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Joanna Page, best known for her role as Stacey Shipman in the much-loved sitcom Gavin & Stacey, has revealed the terrifying moment she was kidnapped by a taxi driver while filming overseas.
The 47-year-old actress spoke candidly on a podcast about the ordeal, which happened in 2004 during the production of the BBC period drama To the Ends of the Earth in South Africa.
“I thought – this is serious”
Page recalled how the cab driver held her hostage for 90 minutes, threatening to strip her and take indecent photographs. She described the fear she felt as she realised the gravity of the situation.
“I just remember thinking, ‘Oh my God’. You know how most of the time you get in dodgy situations but think you can get yourself out of it quite easily? But it was the only situation I think I’ve ever been in in my life where I thought, ‘You’re in the ****. This is serious. You can’t get yourself out of this. I don’t know what I’m going to do.’”
According to the actress, the driver made chilling threats, saying he would “take off all her clothes” and photograph her.
She admitted that if she hadn’t landed her role in Gavin and Stacey, she would have been “done with acting altogether.” – Credit: BBC/Fulwell73 & Tidy Productions/Tom Jackson
How she escaped
Page explained that she managed to keep calm and continued to talk to the man as he drove her around. Eventually, after a tense journey, the driver returned her to her hotel.
She described the moment she fled:
“I got out of the car and ran straight up to reception. I was in such a state and told them everything that had happened. They said, ‘You’re so incredibly lucky. Just never ever do anything like that again.’”
A frightening coincidence
The shocking revelation comes with an eerie connection: only weeks after Page’s kidnapping ordeal, her co-star Benedict Cumberbatch, who also starred in To the Ends of the Earth, was reportedly abducted at gunpoint in a separate incident while in South Africa. He too survived unharmed, but the coincidence highlights the dangers both actors faced while abroad at the time.
A much-loved star speaks out
While Joanna Page is adored by audiences for her comedic warmth in Gavin & Stacey, this harrowing story reveals a darker chapter in her life that many fans will not have been aware of until now.
Her honesty in recounting the ordeal has shocked listeners, but also serves as a reminder of the unpredictable risks actors sometimes face while working internationally.
Thankfully, Page survived the incident unharmed, and nearly 20 years on, she continues to enjoy a successful career both on stage and screen.
