Melanie Walters

Melanie Walters is a Welsh actress whose screen career began in the late 1980s with a credited part in the BBC series The District Nurse. She went on to episodes of Screen Two, Mistress of Suspense and Coronation Street, and played Helen Powell in the BBC drama We Are Seven from 1989 to 1991. Other television work includes Delyth in Belonging and guest appearances in The Bill, Dangerfield, Casualty and Holby City. Her best known role came in 2007, as Gwen West, mother of the title character in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, which she played until 2010 and returned to for Christmas specials in 2019 and 2024. She also portrayed Bonnie Bevan in Hollyoaks between 2007 and 2009, and took the part of Yvonne Mallowan in Death Valley in 2025. Her stage credits range from Educating Rita and Blue Remembered Hills to numerous pantomimes.