Nessa Jenkins
Encyclopedia
Vanessa Shanessa "Nessa" Jenkins, is a fictional character in the BBC
comedy-drama Gavin & Stacey
. The character was portrayed by Welsh actress and comedian
Ruth Jones
who has also appeared in Little Britain
.
, Wales
. Her age and date of birth are unknown. It is claimed that she doesn't even know them herself.
She has no known mother but her father Neil Jenkins, left Barry Island for unknown circumstances and is now a part-time actor
and has appeared as an extra in Lark Rise to Candleford
and as a man in a coma in Holby City
. She considers her best friend's mother, Gwen, to be a mother figure.
Nessa has been romantically linked with many celebrities such as Richard Madeley
, John Prescott
(who got her out of prison), Tom Jones
, Goldie Lookin Chain
, Om Puri
and Eddie Stobart (who gave her two of his trucks).
She has also been married several times. One of her husbands was gunned down in front of a firing squad following being arrested for drug smuggling. Another of her husbands died whilst trying to fake his own death.
She has worked in places as far as Mumbai
, Peru
, Namibia
and Egypt
as well as holding down jobs as a clairvoyant, Father Christmas, Truck driver
for Eddie Stobart (she also carried the sets on The Who's World Tours prior to this), living statue
, a singer in the original line-up of All Saints
(but didn't get along with Shaznay
) and now works in the kiosk of Barry Island Amusement Arcade. She has also worked on the doors as a Bouncer (doorstaff), but gave it up as she felt it was not a suitable career for an attractive woman.
She speaks fluent Italian and Welsh.
She prefers eating Indian food (preferably Jamdani Hash) with her fingers, as that is how she ate whilst working with Om Puri
in Mumbai.
She is an Aston Villa fan.
Nessa discovered that she was definitely pregnant to Neil "Smithy" Smith shortly before Stacey's Wedding. She gave birth to a baby boy. The baby was named Neil, after Nessa's father and Smithy.
in the Vale of Glamorgan
in Wales
. Nessa works in Barry Island Amusement Arcade, affectionately called 'The Slots' as a supervisor in the kiosk. Nessa's catchphrase ("What's Occurin'?") has become widely known and recognized along with her other catchphrases such as ("Oh!", "Tidy", "Genuine", "Truth be told" and "I'm not going to lie to you"). When, Stacey and her friend Gavin meet up for a date in Leicester Square
, Nessa and Gavin's friend Smithy sleep with each other, beginning a series of trysts causing Nessa to become pregnant in early season one, with Smithy later revealed to be the father. Whilst Stacey lived in Billericay
with Gavin, Nessa moved into Stacey's old bedroom in Gwen's home whilst pregnant so Gwen could take care of her. Nessa is rushed into labour a month early and gives birth to a baby boy which Nessa and Smithy both decide to call Neil after arguing over the choice of name (Nessa wanted to name the baby after her father, Smithy after himself. Coincidentally, both Nessa's father and Smithy are called Neil). During the 2008 Christmas Special, Dave Coaches asks Nessa to marry him to which she accepts much to the annoyance of Smithy. Smithy decides not to attend Nessa's wedding, only to later regret this and to walk in just before Nessa takes her vows and tells her she should not marry Dave if all she wants is a father for Neil as he would be there for her. Although Nessa disagrees and wishes for the wedding to continue, Dave tells Nessa that he knew she never fully loved him and the pair shake hands and Dave leaves. The episode cuts to six months later, where we see Nessa, Smithy and Neil happily living in Barry joking about whether Smithy might be Welsh.
and James Corden
) appeared at Channel 4's Comedy Gala for Great Ormond Street Hospital
, held at the The O2
where they pretended to be lost in London
with baby Neil.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy-drama Gavin & Stacey
Gavin & Stacey
Gavin & Stacey is a British comedy television series. A romantic comedy-drama, the show follows the long-distance relationship of Gavin from Billericay in Essex, England, and Stacey from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The writers of the show, actors James Corden and Ruth Jones, also...
. The character was portrayed by Welsh actress and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Ruth Jones
Ruth Jones
Ruth Jones is a Welsh TV actress and writer. She starred in and co-wrote the multi-award winning TV comedy Gavin & Stacey and has appeared in many other successful comedies over recent years...
who has also appeared in Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
.
Biography
Nessa was born Vanessa Shanessa Jenkins in Barry IslandBarry Island
Barry Island may refer to:*Barry Island , Wales*Barry Island , Antarctica...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Her age and date of birth are unknown. It is claimed that she doesn't even know them herself.
She has no known mother but her father Neil Jenkins, left Barry Island for unknown circumstances and is now a part-time actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and has appeared as an extra in Lark Rise to Candleford
Lark Rise to Candleford
Lark Rise to Candleford is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. They were written by Flora Thompson and first published together in 1945...
and as a man in a coma in Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
. She considers her best friend's mother, Gwen, to be a mother figure.
Nessa has been romantically linked with many celebrities such as Richard Madeley
Richard Madeley
Richard Madeley is a British television presenter and columnist. With his wife Judy Finnigan, Madeley has presented This Morning and later the weekday chat show Richard & Judy...
, John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
(who got her out of prison), Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
, Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain is a comedic rap music group based in Newport, South Wales. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the ‘chav’ culture and life in Newport and south Wales in general.-Background:Many of the songs...
, Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
and Eddie Stobart (who gave her two of his trucks).
She has also been married several times. One of her husbands was gunned down in front of a firing squad following being arrested for drug smuggling. Another of her husbands died whilst trying to fake his own death.
She has worked in places as far as Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
as well as holding down jobs as a clairvoyant, Father Christmas, Truck driver
Truck driver
A truck driver , is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, usually a semi truck, box truck, or dump truck.Truck drivers provide an essential service to...
for Eddie Stobart (she also carried the sets on The Who's World Tours prior to this), living statue
Living statue
The term living statue refers to a mime artist who poses like a statue or mannequin, usually with realistic statue-like makeup, sometimes for hours at a time....
, a singer in the original line-up of All Saints
All Saints (group)
All Saints were a British/Canadian girl group. Founded in 1993 as All Saints 1.9.7.5, the group consisted of founding members Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, and sisters Nicole Appleton and Natalie Appleton...
(but didn't get along with Shaznay
Shaznay Lewis
Shaznay Lewis is a British female singer-songwriter and a former member of All Saints.-Biography:...
) and now works in the kiosk of Barry Island Amusement Arcade. She has also worked on the doors as a Bouncer (doorstaff), but gave it up as she felt it was not a suitable career for an attractive woman.
She speaks fluent Italian and Welsh.
She prefers eating Indian food (preferably Jamdani Hash) with her fingers, as that is how she ate whilst working with Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...
in Mumbai.
She is an Aston Villa fan.
Nessa discovered that she was definitely pregnant to Neil "Smithy" Smith shortly before Stacey's Wedding. She gave birth to a baby boy. The baby was named Neil, after Nessa's father and Smithy.
Gavin and Stacey
Nessa is Stacey West's best friend, also from Barry IslandBarry Island
Barry Island may refer to:*Barry Island , Wales*Barry Island , Antarctica...
in the Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Nessa works in Barry Island Amusement Arcade, affectionately called 'The Slots' as a supervisor in the kiosk. Nessa's catchphrase ("What's Occurin'?") has become widely known and recognized along with her other catchphrases such as ("Oh!", "Tidy", "Genuine", "Truth be told" and "I'm not going to lie to you"). When, Stacey and her friend Gavin meet up for a date in Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...
, Nessa and Gavin's friend Smithy sleep with each other, beginning a series of trysts causing Nessa to become pregnant in early season one, with Smithy later revealed to be the father. Whilst Stacey lived in Billericay
Billericay
Billericay is a town and civil parish in the Basildon borough of Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, has a population of 40,000, and constitutes a commuter town east of central London. The town has three secondary schools and a variety of open spaces...
with Gavin, Nessa moved into Stacey's old bedroom in Gwen's home whilst pregnant so Gwen could take care of her. Nessa is rushed into labour a month early and gives birth to a baby boy which Nessa and Smithy both decide to call Neil after arguing over the choice of name (Nessa wanted to name the baby after her father, Smithy after himself. Coincidentally, both Nessa's father and Smithy are called Neil). During the 2008 Christmas Special, Dave Coaches asks Nessa to marry him to which she accepts much to the annoyance of Smithy. Smithy decides not to attend Nessa's wedding, only to later regret this and to walk in just before Nessa takes her vows and tells her she should not marry Dave if all she wants is a father for Neil as he would be there for her. Although Nessa disagrees and wishes for the wedding to continue, Dave tells Nessa that he knew she never fully loved him and the pair shake hands and Dave leaves. The episode cuts to six months later, where we see Nessa, Smithy and Neil happily living in Barry joking about whether Smithy might be Welsh.
Channel 4's Comedy Gala
Nessa and Smithy (Ruth JonesRuth Jones
Ruth Jones is a Welsh TV actress and writer. She starred in and co-wrote the multi-award winning TV comedy Gavin & Stacey and has appeared in many other successful comedies over recent years...
and James Corden
James Corden
James Kimberley Corden is an English actor, television writer, producer and presenter. He is co-creator and star of BBC comedy shows Gavin & Stacey and Horne & Corden, and acted in the 2009 film Lesbian Vampire Killers....
) appeared at Channel 4's Comedy Gala for Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is a children's hospital located in London, United Kingdom...
, held at the The O2
The O2 (London)
The O2, visually typeset in branding as The O2, is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars and restaurants...
where they pretended to be lost in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with baby Neil.