Alison Steadman has coped with secret sadness while filming the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special

The actress has been through some tough times in real life as she prepares to say goodbye to Pam in the Gavin and Stacey special.

The much-loved actress has been having to travel back and forth to Liverpool to help look after her eldest sister Sylvia who has dementia. She explained: "At the moment I am going through a bit of a sad time. My eldest sister who is 90 has dementia. She is bed bound and has no one to help her except me. I am up and down to Liverpool trying to take care of her." This revelation comes on top of the fact that Alison lost her other - middle - sister Pamela two years ago. She added philosophically: "Maybe that's the reason I was sent. The baby sister always has to take over at some point."

Alison - who is 78 years old - has enjoyed a career spanning more than five decades. In addition to the comedy Gavin and Stacey, she has appeared in Abigail's Party, Nuts In May, Fat Friends, Boomers and Hold The Sunset.

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Although we will see Alison on TV, we won't catch her on stage any more. In 2012, her 45 year theatre career came to a halt after she suffered stage fright while appearing in the play Here. She could not remember her lines and went through such agony, so she made the hard decision to quit live stage shows. Alison told Waitrose Weekend : "I still have no idea why it happened. For some reason a panic set in. Being on stage was my favourite thing without a shadow of a doubt. But I have just had to let it go."

Earlier this week, the published quotes from Alison's new memoir Out of Character. She told how Gavin And Stacey has been the "best job ever" and she knew on day one the show would be a hit due to the casting. She first met Ruth Jones and James Corden on show Fat Friends and they had her in mind when they wrote Pam in Gavin And Stacey. But the creators have also done brilliantly putting together the rest of the main cast including Alison's on-screen husband Larry Lamb, Joanna Page and Mathew Horne.

Alison writes: "Casting is key to the success of theatre, television and film, and the casting director on Gavin And Stacey brought together an ensemble of actors that were a perfect fit for the characters that I'd read on the page. I can remember thinking on our first day together, this is the beginning of the best job ever."

The hit TV series aired between 2007 and 2010 and returned in 2019 with a one-off festive episode that ended on a cliffhanger when Nessa, played by Ruth Jones, proposed to Smithy, played by Corden. It is now returning this Christmas for a one-off special, which will mark the end in the series.

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