James Corden's Gavin & Stacey co-star Rob Brydon has leaped to his defence after negative reports about his behaviour.
Corden, currently performing at London's Old Vic theatre, has faced a number of accusations over the years that he is allegedly rude and difficult to deal with behind the scenes.
But Brydon, who plays Uncle Bryn in Gavin & Stacey said he doesn't understand where the criticism of Corden stems from.
"The James Corden I know is not the person I sometimes see people report on," he told The Times. "He gets a lot of stick."
Brydon recalled their first meeting on a show in 2002. "I’d never heard of him when we met, but I vividly remember saying to myself, ‘Oh I’ve got to pull my socks up here; this kid is really good.’"
In 2022, Balthazar restaurant owner Keith McNally labelled Corden “a tiny cretin of a man” after reportedly making rude comments and demands to staff.
McNally even banned Corden from his New York establishment. The ban was lifted after Corden acknowledged his inappropriate comments, stating, “it was never my intention” to upset the staff.
That same year, during an appearance on The Big Narstie Show, Spice Girls member Mel B called Corden the “biggest d***head celebrity” she had ever encountered, a sentiment she reiterated the following year.
In March 2024, Sharon Osbourne criticised Corden on ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother for his habit of name-dropping. Osbourne recounted an interaction where Corden responded to her giving him a compliment about his shoes by stating, “Yes, Stella McCartney,” which she found unnecessary.
Reflecting on Corden's move to the US to host The Late Late Show from 2015 until the previous year, Osbourne remarked, “When he got to America, he played the LA game really well,” agreeing with her former X Factor co-star Louis Walsh that Corden “kissed all the right people... I mean, he’s fair game. That fake laugh.”
Corden has recently announced he and co-writer Ruth Jones, who plays Nessa in Gavin & Stacey, have just completed the script for the BBC sitcom's highly anticipated final Christmas special, which will see a return of Brydon's character.
Brydon also previously revealed the finale will wrap up all the cliff-hanger storylines.
