Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page’s family life with famous husband

Joanna Page is reprising her role as Stacey Shipman one last time in the Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special, which sees the blonde-haired Barry native and her husband Gavin (Mathew Horne) look for new ways to spice up their 17-year marriage. 

While, like in Gavin and Stacey, Joanna, 47, is a doting mum in real life, unlike her character, she is actually married to a fellow actor. Find out more about her famous hubby James Thornton…

James is a 49-year-old actor who is perhaps best known for portraying John Barton in Emmerdale from 2009 to 2012. He is also known for starring in Holby City, as well as Stella opposite Joanne’s sitcom co-star, Ruth Jones. James is also a voice artist, and you’ve probably heard him in adverts including the National Lottery and Visa. 

The pair actually met on a film set, after they starred alongside each other in the 1999 TV show David Copperfield, and tied the knot four years later. 

© Stuart Wilson

The star has opened up about their relationship and admitted that they struggled to make things work in 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. She explained: “We spent the whole of the first lockdown arguing and threatening to divorce each other. 

“Then we went through a month of literally not saying a single word to each other. 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.’ I’m sure all parents found it really difficult during the lockdown. You’re with the children so much, and then at night-time, they all just wanted to sleep in bed with us.”

© Dave Benett

When asked if she has “sexy times” at the weekend in an interview with The Guardian, she joked: “Oh God, not with four children! If I did have a spare hour, I’d sit and watch the Australian version of The Traitors rather than muster up any energy to have some sexy time. My husband would have a different answer, but he’s not breastfeeding a two-year-old right now.”

James and Joanna’s family life 

Joanna and James share four children, welcoming their daughter Eva in 2013, and sons Kit and Noah in 2015 and 2016. In 2021, she announced that she was expecting for a fourth time, and welcomed a baby daughter, Boe Willow Russell in December that year. Both Joanna and James often share snaps of their beautiful youngsters on their social media accounts. 

Speaking about their hectic schedule while explaining what their typical Sunday looks like, she said: “I get the short straw. My husband takes our eight-year-old to rugby, where they eat bacon sandwiches – it seems easy. I have to get our 11-year-old ready for hockey, where I look after our seven- and two-year-olds. Usually, I haven’t washed or eaten.”

On how becoming a mum has impacted her work life, Joanna told Good Housekeeping back in 2014: “‘I used to think i was so busy! Now, I’m much more organised, with work I think I’m better with it. I learn my lines straight away and I’m much more focused. I don’t want to go in and mess around with getting a scene right.

“I want to go in, do my job and get home again. So I do think there’s been an impact work-wise,” she added.