Cast your minds back to the early noughties (we know, WE KNOW, but it wasn’t ALL bad) and you may remember that Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps was one of the biggest shows on the ‘box.
The series ran for ten years from 2001 and centred on a group of unruly twenty-somethings from the industrial north as they navigated love and life in Council House Britain, making household names out of many of its stars including Sheridan Smith. While she went on to star in Gavin & Stacey before making a career in the West End, Will Mellor went on to play baddie Harvey Gaskell in Coronation Street.
But it looks as though despite working opposite each other for an entire decade and forming a close friendship during that time, a reunion isn’t on the cards for Will and Sheridan who played Gaz Wilkinson and Janet Keogh respectively.
Will explained, "I haven’t spoken to her in about six years. I tried calling her for about a year but she never got back to me.
"I offered her my support when her father died, but she never reached out when my dad passed away, which was quite significant for me as we were very close and she knew my family. That said a lot to me. I wish her well with her career and life though."
Speaking to OK! magazine, he added, "I saw that Friends thing the other day and I thought we could have done something like that – talk about the old days, show some clips for fans of the show – but, to be honest, some of the people I don’t speak to any more."
Boo.
CHECK OUT: Two Pints of Larger and a Packet of Crisps cast - where are they now?
Two Pints of Larger and a Packet of Crisps cast - where are they now? slider
1 of 12Gaz Wilkinson played by Will Mellor
Who can forget Will Mellor's iconic character Gaz Wilkinson, the mechanic at Brindley Autos, who loved football, beer and sex. He had lots of ups and down, including the hundreds of times he asked Donna Henshaw to be his loving wife, with the pair finally getting married in series 6. However, in series 7, Gaz realised he was meant to be with Janet, to only then realise (are you keeping up?) that he actually still loved Donna. Rushing to tell Donna to stop her from leaving, Gaz ended up crashing his car, being in a coma for a year, leaving him wheelchair bound in series 9.
2 of 12Gaz Wilkinson played by Will Mellor
Since the show finished in 2011, Will has gone on to feature in many other TV programmes, including BBC One drama In With The Flynns (2011-2012), In The Club (2014), ITV's Broadchurch (2013) and the hit Channel 4 comedy/drama series No Offence (2015-present). PHe alo played Warren Stamp in EastEnders (2007) and Jack Vincent in Casualty (2001-2003) during his time in the comedy show.
3 of 12Donna Henshaw played by Natalie Casey
Natalie Casey burst onto our screens as Donna Henshaw, the girlfriend of Gaz, who was conceived in a Ford Capri in 1980 and born in 1981. (The detailed backstories are hilarious.) Donna was known in the series for having anger management problems, with it being noted she'd killed her ex-boyfriend's budgie. Having had a turbulent relationship with Gaz, the pair were back on track and decided to go travelling, until she found out she had cancer. Turning up at the airport, Donna revealed to a saddened Gaz that she wouldn't be travelling with him, but didn't reveal why. He left without her, but they reunited in series 9.
4 of 12Donna Henshaw played by Natalie Casey
Joining the first series in 2001, Natalie had previously been cast on Hollyoaks in 1996 as Carol Groves, before leaving in 2001. She, and Will Mellor, were the only original cast members left by series 9. The actress currently narrates ITV2's Dinner Date and presented Big Brother's Little Brother with Dermot O'Leary in 2001. In 2012, it was announced Natalie was to play Judy in the musical 9 To 5, in its first UK tour, alongside Bonnie Langford.
5 of 12Janet Keogh played by Sheridan Smith
Gavin and Stacey actress Sheridan Smith brought to life Janet Keogh, a girl who loved "things that go bleep bleep", cigarettes, rich tea biscuits, Coronation Street and Cheeky Vimto. Janet was initially in a relationship with Jonny, getting engaged to him. However, she realised she didn't love him and later had a one-night stand with Gaz, which left her pregnant. Janet carried through with the pregnancy, but didn't know who the dad was. However, Gaz had secretly taken a paternity test, which proved he was the father. Once he'd woken from his coma in series 9, Janet had moved to Milton Keynes with their son and she never returned to the show.
6 of 12Janet Keogh played by Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Smith has gone on to huge success, She's played Smithy's sister Rudi in Gavin and Stacey (2008-2010), garnered rave reviews for her performance in ITV's Cilla (2014), starred in Moorside (2017) and most recently, in 2017 and 2018, released two studio albums. In 2015, she was given an OBE.
7 of 12Louise Brookes played by Kathryn Drysdale
Louise Brookes was introduced as a fun loving, sweet woman, desperate to find the perfect man, with an obsession for collecting Sylvanian Families. She hilariously despised getting old, and really didn't like old people. Louise fell pregnant in series 6 with Donna's younger brother Dion's son. In series 7, she gave birth and the baby was delivered by Munch. She called the baby Louise Munch Brookes, but feared her daughter would be prettier than her. Oh we love a selfish mother.
8 of 12Louise Brookes played by Kathryn Drysdale
Kathryn featured in eight series of the comedy show, and although she intended to return for series 9, filming commitments meant she was unable to appear. Kathryn has appeared in Doctor Who (2006), Benidorm (2011), and plays Meghan Markle in series 2 of the comedy show The Windsors (2019). If you're from the younger generation, you may recognise her from the film St Trinians (2007).
9 of 12Jonny played by Ralf Little
Jonny was married to Janet and was a devoted husband and father (he really didn't know it wasn't his kid). He was a keen Liverpool F.C. fan and was obsessed with the film Titanic. So much so, it is a reference throughout the six series he features in that this makes him "too feminite". Suddenly, Jonny was killed off screen at the beginning of series 7, never to be seen again.
10 of 12Jonny played by Ralf Little
After leaving show due to an "overwhelming schedule", Ralf went on to feature in other TV shows, such as Death in Paradise (2013), Our Zoo (2014), Doctor Who (2017) and most recently, in God of Carnage (2018).
11 of 12Munch played by Lee Oakes
Munch joined the show in series 3. He randomly appears in one episode then never leaves again. Munch, whose real name is never revealed, turns out to be Gaz's long-lost half-brother and believed Vimto was a type of wine. He had a brief romantic encounter with barmaid Kelly but that didn't last long and he was back to his old, joker self. The biggest storyline he had was helping Louise give birth in series 7, while also finding God after a trip to Birmingham.
12 of 12Munch played by Lee Oakes
Lee Oakes has kept a relatively low profile since leaving the show, having starred in Harry Brown (2009) alongside Michael Caine and in 2012, he appeared in the Hadouken! video Parasite.
But wait.
It’s a far cry from Sheridan’s account of things, who earlier this year hypothesized on what Janet would be up to now and said, "She'd probably have about 20 kids or something, still in the pub!"
Speaking to Digital Spy, she continued, "I mean [a reunion] would be brilliant, Gavin & Stacey did their special which I thought was brilliant.
"We might end up getting the Two Pints gang back together, I certainly wouldn't rule that out one day if everyone's schedules worked out."
It comes after Sheridan was “snubbed” from Gavin and Stacey’s Christmas special in 2019 when the show’s writer, James Corden, didn’t include Sheridan’s character Rudi (sister of James’ Smithy) in the script.
"Like everyone, I can’t wait to watch the Christmas Special," said Sheridan at the time. "I’m so proud to be have been a part of something so special."
Prior to his debut as Gaz on Two Pints, Will was best known for being part of the OG Hollyoaks cast, playing Jambo Bolton from 1995 to 1998.
Nick Pickard, who’s the soap’s longest running cast member playing Tony Hutchinson since it began, told The Sun he’d love for Will to return, saying, "I’d love them all to come back, but the sad thing is that most of my closest friends in the show, their characters are dead.
"James Redmond is always a good one, he’s been back a couple of times here and there, Davinia [Taylor]’s been back. I think they will probably do something along those lines but I don’t really want to speculate as to what."