Gavin & Stacey's Ruth Jones says Obama 'loved her Welsh accent' when they met at dinner party

'I went very Welsh. I went 'Hiya!' and shook hands with him'

Ruth Jones made an appearance on the latest episode of Desert Island Discs (Amanda Benson/BBC Radio 4/PA Wire)

Gavin & Stacey creator Ruth Jones recounted her meeting with Barack Obama and her discovery that he’s a fan of the Welsh accent.

During her appearance on Desert Island Discs, Jones said she had met the former US president during a dinner at Downing Street in 2013, and that he was particularly charmed by Jones’s tendency at the time to say “Brill-iant” and stick her thumbs in the air.

“I went very Welsh. I went ‘Hiya!’ and shook hands with him,” she told presenter Lauren Laverne. “I said ‘Can I just say? Congratulations! Brill-iant!’”

“And he shook hands with me and then leaned down and said: ‘I really need to learn how to say that – brill-iant!’.”

While appearing on the Radio Four Show, Jones described how her childhood in South Wales helped inspire her comedy career.

“You met such brilliant people who don’t know that they’re funny, who just don’t know that what they’re saying is hilarious,” she said. “I just love celebrating that really. I’m a hugely proud Welsh person. I just love it – it’s something very special, being Welsh.”

The actor and screenwriter picked Max Boyce’s “Morgan the Moon”, adding that it reminds her of her father.

Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for all the latest on Film, TV, Music, and more