Gavin and Stacey star reacts to iconic onscreen home’s transformation

Amelia Jones

Actor Rob Brydon has reacted to his onscreen home being repurposed as a Gavin and Stacey themed Airbnb.

Appearing on This Morning yesterday, Brydon talked about the lasting legacy of the BBC series and revealed he knew all about his iconic home becoming a vacation rental.

Brydon played Bryn West in the BBC sitcom from 2007 to 2024, for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance.

It was revealed by WalesOnline last month that the house used in the sitcom had been bought by Airbnb hosts Jaxx and her partner Tom who decided to rename the house ‘Gone Fishin’ and transform the property into a recreation of the home as it appeared on the show.

Photos of the property on the Airbnb site show ‘easter eggs’ from the series that the Airbnb hosts have re-installed for guests, with impersonator Kaz Barrett better known as ‘Knock off Nessa’ posing throughout the home.

One of those ‘easter eggs’ was pointed out by Brydon himself. He said: “Bryn’s house in Trinity street is now an Airbnb, and do you remember the episode where Bryn has made a gym upstairs and James is on the floor, Smithy, and I’m stretching him out.

“They’ve put the gym so you could go there and he goes ‘I know, I know how you feel Smithy. You can’t go around it. You can’t go over it. So what have you got to do?’ He goes ‘Oh, I’ve got to push through it, Bryn.’ ‘You’ve got to go through it.’

“So yeah, you can actually go and spend the weekend in Bryn’s house.”

The recreation of the house has proved to be a hit with fans of the show, with the hosts going to great lengths to include details from some of Bryn’s most memorable scenes.

Speaking to WalesOnline, Jaxx said: “We spotted online that the house was up for sale and honestly weren’t sure we’d even get a viewing – it’s such a well-known property. But we did, and I think we were among the first through the door.

“Talking afterwards, we thought how much we’d love to stay ourselves for an ‘Uncle Bryn experience’ of sorts – and then figured, if we’d love it, there must be other fans who would too. So we put an offer in that same day and were slightly stunned when it got accepted. Beyond excited, obviously.

“We’re recreating Uncle Bryn’s house as fans will remember it from ‘Bryn’s Bachelor Paradise’ – Series 3, Episode 3, when the boys stay over. Gym and all, plus loads of little touches you’ll recognise from the show. We’ve even hidden a few Easter eggs that only the true super-fans will spot. We can’t wait to welcome guests through the door”

Brydon also talked about the lasting legacy of the show, saying it just kept getting bigger after the series finished in 2010.

He said: “You can tell what it means to people. It’s the love people have for it, and in all these years when it Wass off, before it came back the first time. It just got bigger so that when we came back, it was a much a bigger show than it was when we stopped filming.

“Then that first special went down a storm, and the last special was just such a great piece of writing.”

He also spoke about his character’s connection to Dolly Parton, saying after playing the role he now has a “curious connection” to the country star who died last month. He also talked about singing Islands in the Stream in tribute to her at Chris Evans’ Car Fest.

Brydon was on the show to promote his new children’s book The Cat In The Cupboard.

You can purchase the book here, and watch the full This Morning interview here.

You can book to stay in Bryn’s house here. 

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