Larry Lamb has revealed that the Gavin And Stacey cast are all part of a WhatsApp group and they recently celebrated their ratings success in the chat.

The actor, who plays Mick Shipman in the hit sitcom, said the messages started flying when it was revealed the recent Christmas special has been watched by 18.5 million people.

He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I was on the phone to somebody and somebody shouted at me ‘It’s just got 18 million viewers!’ and then of course the WhatsApp chat that we’ve got going on between us… everybody sent the same message ‘We’ve just got 18.5 million viewers!’

The Gavin And Stacey cast
The show recently won the Impact prize at the National Television Awards (Ian West/PA)

Asked how James Corden, who co-created the show with Ruth Jones, responded, Lamb said: “James Corden is always a bit late you know because he’s always working and is eight hours behind.

“He’s always on there. It’s like he’s got a special button or something that says, ‘Wake up, there’s a WhatsApp message, you better get in’.”

Discussing whether there will now be more of the show after the special ended in a dramatic cliffhanger, he said: “I spoke to James on the phone the other day.

“He said he spent 10 years trying to tell people there might be another Gavin And Stacey, now we’ve done another Gavin And Stacey everyone is asking the same question again.”