BBC Gavin and Stacey star Rob Brydon's true feelings about James Corden after calling him 'ratty'

Rob Brydon revealed he had once helped his Gavin and Stacey co-star James Corden out of a 'spoilt and brattish' period. The stars have once again been working together for the eagerly anticipated upcoming Christmas special.

The show, which airs on BBC One at 9pm tonight, marks the first episode of the hit sitcom in five years. Rob, who plays the much-adored Uncle Bryn in the show, once spoke about how James had become 'ratty and irritable' after his fast rise to success.

It came after James addressed his 'spoilt and brattish' behaviour after winning a Bafta for for Gavin & Stacey in 2008. He credited Brydon with snapping him out of it. And Rob later told the story, admitting James had 'lost his way'.

Read more James Corden's secret to 6 stone weight loss and why Ozempic 'didn't work'

He told The Independent: "He is such a talent, James, good God he really is. So he was on a rollercoaster.

"This boy from High Wycombe, and he’s suddenly enjoying the fruits of his success, and he just lost his way for a bit. He was burning the candle at both ends, and becoming ratty and irritable.

"He was in a washing machine being battered around. I felt for him. And the press over here were hoping and praying he’d fall flat on his face, because that would be a fantastic story.”

Rob added: “You would hear people saying, ‘He’s this, he’s that. So I took him out for lunch, and I was sitting there thinking, ‘When am I going to bring this up?’

"And I just said, ‘I don’t like hearing people saying this, because that’s not the person I know. So you need to be careful.’ And he took it in the spirit that it was intended. I’m so proud of James. We just spent half-term in California and went to see his show, and I was so proud of him.”

He later told The Times his true feelings for James after the actor was blasted for making 'rude' comments at a restaurant in America, saying: “The James Corden I know is not the person I sometimes see people reported on. He gets a lot of stick.

“I’m hugely fond of him. I’d never heard of him when we met on a show in 2002, but I vividly remember saying to myself, ‘Oh I’ve got to pull my socks up here; this kid is really good.'"