Joanna Page has been all over our TV screens once again with her appearance on ITV's Cooking With The Stars and a new role presenting on This Morning. In the run up to the ITV celeb cooking show, which starts on Wednesday, July 4, Joanna confessed that she won over her other half with a tin of tuna and spaghetti, read what she had to say, here.
But who is her TV star husband and how did they meet and what else do we know about the Swansea-born actress who is best known for her role as bubbly Stacey in Barry Island-based comedy, Gavin & Stacey?
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Joanna Page's husband and family life
James Thornton and Joanna fell in love after watching the BBC1 show David Copperfield in which they both starred - yet had never met during filming. They had no scenes together and didn't meet until three years after the show aired.
Wales Online spoke to Joanna some months after their wedding, and she told us of the very moment she knew he was the one.
"I remember when I first watched David Copperfield, and seeing James lift little Daniel, who played David, up on his shoulders - and I thought, 'Oh my God, I want that man to be the father of my children!'
"And James watched it at the same time, and said he fell in love with me! For the next three years we fancied each other like mad. I used to watch him on Playing the Field, and thought he was adorable."
The couple's paths crossed when Joanna went to audition for a play at the National Theatre, and had promised to meet up with an actress friend who was appearing in a production of The Cherry Orchard there. "She phoned me and said, 'There's a man in the play who's in love with you, and will you come and see the play'?
"Then I realised who it was, and watched him for four hours on stage that evening, and thought he was gorgeous. We met up in the bar, and we just hit it off. It was weird to find out that this other person has felt the same way about you for three years. It was meant to be!"
In December 2013 paired tied the knot and now, almost 10 years later, share four children together - Eva, nine, Kit, seven, Noah, six, and their newest arrival, Boe, who is one.
While the lush couple's attraction is undeniable, Jo has admitted that during lockdown they were on the verge of divorce, but they managed to pull it back with sneaky sexy sessions when their kids were back at school.
She admitted lockdown was tough on the couple: "“We came out of that a bit numb and deadened and desperate for anything we could get because we just argued so much. ‘Let’s get some sex in before we have to pick the kids up from school’ — that’s how desperate we’d got," she told The Sun.
She added: “I’m sure all parents found it really difficult during lockdown. You’re with the children so much, and then at night-time they all just wanted to sleep in bed with us."
But her love of being a mother is undeniable, she told the i paper in an interview: "I absolutely love being a mum and I like being surrounded by all this noise and busyness. I’ve always been a pretty relaxed parent, although as an only child I do get freaked out sometimes when I see the kids fighting. They can be so vicious! And going from one to two was the biggest shock to the system. But after Noah, everything just came together, and Boe just fits in too, and I adore it."
What's Joanna's background?
Originally hailing from Swansea - Treboeth to be exact - the 46-year-old is a much-loved household name and has garnered millions of fans after appearing in the festive feature as well as the Welsh-Essex series - which she admitted on Loose Women recently that she's only seen once.
Joanna trained for a career in the arts at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) before she made her screen debut in 1999 as a servant in Miss Julie - the same year she met her husband James Thornton, with whom she has four children. Since then she has gone on to appear in comedy dramas, period dramas, sci-fi dramas, has dabbled in presenting and has returned to her biggest role to date: Stacey Shipman, for the Gavin and Stacey 2019 Christmas special.
Joanna Page's acting career
The Welsh actress, 45, was a shy child, but found her feet when her mother sent her to drama classes to bring her out of her comfort zone. Ever since, acting has been her passion and she took no time at all in getting stuck into work after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1998, appearing in films such as Miss Julie and David Copperfield within the year. Soon after, she was working with some of Hollywood's finest - and no, we're not talking about Love Actually just yet. In 2001, Joanna starred in From Hell, a blockbuster that featured Johnny Depp. Speaking to WalesOnline some years ago, Joanna told us: "I actually share a scene with Johnny Depp, but unfortunately my character has just had a lobotomy, so I've got a shaved head, and sick and spots all over my face.
"Johnny was really fascinated by the make-up, and I heard myself go: 'Yes, and that spot isn't real, you know!'"
Two years later, she was starring as Just Judy in the Christmas classic opposite Martin Freeman, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman.
Speaking to the I paper, Joanna explained that she couldn't believe it when she bagged the role, saying: “The first day I walked into the room for a reading and literally the entire cast was there. Martine McCutcheon was opposite me, Hugh Grant was next to her. There was Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson. Oh god, I was so nervous.”
Following Love Actually, she appeared in several television shows such as Mine All Mine and Making Waves as well as Gideon's Daughter before the sitcom that catapulted her career came along in 2007 - the year she was nominated for Best Female Comedy Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards. She starred alongside television greats like Alison Steadman, Larry Lamb and Rob Brydon.
Since, she has had gone on to have roles in The Syndicate, firm favourite Doctor Who in the episode The Day of the Doctor, in which she played Queen Elizabeth I, Agatha Christie's Marple and Midsomer Murders - to name just a few.
Presenting
And it's not just acting. Alongside gameshow and reality television appearances - Jack Osbourne: Celebrity Adrenaline Junkie and Would I Lie to You?, for example - Joanna has established a successful presenting career. In 2010 she hosted My Pet Shame and more recently presented Shop Well for Less and, alongside Dermot O'Leary, The Pet Show which celebrates the UK's animal obsession. She previously told The Mirror of her reasoning behind her new found career: "I really enjoy presenting and it works a lot better with a family as you don't have to go away for weeks on end."
You may also recognise Joanna from the reality dance competition, The Masked Dancer, which sees celebrities donning an extravagant costume and dancing. Each episode, the celebrity panellists must then guess who is the dancer behind the mask. And this year, in September, Joanna Page made her debut on the show as 'Pig'.
