Gavin & Stacey Christmas special 2024 ending explained: Who gets married?

The 2019 special ended on a whopping cliffhanger when Nessa (Ruth Jones) got down on one knee and popped the big question – and now we have finally know what happened next.

2024's Christmas special picks up five years after 2019's reunion special, with Smithy gearing up for a wedding – though the identity of the bride may come as a surprise to viewers in the opening scenes.

But do things work out as everyone has been hoping in the end? Here's your full overview of the exhilarating ending to the Gavin & Stacey 2024 Christmas special – which also serves as the grand finale to this celebrated sitcom. Spoiler alert!

Gavin & Stacey 2024 Christmas special ending explained: Do Smithy and Nessa end up together?

As we near the end of the Gavin & Stacey 2024 Christmas special, Smithy still intends to marry his fiancé Sonia (played by Laura Aikman), to whom his friends and family have secretly taking a strong disliking.

Although he never gave Nessa a proper answer to her proposal, she has all but given up on their romance and decided to return to her job on a cargo ship in order to clear her head.

The rest of the gang are in attendance for the big day, although no one is particularly thrilled to be there – with Stacey and Pam among the most concerned about the marriage.

Gavin's instinct as the best man is to sweep those doubts under the rug, fearing it could cause a major scene to raise them even subtly to the groom himself.

But in the end, his worry gets the better of him and Gavin disrupts the wedding at a most inopportune moment, just as he's supposed to be handing over the wedding rings.

Everyone is shocked, including the officiator of the ceremony (played by Motherland's Anna Maxwell Martin), who proceeds to ask the guests to stand if they disapprove of the marriage.

Although initially hesitant to come forward, all of Smithy's loved ones – including his son, Neil the Baby, and father figure Mick – eventually express their concern by getting up off their seats in solemnity.

Sonia is furious and confused by what is occurring, having meticulously planned the day, but for Smithy, it's a wake-up call.

Until now, he has been oblivious to the red flags in their relationship, such as Sonia's refusal to spend time with people he cares about, her expensive demands for the wedding, and back-handed remarks, such as saying he's "punching above his weight".

But seeing the ceremony erupt into protest brings it all into focus and he realises that his feelings for Sonia have never been as strong as his feelings for Nessa.

Breaking things off at the altar, Smithy and the gang hop on Dave's bus in a race to Southampton dockyard, hoping to catch Nessa before she sets sail for six months.

Overcoming some obstacles along the way, they get there in the nick of time and Smithy pours his heart out to Nessa as she prepares to board a ship.

He concludes by asking her to propose to him again, but she refuses, saying that she only ever asks once. So, he takes it upon himself to pop the question instead – and the answer is yes.

The story ends at Nessa and Smithy's impromptu and comparatively low key wedding, in which the bride and groom choose not to kiss at the end of the ceremony, stating that they never have in a callback to a joke from the original series.

The whole gang party at the reception, sharing drinks, dancing and karaoke, with the final shot being a joyful group photo.

It's an ending that may not be wholly surprising, but it's sure to put a smile on the face of any fan who has followed these characters over their many years on screen.

What was the last line in the Gavin & Stacey finale?

As the cast prepare for the photo right at the end of the episode, Stacey says to Gavin: "Smithy and Nessa, who’d have thought?" to which Gavin replies: "I know, only took ‘em 17 years."

Speaking about this scene during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Cordon explained that the crew decided to schedule things so that the final line delivered on the show was done on the last day of filming.

“We really kind of scheduled the show so that the very last line that we’ll ever hear in the episode is the last thing we shot," he explained.

"Which anyone will tell you is so rare that you ever do. Normally, your last day, you’re out on a motorway on your own in a car, and people go, 'Well done,' and you go, 'Bye then'.

He added: "But we really felt like we wanted everybody to be there at the very, very end, and it was just a lot of tears."

Gavin & Stacey is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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