THEIR relationship began in scandal – and now, 26 years later, it seems it’s ended the same way.
After Gavin & Stacey star Ruth Jones, 58, confirmed her shock split from husband David Peet, 71, rumours are swirling that he left her for another woman – one who, awkwardly, could pass for Ruth’s double.
The TV producer is now living thousands of miles away in a quiet Canadian town with new partner Jayne Charity Cook, while Ruth has relocated from Cardiff to London to focus on her ever-flourishing career.
Fans are convinced Ruth hinted at her heartbreak in her recent Sunday Times bestseller, By Your Side, which follows Linda – a curvy, teetotal woman in her 50s – whose husband runs off with another woman to open a café in Spain.
While promoting the novel at the Bath Literary Festival in May, where she was notably without her wedding ring, Ruth admitted Linda was based on her.
Tellingly, she described how the fictional husband’s fling with a colleague finally ended a long but lacklustre marriage.
“It was never a really great big romantic marriage,” she told the audience. “They got on fine. They had a good sex life but that was kind of it.
“They were good friends. When he (the husband) went off with Denise at his place of work, and ran off to run a cafe in Spain called Doolallies, she was quite happy to see him go.”
It’s hard not to draw parallels with Ruth’s real-life split.
In a recent statement, she confirmed she and David went their separate ways 18 months ago, “amicably,” and insisted they remain “good friends.”
Since then, Ruth’s star has only risen. She’s just scooped a BAFTA for her much-loved role as Nessa, topped the book charts, and is filming a gripping Netflix thriller Run Away, alongside Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt.
Meanwhile, David has swapped showbiz for small-town life – and a new romance out of the spotlight.
Jayne went public with David in April, updating her profile picture to a loved-up snap of the pair. She also shared photos on Threads, writing: “Spent the weekend with my love and had an amazing time.”
Describing herself as a “MommaBear, great Friend, Lover, Partner, Daughter, Sister,” she has two adult children – Alexander and Isabella – and is a proud grandmother to their three kids.
She has worked as an Education Assistant at the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw School on the Tsulquate Reserve since 2016.
While it’s unclear exactly when – or how – Jayne met David, he’s believed to have moved to Canada several months ago.
“It’s a bold move across the Atlantic,” a source said. “But David saw it as a new chapter in his life and an exciting opportunity he couldn’t ignore.”
Their split came as a shock to industry insiders, who remember Ruth first meeting David in the early ’90s while working on a BBC Wales pilot.
Affairs cause a lot of pain – they’re not something one aspires to do
Ruth
According to Ruth, it was “love at first voice” after hearing him on the phone before meeting in person.
“He has a very sharp mind combined with a dry Yorkshire wit, making him a naturally funny man,” she later commented.
Their relationship began while David’s previous marriage was coming to an end – something Ruth has since spoken about openly.
“Affairs cause a lot of pain – they’re not something one aspires to do,” she previously said. “You don’t aspire to cause pain to people in their life.”
Their romance triggered the divorce from the mother of his three children, Louise, Alex and Fiona, all now in their 30s, who Ruth remains close to.
The pair tied the knot in 1999 and went onto work with each other again, co-creating her Sky comedy Stella, in which she plays the title character – a struggling single mother – which ran for 58 episodes from 2012.
The former couple used to split their time between their two properties in Cardiff and the Scottish Highlands, where they own a holiday home.
Despite their strong union, they never had any biological kids together – with Ruth admitting she never had a strong desire to be a mother.
“It just didn’t happen,” she once said. “It wasn’t a decision. I don’t have a burning desire to have babies.
“I think it’s heartbreaking if you do and you find out you can’t have them. I love being a stepmum – all the joys of motherhood without the pain of childbirth.”
‘Teenage angst’
Despite not being particularly maternal, Ruth was a natural stepmother.
“You take things as they come,” she admitted. “There wasn’t a moment when I thought, ‘I’ve become a stepmum now’.”
She has always spoken fondly of her stepkids and expressed excitement about the possibility of becoming a step-grandmother one day.
“We never had any difficulty with teenage angst,” she recalled. “And now I’m looking forward to becoming a step-grandmother at some point.”
Their split follows the much-anticipated 2024 Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special, where Ruth’s beloved character Nessa finally tied the knot with her longtime love Smithy, played by co-writer James Corden.
The episode – fittingly titled The Finale – marked the end of the hit series, pulling in a massive 12.3 million viewers.
Ruth and David had previously collaborated on the 2009 Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special.
Ruth’s portrayal of the straight-talking Welsh legend Nessa earned her a BAFTA for Best Female Performance in a Comedy this May – and while she collected the award barefoot, she was still wearing her wedding ring at the ceremony.
But she failed to mention husband David in her acceptance speech. Instead, she paid a heartfelt tribute to the Gavin & Stacey cast and crew, singling out her co-writer James Corden, saying: “I love you, James. I love writing with you – and long may it continue.”
Ruth and James have co-written a memoir due out in October titled Gavin and Stacey and Everything in Between.
“It’s really the story of our friendship,” Ruth told Lorraine. “We’ve been close for 25 years now. He’s one of my best friends. I adore that man and love being in a room with him – so hopefully we’ll write more together.”
James and Ruth’s friendship goes way back – the pair first met while working on Teachers and Fat Friends back in 2001. James has spoken just as fondly of Ruth, once describing her as someone he “loves more than you could ever imagine.”
While Ruth insists her and David remain “good friends”, insiders wonder if they’ll continue to work together.
Although Ruth says she and David are still “good friends,” it’s unclear whether they’ll continue to work together professionally.
David, a TV producer and Ruth’s former business partner at Tidy Productions, has played a key role in many of her projects over the years. He’s worked on Gavin & Stacey, Stella,
The Great Outdoors, and the festive film A Child’s Christmases in Wales. He also served as an executive producer and writer on Gavin & Stacey, and was behind Ruth’s one-off specials, including Ruth Jones’ Christmas Cracker (2010), Easter Treat, and Summer Holiday (2011).
In 2019, Ruth told Radio 4’s Desert Island Disc how she prefers staying at home than attending glitzy showbiz events.
She also recalled her meeting with Barack Obama at a dinner at Downing Street in 2013 and how he’s a fan of the Welsh accent.
She told how he was particularly charmed by Jones’s tendency at the time to say “Brill-iant” and stick her thumbs in the air.
“I went very Welsh. I went ‘Hiya!’ and shook hands with him,” she told presenter Lauren Laverne. “I said ‘Can I just say? Congratulations! Brill-iant!’
“And he shook hands with me and then leaned down and said: ‘I really need to learn how to say that – brill-iant!’.”
While David settles into his new life in a quiet town in Canada, Ruth is busy filming her new Netflix thriller, Run Away – the latest Harlan Coben novel to be adapted for the screen.
She stars alongside Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt in the gripping new series, and it could mark a fresh chapter for Ruth – both on and off screen – as we’re about to see a very different side to her.
“I’ve been playing a private investigator and I’ve really enjoyed it – it’s so different,” she says.
New role, new career direction… perhaps even a new man too, Ruth?
