Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page has opened up about once being told she wasn't 'pretty enough' for an acting job despite having a 'really good' audition.

The Welsh actor, who played Stacey in the iconic BBC series, recalled her ordeal when she appeared as a guest panellist on Loose Women this week.

As well as starring in Gavin and Stacey, Page has racked up roles in both movies and TV shows throughout her career, appearing in the likes of Love Actually, Nativity 2, Doctor Who, and Midsomer Murders.

Instagram/@iamjoannapage

She's been a familiar face on our screens for more than two decades, but there was one audition that stood out to Page as she discussed her career on the chat show on Wednesday (9 August).

She explained: "I had an audition and I'd been back about nine times and it was going really good. And then they said to my agent, 'Could you please tell her that we just don't think she's pretty enough before the next callback?'"

As part of their feedback, the casting agents allegedly told Page's agent that she should 'go to the department store and get them to do her makeup and everything and then come to the audition'.

It's a pretty bold request, but Page decided to oblige and returned to the audition, only to learn she 'still wasn't good enough'.

She continued: "Then they said 'We're worried about her accent, can she then go and have coaching?'"

Still keen for the part, Page went and had the coaching for her accent, and it was only after all of that that she landed the role.

BBC

Page didn't reveal which job required her to go jump through the multiple hoops, but she went on to discuss the rejections she's faced in her career, saying: "The worse thing is not finding out that you haven't got the job until actually you're seeing it on the TV and then you go 'Oh gosh, this is why I didn't get the part'."

Ruth Langsford then joined in the conversation, adding: "I think I think for me, I deal I probably deal better with disappointment as I've got older because it's a maturity thing, isn't it?

"So when you're young and you've built up all your expectations, whether it is a boyfriend you want or a dress that you're hoping to fit into and then it doesn't happen - you're crushed.

"But I think as life teaches, you know, there are disappointments in life. And I get better at dealing with it."

Page's most recent credit came in 2022, when she worked as a voice actor for the TV series Dog Squad.