Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page’s steamy mornings with actor husband when kids away

She may be an actress, author and comedy icon, but Joanna Page has her sights set on Downing Street. “I tell you, if I were Prime Minister the first thing I would do would be to make schools start at 9am instead of 8am,” she says. “I can’t get up at seven o’clock in the morning any more. I’m so bloody tired!”

Of course, she’s joking about stepping into Sir Keir’s shoes – but not about being knackered. Busy mum-of-four Joanna has spent 13 years juggling showbiz and motherhood and it’s no walk in the park. Not that you’d know that from talking to her.

When we catch up with the lovely Gavin & Stacey star, who also starred in romcom Love Actually and Taskmaster, she’s as bright as a button, chatting at 100mph and giggling like a school girl.

“I wasn’t so giggly last night,” she says as we catch up over a Zoom call to celebrate the paperback release of her bestselling autobiography Lush! “I was trying to get everyone sorted for bedtime and my youngest ended up fully clothed, falling asleep on the bed.

“There was something quite joyous about it, but my God, her days are so packed. All of them do so bloody much in the way of activities that by the end of the night me and my husband are delirious, we’re so tired.”

Not that Joanna would have it any other way. Married to her actor hubby James Thornton for 23 years now, the pair share Eva, 13, Kit, 11, Noah, nine, and Boe, four, and as a result they’re always on the go. But how does that work when it comes to spending quality time as a couple? And how do they stay so in tune with one another?

“We’ve been together for such a massive amount of time, we’ve managed to grow together,” Joanna, 49, says. “Inevitably you change as a person. My personality has completely evolved from when we first met – that’s what happens when you have four kids.

“I really feel I’m the woman I’m meant to be now. But from the start our goals and morals have always been the same – how we want to live, how we want to parent. But honestly, we don’t get to spend much time together at all.

“By half ten at night everyone is still up, the kids are playing dress-up or shooting toy arrows at each other on the landing, I’m still co-sleeping with Boe, so for now, at least, we only have mornings.”

Joanna and James don’t waste those precious few hours when the kids are out of the house. “Boe’s at nursery, the children are at school, so James and I will turn to each other and say, ‘Let’s just try and grab five minutes, let’s quickly have some wild, abandoned sex,’ and then maybe we’ll have lunch at the local pub,” she says.

“Sometimes we just sit in the same room, doing work together, or watching TV. We both know it won’t be forever, just while the kids are young and we still find those precious moments here and there.”

James now guest-stars on Joanna’s podcast, also called Lush!, every Friday, meaning the couple get extra hours together, which Joanna believes has helped enormously in keeping the spark alive.

“We are forced to sit, look at each other and talk non-stop for two hours,” she says. “If we’re in the middle of an argument, we’ll sit and talk about it, or I’ll be like, ‘Oh my God, what do you think about what’s going on in the world at the moment?’

“We just talk and talk and talk, so when we come out of the studio it feels really good because we’ve managed to connect.”

Speaking of communication, nothing is off-limits in Joanna’s house and when it comes to her autobiography, her kids weren’t surprised by even the most shocking revelations.

While it’s packed full of funny anecdotes from her time in showbiz, she also talks about some darker issues, such as being touched inappropriately by a man on set and facing debilitating rejection while auditioning.

“There’s nothing shocking or surprising to them,” says Joanna. “They see me going for auditions and learning lines and not getting a job, so they know the reality of the world and the profession. And in our family, we talk so much about life and relationships and looking after ourselves. My God, it’s a very, very open house.

“We’re very open anyway, because we’re actors, so we’re used to completely expressing ourselves. So I think if anything, our kids are like, ‘Oh, for God’s sake, just stop talking, just be normal!’”

That said, there’s nothing “normal” about your mum being in one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time. Joanna still has so much love for Gavin & Stacey – and her co-star James Corden. While James has divided fans over the years, Joanna has no qualms defending him.

“James does get a bad rap, but in my opinion he’s the kindest man and he’ll do anything for you,” she says. “He’s so difficult to work with because he’s got a glint in his eye and he bloody well makes you laugh, and that’s really difficult sometimes. He’s a lovely fellow and a very kind friend. He’s always been absolutely adorable to me.”

As for another series following 2024’s finale, Joanna says, “I don’t think there will ever be any more episodes. I’ve always thought over the years there would be more, but after seeing the finale that’s the only time I’ve genuinely thought, ‘That’s 100% done.’ I think it’s all tied up now, what with Nessa and Smithy getting married. What else is there to see? But my God I’d be more than happy if they ever wanted to do one more.”

Lush! by Joanna Page (Sphere) is available in paperback, eBook and audio from Thursday 4 June

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk