A joke about Russell Brand appeared to have been removed from an episode of Gavin & Stacey on BBC iPlayer, following allegations emerging about the actor and comedian earlier this year.
In September, Brand was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse following a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches. Brand strongly denied the claims.
Earlier this month, Brand was reportedly questioned by police over alleged assault allegations.
Fans rewatching the 2007 Christmas special of the beloved sitcom noticed that the joke had been removed.
The joke in question is mentioned when the characters go to Pam and Mick’s (played by Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb) and Nessa (Ruth Jones) returns from reading to baby Neil. Pam expects she was reading him a “little fairy story” but Nessa was actually reading him Brand’s autobiography, My Booky Wook.
Gavin and Stacey. Credit: BBC
“Did we get a mention in the end?” Stacey (Joanna Page) asks, and when Nessa says they didn’t, she replies: “I’m disappointed, are you?”
“Don’t be Stace. We had a crackin’ night Pam, all three of us,” Nessa replies.
However, it later appeared that the Brand joke hadn’t been purposefully deleted. A BBC spokesperson told LADbible: “This version was uploaded to BBC iPlayer in error. The original version will be on BBC iPlayer shortly.”
Last week, Page played down the chances of a Gavin And Stacey comeback, saying the British sitcom is unlikely to return.
Many fans hoped that co-creator and star James Corden moving back to the UK following his eight-year stint hosting The Late Late Show in the US would increase the chances of a comeback for the show. And after Corden was recently spotted meeting with fellow co-creator Ruth Jones in London, speculation was rife.
However, Page, who played Stacey in the sitcom, says the chances of the hit comedy returning are low because it was left on a perfect cliffhanger in the 2019 Christmas special, with Nessa (Ruth) proposing to Corden’s character Smithy, and the episode ending before he could provide an answer.
Speaking to MailOnline, Page said: “I can see them never doing any more because it was nice to leave it on a cliffhanger because it’s up to the viewer to imagine what would have happened. So I can imagine them ending it like that.”
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