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Wales Online
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Kathryn Williams

Gavin & Stacey: Dave Coaches actor Steffan Rhodri was advised to turn down the 'too small' role

There are many characters in Gavin & Stacey who are iconic and you just simply could not imagine them being played by anyone else.

But the brilliant Dave Coaches almost wasn't played by Steffan Rhodri after his agent had doubts about the size of the role in an unknown BBC Three sitcom.

Read more: What the cast of Gavin & Stacey have been up to for the past 10 years

The actor, who is also known for his parts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Wonder Woman, appeared as a judge on BBC Two's Great British Menu for the final of the Welsh heats, which saw SY23 chef, Nathan Davies make it through to the final test in a few weeks time and compete to cook at the final banquet celebrating 100 years of British Broadcasting.

Asked by fellow judge, Nisha Katona, about his varied acting career and being recognised as Dave Coaches, the vest-wearing coach driver who romances Ruth Jones' Nessa, Steffan spoke about being approached by fans.

"I can't go anywhere without people going 'oh what's occurring Dave,'" said the 54-year-old Swansea native.

"But it has opened a lot of doors for me. I love it."

Steffan as Dave Coaches in Gavin & Stacey (BABY COW)

Going on to explain how he took the role he said he'd known Ruth Jones since youth theatre and she and co-creator James Corden were keen for him to play the part.

Steffan said: "And I told my agent they'd asked me to do this one episode in this series on BBC 3 as a bus driver. And she said, 'do you really have to do this, how many scenes?' And there were three scenes and she said, 'you don't want to play such a small part do you?'

"I insisted and, of course, it became Gavin & Stacey... I teased her for many years after."

Steffan, who is a keen foodie and cook, was impressed by the standard of cooking from the Welsh chefs, Davies and Tom Phillips, whose dishes were inspired by TV programmes like Merlin, His Dark Materials, I'm a Celebrity.

Davies' brilliant Coast-inspired main gave a nod to Welsh coastal flavours and was served on a wooden map of Wales.

Steffan also enjoyed the 'drama' of Nathan's dessert, The Black Chair, which was a nod to the story of poet Ellis Evans (Hedd Wyn) who won the Eisteddfod chair but died in the battle of Passchendaele.

"I do enjoy cooking very much," he said. "The other thing I've done other than acting because actors have to other bits and bobs, is work with location caterers and I then got a job on the following season."

Nathan Davies won the week and will go on to represent Wales in the national finals, next month.

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