Richard and Rebecca – ‘here comes the Billericay boy’

AS a former barman, and shop worker, Richard Whymark is wellknown in Barry as its very own Billericay lad.

In fact, when filming was under way on Trinity Street earlier this year, he even considered popping down himself to introduce himself as the real deal.

Richard, 35, said: “I used to work in retail but before that I worked in the Ship in Barry.

“They have a poster saying Billericay lad Gavin and [the locals] asked where I was from.

“When they found out, the whole pub roared.

“I used to work in Home Bargains and I know regular customers who used to say ‘here comes the Billericay boy’.

“When they were filming in Trinity Street I wanted to go down and tell them I’m the real Billericay boy.’”

Richard, who is actually Michael’s younger brother (see above story), found himself making the move to Barry after deciding to follow in his sibling’s footsteps to make a fresh start.

But it wasn’t until he decided to give internet dating a go that he found himself falling for Barry girl Rebecca Selby.

Fast forward three years and he is now engaged, and dad to eightmonth-old baby Elliott.

He said: “When I got to Barry I decided to go for a run for the first time to find my bearings but I didn’t understand how big the hills were. Then there was a bit of a language barrier. The first [Welsh] word I came across was ‘cwtch’.

“I’m used to cuddle but I thought someone was talking about a clutch. She said ‘I want a cwtch’ and I thought it was for the car!”

For Richard romance blossomed after turning his hand to Tinder. The rest, according to him, is history.

He said: “Everyone was saying internet dating was the way forward so I opted for Tinder.

“We went on a first date and just hit it off.

“We were out for a meal and a few drinks in Cardiff to get to know each other and then met up again the next day. We love each other to pieces, we have a lot of banter and good times.”

The new dad added: “[Rebecca] told me a few days before my birthday she was pregnant, I was in the gym working out.

“I had about 80kg on my back and she sent me a picture of the pregnancy test with the words ‘happy birthday daddy’.

“I slipped, lost my balance and went down with the bar!”

Unlike Michael, Richard and fiancee Rebecca are a bit more savvy when it comes to the Gavin & Stacey references.

Richard said: “I’ve seen it quite a few times and Rebecca has watched it too. In a way it is quite similar, me and my partner do have a poke at each other in the Gavin and Stacey way of things.”