Gavin and Stacey star Alison Steadman suffered a hairline fracture and broken hand after a fall in Dubai. Despite her injuries, the actress continued her trip and is set to return to the UK for medical tests.
Alison Steadman is in a wheelchair after suffering an injury in Dubai.
The 78-year-old actress, renowned for her role as Pam in Gavin and Stacey, was attending the Desert Stanzas event when she tripped on what was described as an uneven concrete walkway, resulting in significant pain and injury. She has a hairline fracture in her right leg and a broken hand following the fall.
Alison said: “The path was uneven and I went flying. At the hospital I had tablets for the pain. It’s been terrible. I don’t think I’ve broken my leg but I twisted it badly so there could be a hairline fracture.”
She has been provided with a boot for her leg and a bandage for her hand. Alison is scheduled to return to the UK for further medical tests at London’s Whittington Hospital. Although injured, Alison still took a boat ride at night in a wheelchair with her husband, actor Michael Elwyn. She is in the UAE for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, where she is promoting her memoir, Out of Character.
The acclaimed actress has just published her memoirs and unsurprisingly there is a chapter on her role as Pamela Shipman in the hit BBC sitcom. She first met Ruth Jones and James Corden on ITV 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 wrote: “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.”
Alison goes on to describe Joanna Page as “perfect” for the role of Stacey and describes Mathew as “my little prince” and says she knew they would work as an onscreen couple. She concludes: “The was magic in the air and we all felt it.” Alison also describes in the book how she helped bond the cast and crew in the first series by setting up drinking sessions in the hotel bar which was dubbed ‘Ali’s Parlour’.
She wrote: “I found myself going into full event organiser mode at the end of each day in an attempt to bring us all together. And the bar very quickly was christened Ali’s Parlour by the producer, Lindsay Hughes. Very soon, there would be no need to herd the troops, as people could be heard saying ‘Ali’s parlour’ to each other, which became our recognised shorthand for an end of the day drink and get together.
“It was such a happy cast. Through the brilliance of the writing, everyone had their moment, and we could believe in all the characters leading full lives. Being able to have such confidence in the writing is so liberating as it allows you to be playful with your part within the scripts, with no need for improvisation at all.”
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
