shipman in the film BBC comedy, written by James Corden And Ruth Jones.
As fans will know – and are counting down the days to – he will return later this year as the Essex boy when the entire cast reunites for a final episode.
And while Gavin and Stacey (played by Joanna Page) who are known to have their own on-screen children, Mathew's family is extensive in real life as well.
This weekend, the actor and his wife Celina Bassili were photographed with their little one for the first time.
Carrying their son, Mathew pushed a pram as they made the most of the Bank Holiday sunshine.
It is believed the Catherine Tate star kept his arrival a secret and only spread the news to a select few family members.
A source said The sun: 'Mathew is a brilliant father and he and Celina love being parents.
'Celina's brother has a son the same age and they enjoy spending time together.
'Mathew also kept the news quiet as he prefers to live out of the spotlight, even though he is a household name thanks to Gavin and Stacey.'
They added: 'All of his Gavin and Stacey co-stars know he's a dad, including James Corden and Joanna Page.
“They all have children, so you can imagine that the conversations on set for the Christmas special will be a lot about their children.”
Mathew and Celina – a Norwegian set designer – are said to have become parents for the first time shortly after tying the knot in October 2021.
They first became romantically involved in 2019 after he was engaged to actress Evelyn Hoskins until 2018.
Mathew has kept a pretty low profile since the third series of Gavin and Stacey completed nine years ago.
He first rose to fame on The Catherine Tate Show in a variety of roles, most notably as the foul-mouthed Nan's grandson, Jamie.
It wasn't long before he and James were joined at the hip and a year later confessed that they had spent 263 days together.
Unfortunately, their working relationship and off-screen friendship began to crumble after their comedy sketch show, Horne and Corden, was panned by critics, as was their film Lesbian Vampire Killers.
Ultimately, their bromance came under great pressure, meaning they could no longer review their work.
They went their separate ways amid claims of a bitter feud and stopped talking for months, with Mathew himself admitting he 'withdrew' after criticism of their joint projects.
Mathew also turned down an offer to appear on James' episode of Life Stories, but later claimed there was no major bad blood.
He said in 2016: 'Jealousy is not something I do – I'm not a jealous person. I am happy with the success he is achieving.'
Meanwhile, Gavin and Stacey fanatics are eager to see him return as his beloved character for the first time since 2019, when the final Christmas episode aired.
The one-off program was confirmed earlier this year when writers James and Ruth took to social media with a photo of the script, sending the internet into meltdown.
Even celebrities expressed their excitement, such as Gordon Ramsay and Rylan Clark.
James wrote: 'Some news… It's official!!! We've finished writing the very last episode of Gavin and Stacey. See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. I love Ruth and James.'
The plot of the episode is kept secret for the time being, with even the cast members themselves left in the dark as filming has yet to begin and scripts have yet to be distributed.
Will we finally find out what happened on the fishing trip? Did Smithy say yes to Nessa's proposal and are they now married? So many burning questions that we can only pray will be answered…
But that's not the only thing we have to look forward to, oh no.
It's also said we'll be treated to an extra festive gift: a documentary looking back at the program so we can see what happens behind the scenes.
Merry Christmas indeed!
Gavin and Stacey return to the BBC on Christmas Day.
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