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'You makes Barry proud' Nessa tells Gavin & Stacey co-star ahead of I'm a Celebrity

Charlie BucklandBBC Wales
ITV Joanna Page, with arms folded, in I'm a Celeb promotional photo. ITV
Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page is to take part in the 26th series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here

Gavin and Stacey's Nessa Jenkins has urged co-star Joanna Page to "have a crackin time" ahead of her I'm a Celebrity debut.

Page, who played Stacey Shipman in the BBC comedy, is joining this year's line-up on the forthcoming reality TV show.

The 49-year-old, from Swansea, said she has her sights on becoming the first Welsh Queen of the Jungle, and co-star Ruth Jones, aka Nessa Jenkins, is "beyond excited".

"O! Stace - they're gonna make you stick all manner of matter in your gob. And I'm not talking Gwen's omelettes... Just don't over do it, alrigh'? You knows what a weak constitution you has," she wrote, in a message from Nessa, on Instagram.

"You makes Barry very proud, I'm not gonna lie."

PA Media Joanna Page, pictured with Ruth Jones (right), on set filming the Gavin and Stacey Christmas Day special in Barry waving at fans in a red dress and denim jacket. Ruth Jones is dressed as Nessa and wears a black t-shirt and black leather jacketPA Media
Joanna Page, pictured with Ruth Jones (right), has her sights on becoming the first Welsh Queen of the I'm a Celeb jungle

Nessa's well wishes triggered a host of comments from Gavin and Stacey fans.

"I love it when Nessa speaks," wrote one; "I read it in Nessa's voice" said several others.

Speaking ahead of her trip down under, Page said she believed her co-stars will be "shocked" when she arrives in the jungle.

"I also know they will find it funny. They know exactly what I am like and they will laugh."

She said being the first Welsh queen would be a "pretty good title to take home", but added she was just as excited to see how long she could last.

"I'm not going to crumble," she said.

"I'm going to see this to the end and I'm going to be strong. I am going to get the most out of this."

ITV Promotional shot of all 11 campmates in red and beige gear in a jungle settingITV
Eleven celebrities will enter the Australian jungle camp on Monday

As a mother-of-four, Page said she hopes her part in the show will help her "reconnect" with who she was before becoming a mum.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm very much an impulsive person and I just make a gut decision, so I said 'yes' straight away," said Page.

She said she hoped to find "peace and time for my thoughts" away from the everyday worries about feeding the children and getting everyone ready for the school run.

"I can be me, I can be Jo and not just mummy all the time. I think that will be nice."

"I will never get to do anything like this again. I am telling myself, 'Come on Jo, let's take yourself off to Australia and give yourself an experience'.

"It's exciting and it's going to be life-changing."

BBC/Toffee International Ltd./Tom Jackson Ruth Jones, as Nessa, during the 2024 Christmas finale. She has a black bob and wears a leather waistcoat. She is dancing with her back against Joanna Page, who plays Stacey Shipman. Stacey has blonde short hair, wears a floral dress and smiles looking up towards the ceiling. They are in a sitting room, with other Gavin and Stacey stars pictured behind them. BBC/Toffee International Ltd./Tom Jackson
Ruth Jones - aka Nessa - said she was "so excited" to see Joanna Page head to the Australian jungle

Page will share her time in the jungle alongside stars including former footballer Wayne Rooney, TV personality Chloe Burrows and soap star Claire Sweeney.

Rooney will follow in his wife Coleen's footsteps after she finished as runner-up on the 2024 series, and said he hopes "people will see me for who I am".

He said he's "always wanted to do" the show, joking that because of his short-lived football managerial career, he has more time on his hands.

"I like to have fun and I like to think I am actually a fun guy to be around.

"I do like to mess around a bit and I do talk a lot. People will have their own opinions, but I hope they will see me as a genuine person."

Page will be also joined by Paralympian and TV presenter Ade Adepitan - who will be the first contestant in a wheelchair to appear on the show – something he said his eight-year-old self would not believe.

"Words like 'honour' and 'privilege' are the ones I feel, but I don't think they sum it up enough," he said.

"For me, this is a moment in time. Even if I go out in the first week, I will always be remembered as the person in a wheelchair. I am slightly overwhelmed.

"It's never been done before, and it never crossed my mind I would be the first.

"This is a huge opportunity.

I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! starts on Monday, 16 November at 21:00 GMT.