Ruth Jones

Will Close is the toast of the West End after picking up a prestigious Olivier Award for playing Harry Kane in the National Theatre's hit show Dear England, which also won best new play. Picking up the best supporting actor award - whose previous winners include Eddie Redmayne , Toby Jones and Sir Patrick Stewart - the football mad Everton fan looked shocked and overwhelmed, poignantly dedicating the gong to his late mother, a lover of amateur dramatics who died during the pandemic and inspired him to act. But he also thanked the England captain himself in his speech - and revealed that while he has never met Harry, the footballer's friends came to watch the show and were bowled over by the performance. Speaking on the red carpet at the Royal Albert Hall he said: 'I had a few people who came to see it who know Harry and are friends with him who were very encouraging and complimentary, which was a relief'. Will said that he had studied Kane's intonation and his over-use of certain bland words in interviews such as 'nice' and 'obviously'. He added: 'I think that if he had been in the audience I don't think I would have been able to handle it - I would have been too nervous'. Before Dear England that he was best known for his part as Freddie in Tesco's fictional family where he played a 'boomerang child' back living with parents in his 20s in around four adverts. Ruth Jones, star of TV hits including Gavin and Stacey played his mother, and Paddington actor and comedian Ben Miller, played Close's father. In their Christmas advert they scrambled around a Tesco store looking for items for neighbours who had to have gluten free meals. Close, whose character said he didn't know what gluten free meant, returned to the trolley with a lightbulb to eat. Tesco soon dropped Freddie after a backlash. The supermarket's then brand director Michelle McEttrick admitted it was because the character was too annoying.

Ruth Jones looked world's away from her Gavin and Stacey character Nessa Jenkins as she arrived at the 2024 Olivier Awards at London's Royal Albert Hall on Sunday. The actress, 57, who's currently treading the boards in Sister Act The Musical, was the epitome of elegance in a gorgeous green gown.  Ruth's chic dress featured a matching cape which draped over her shoulders as she made her way along the star-studded red carpet. 

She is a natural performer, screenwriter, and novelist, but a complete change in career may be on the horizon. Ruth Jones has stated that she intends to retrain as a wedding registrar at the age of 57, in the hopes of making wedding ceremonies "more enjoyable" for people tying the knot. Ms Jones, the broadcast journalist who aspired to become a child psychiatrist and Kate Silverton, who rose from broadcast journalism to become a child therapist, wants to venture into a new field.