Nessa Jenkins

Nessa Jenkins
Ruth Jones in character as Nessa
Gavin and Stacey
Portrayed by	Ruth Jones
Duration	2007 - 2010
First appearance	13 May 2007
Profile
Occupation	Kiosk attendant, Living statue, Psychic, Truck driver, Father Christmas impersonator, Singer
Residence	Barry Island, Wales
Relationships Parents Neil Jenkins (Ifan Huw Dafydd) Romances Neil "Smithy" Smith Dave Coaches Eddie Stobart Richard Madeley John Prescott Tom Jones Goldie Lookin Chain Nigel Havers Children Neil Smith

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.

Biography

Nessa was born Vanessa Shanessa Jenkins in Barry Island, 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.

Gavin and Stacey

Nessa is Stacey West's best friend, also from Barry Island 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.

Channel 4's Comedy Gala

Nessa and Smithy (Ruth Jones 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.^[1]

Miscellaneous

Nessa is loosely based on the famous darts player and former Olympian, Crissy Manley.

References

1. ^ IMDb. "Channel 4's Comedy Gala". IMDb (Internet Movie Database). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1638951/. Retrieved 2 June 2010.