Gavin and Stacey star revealed finale secret to Strictly friend

Gavin and Stacey star Laura Aikman was sworn to secrecy before making her shock return in the show's finale - but she did tell actress pal Sarah Hadland.

Aikman, who played Smithy's ex-girlfriend Sonia, was revealed at the start of the 2024 Christmas show as his bride-to-be.

Miranda star Hadland had told Aikman she had a secret, so Aikman said: "Well, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

Aikman, who plays Rachel Duffy in Liverpool crime drama This City is Ours, told BBC Wales Lucy Owen she did not even tell her parents about her crucial role in the show.

She said: "I was just like, I don't want to be the one that ruins everyone's Christmas. So I'm not telling a soul."

Security was so tight actors were not allowed to go out, though Aikman said she was papped after visiting Dr Who star Russell Tovey.

He was filming a spin-off of the sci-fi called The War Between the Land and the Sea.

"The only person I told was my friend Sarah Hadland, because she told me she had a big work secret, and basically, it was that she was doing Strictly," she said.

Once Aikman knew that she let the cat out of the bag.

"And so we told each other, and then that was quite nice, because we could just speak to each other about the madness and the secrecy," she said.

A new series of This City Is Ours, which its stars recently defended against claims it glamourises crime, starts on BBC One on Sunday at 21:00 GMT.