Gavin and Stacey’s Mathew Horne almost died before Christmas special after terrifying incident

Gavin and Stacey's Mathew Horne suffered a terrifying incident just one year before the much-loved 2019 Christmas special.

How do you have Gavin and Stacey without Gavin?

You just can't.

But this was something that producers of the show might have had to consider in 2018 when Gavin, Mathew Horne, suffered a terrifying incident one night after the leaving the pub.

After the finale aired last night (Christmas Day) and giving fans the send off we all deserved, we couldn't be happier that Horne lived to tell the tale.

Mathew Horne nearly didn't make it to the 2019 Christmas special (David M. Benett / Contributor / Getty)

Back in 2018, Horne was on his way to his parent's house after a cheeky Christmas sesh in the pub and was shockingly hit by a train. Merry Christmas to Horne, I guess.

The incident took place on December 20 when an East Midlands train grazed the British TV star, miraculously leaving him in one piece.

Horne came away from the incident with no injuries and not even a visit to the hospital - talk about a Christmas miracle.

At the time of the incident, the duty manager of the pub Horne had been drinking in told The Sun: "It was a really, really unfortunate accident and it could have been a lot worse. We are all glad that it wasn't.

"He was obviously very shaken up but he's all right now. He's got a bit of a scratch on him but no underlying issue there whatsoever.

"Mathew is a regular customer of ours. I can say that everybody was quite spirited that night and it's a genuine mishap on his part."

There's no Stacey without Gavin (BBC)

The British Transport Police also made a statement and said: "The incident was reported to police at 22:37pm and is being treated as non-suspicious. Officers attended the incident along with paramedics and a person was escorted away from the scene."

As we all know, Horne was able to return to work to film the 2019 Gavin and Stacey Christmas special which left fans reeling after that cliffhanger.

In case you missed it, Nessa proposed to Smithy and the show ended before we knew whether he said yes or not.

Well, fast forward five years and fans finally have their answer, with the show's finale closing the chapter on our Barry favourites.

Ahead of the BBC show airing, the cast shared their thoughts on leaving the show behind for good.

Joanna Page who plays Stacey said of the finale: “Being on set for the last time with everybody for the last day was traumatic.

“I burst out crying again and again. I just alternated between hysterically crying and hysterically laughing.

“It just felt like it was such a huge journey that was ending.”

Where as James Corden said: “Gavin & Stacey is just a huge part of my life, it changed my life in every way.

“The thing it means to me most is my friendship with Ruth. To have an idea with a friend in a hotel in Leeds 20 years ago and then be sat here today with what it's become.

“If you think about it too much you could really just start crying all the time. I love her so much and I'm so proud of what we've done."

You can watch the finale and all other episodes on BBC iPlayer.