Inside Gavin and Stacey's Joanna Page's life - divorce drama, 'broody' confession and surprise baby

Joanna Page has been a regular on our screens for almost two decades, but the Gavin and Stacey star always puts her family first - and it's been a whirlwind few years for the actress

Joanna Page, best known for her role as Stacey Shipman in Gavin and Stacey and her memorable appearance in Love Actually in 2003, is a familiar face to many. The Welsh actress, now 47, is also a mother of four, having welcomed her youngest child unexpectedly in 2021 at the age of 44.

Joanna is married to actor James Thornton, and together they have Eva, nine, Kit, seven, Noah, six, and one year old Boe. Over the years, Joanna has been open about her home life, from confessing that lockdown put a damper on her sex life to discussing her 'impulsive' decision to undergo surgery to prevent further pregnancies.

Prior to becoming a mother for the fourth time, Joanna humorously admitted that she nearly divorced her husband after lockdown took a toll on their sex life. She revealed that she and James spent so much time with their children when schools were closed that they struggled to find time for each other.

This lack of intimacy caused tension in their relationship, leading to arguments, threats of separation, and periods of silence, Joanna confessed in 2020.

"We spent the whole of the first lockdown arguing and threatening to divorce each other," she recalled. "Then we went through a month of literally not saying a single word to each other.", reports the Mirror.

Joanna revealed that before the pandemic, she and James would squeeze in intimate moments before picking up their children from school.

She told The Sun that having the kids around all the time during lockdown made it difficult for them to maintain their intimacy. However, once schools reopened, they welcomed their fourth child, Boe Willow.

Earlier this year, on Loose Women, Joanna discussed her 'impulsive' decision to have her fallopian tubes cut in her mid-forties and her lingering feelings of broodiness. "Of course I'm feeling broody. After having Boe, I did have my fallopian tubes cut, I didn't really think about it a lot," she admitted.

"I knew, inside, I'm 46 I couldn't go through another pregnancy, I'd be utterly exhausted and I also want to give enough time to my children."

She added: "But not that long ago, I went on the internet, I looked up: 'Can you have your tubes put back together? ' You can. One-in-200 women can maybe get pregnant after doing that. I told James, he just looked at me and went: 'You what? What on earth are you going on about? ' so I will not be having anymore. I've got my beautiful four children."

The NHS states that female sterilisation is meant to be a permanent solution to prevent pregnancy and is not easily reversible.

Joanna, a mother of four, has understandably adjusted her career over time. In a previous conversation with the Mirror, she confessed that she has reduced her acting roles in favour of presenting jobs, which allows her to spend more time with her children.

"I really enjoy presenting and it works a lot better with a family as you don't have to go away for weeks on end," the star elaborated. "For the first six months after I had Eva I was away working filming two shows back to back," she recalled.

"I had my mum looking after her on set but it was so tough as all I wanted to do was spend time with my new baby. Also, I just find presenting a lot more interesting. You're always doing something different and I love just being myself and chatting to people. It can be a lot more fun than sitting alone in a trailer for hours learning lines, then going out to do a scene where you're pretending to be ­somebody else."