James Corden breaks down in tears as he reflects on Gavin and Stacey

James Corden broke down in tears as he bid an emotional farewell to Gavin and Stacey at the show's premiere, just days before the comedy's last ever episode hit screens.

17 years after its first episode hit screens, the show's finale saw on/off lovers Smithy and Nessa finally declare their love for one another.

It was a fitting ending to the couple's unconventional relationship, which began with a drunken hook-up during the show's first episode.

And speaking at a Q&A with the cast at the premiere last week, James was visibly emotional as he took to the stage, after watching the final episode unfold.

The presenter created the show alongside longtime friend Ruth Jones, with the pair going onto play Smithy and Nessa.

Discussing watching the show's final scenes, Ruth said: 'I'm not going to lie, I’m feeling a bit drained. It was so lovely to watch it with an audience, mainly made-up for people who worked on the show. 

'I hope we did you proud and it's just lovely to hear all the reactions because of course, you know when you're watching it and we've seen it several times, so for people to watch it for the first time to hear that very initial responses was just gorgeous.'

James also alluded to the surprise return of star Laura Aikman, who reprised her role as Smithy's girlfriend Sonia, in a reveal that was kept secret from viewers until the episode hit screens.

He said: 'I just want it to feel satisfying really, that’s all. Obviously you're waiting for little key moments like, the reveal of Sonya and I do feel like it's very, very important to say that Laura, who plays Sonia, puts in as good of a performance as you could ever really wish for, and she isn't here today for fear of it still just somehow leaking.

'She stayed in hotels, she was going into places in the dead of night, she's not part of any of this, such is her want and our want to try and protect the very feeling that we had here, so we’ve really love to give her a round of applause.'

'An almost impossible task now, and in the hands of anybody else would be a cartoon, and I hope that she gets celebrated for what is a pitch perfect performance really.'

Gavin and Stacey came to an end with the feature-length finale on Christmas Day, with many viewers quick to laud the ending as 'perfect.'

The series, which debuted back in 2007 after being created by stars James Corden and Ruth Jones, concluded with on/off lovers Smithy and Nessa finally declaring their love for one another and tying the knot, but not without a few hiccups along the way.

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Gavin And Stacey fans are left in tears by 'perfect' finale as Smithy and Nessa FINALLY tie the knot

Smithy was originally set to wed his girlfriend Sonia, with it revealed he'd never given an answer to Nessa's proposal, which provided the cliffhanger to the show's 2019 Christmas Special.

But after the entire Shipman/West clan finally declared that he was making a mistake, Smithy finally declared his love for Nessa, proposing to her in an emotional scene at Southampton Docks.

The episode then cut to Smithy and Nessa exchanging their vows at long last in an intimate ceremony in Barry, with the series ending with an emotional montage of the family marking the occasion at The Dolphin pub, before posing for a family snap together.

Ruth and James also revealed that their final day of filming was also the last scene that viewers watched, making it an emotional day for the entire cast.

James said: 'The first schedule of the show had us finishing, I think it was going to be me on my own in a car on a low loader and and Ruth and I were like ''that can't be the last day!'' 

'And I think that's the only time we've gone ''we'd like to have a say in the schedule here,'' and it was all to do with people's dates...

'This is a massive cast who are all very busy and have different things to do and have juggled a lot of things around to do it, but we really, really felt that the last day should be the last scene and that the last line should be the last thing that we ever shoot.

Ruth added: 'If you look at the script, it's just the montage isn't it? And so we had a whole day, it was quite a luxury because normally, you're watching the clock and you're up against it and you've got to get in wrap, and we were so blessed that everyone in production made this happen so that we could have the luxury of having a final day where everybody was there and that all we had to do, we didn't really have any lines!

'It was lovely because it did feel like a real wedding, didn't it? Like a real wedding to sort of pub reception and we were very grateful to being indulged, for being able to do that because it made such a world of difference that we did that last shot. 

'And then Chris, when she called cut on the very last take, arranged for the sound department to play [Run by Stephen Fretwell, the show's theme] and that got us all going.'

James added: 'It was probably the most emotional film set I've been on, and it was kind of wonderful, so many of our crew have been with us from the start and so it's a wonderful way to close it all out on a Monday in Barry.'