Melanie Walters (born 30 January 1962) is a Welsh actress who has worked frequently in television. She is best known for playing Gwen West in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey and Emma, a vampire in the third series of Being Human.

Early life

Walters was born on 30 January 1962 and raised in the Mumbles, near Swansea. Her father died when she was very young, leaving her mother to raise four children under four years old. In 1973, aged 11, she took over her brother's paper round, covering Mumbles Head every day, an experience she described at length on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012. When she was 14 she qualified as a lifeguard, working on the local beaches.

Career

Walters has worked frequently in television, but is best known for playing Gwen West in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey between 2007 and 2010, before returning for Christmas special episode in 2019 and for one final Christmas special episode in 2024. She was one of eight celebrities chosen to participate in an intense week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire in the series cariad@iaith:love4language shown on S4C in July 2011, and emerged winner of the series. Walters made a guest appearance in Casualty as Carrie on 3 February 2018. In December 2011 she appeared in the pantomime Cinderella at the Riverfront Arts Centre in Newport. In July 2020, it was announced that she would be taking on a lead character in the feature film Faulty Roots, directed by Ella Greenwood. In May 2024 it was announced that a final episode of Gavin & Stacey, to be broadcast on Christmas Day 2024, had been written.

Film

Television

Theatre

Personal life

Walters lives with her son in the Mumbles, Swansea, where she also runs a business teaching Pilates.