STRICTLY: “O’ Gwen… Tidy”, Nessa has sent Melanie Walters her verdict, and some advice about the judges

It took Nessa three hours.

Ruth Jones has sent her Gavin & Stacey co-star Melanie Walters a message in character, after the Swansea-born actress was announced in the Strictly Come Dancing 2026 line-up on Wednesday.

“O’ Gwen,” it begins, in the unmistakable voice of Nessa Jenkins. “I hears you’re donnin’ the dancin shoes. Tidy.”

Then comes the offer of help. “Shirley Ballas learnt all she knows from me back in the 70s. So if you needs any tips on rhythm just call.”

And a word of warning about the judging panel: “Don’t take no crap from Craig Revel Horwood. He’s a pussy.”

Jones posted the message on Instagram alongside her own, out-of-character reaction: “You’re doing @bbcstrictly, this is amazing news!!”

Walters has played Gwen, Stacey’s mild-mannered mother, opposite Jones’s Nessa since Gavin & Stacey began in 2007, the pair last sharing the screen in the 2024 Christmas special.

Jones is a relative newcomer to Instagram, arriving last August with a video in character as Nessa, under a handle, ruthjonesgenuine, chosen to mark her out from the fake accounts.

Television writer Russell T Davies, another Swansea export and a former Olchfa Comprehensive School pupil, was among those replying to Wednesday’s post, with a one-word verdict: “Amazing.”

Walters, announced as the fifteenth and final name in this year’s line-up, has said she is swapping her panto fairy wand for sequinned dance shoes when the new series starts on BBC One and iPlayer in September.

Whether Nessa’s rhythm tips get taken up before then, Gwen knows where to call.