Elizabeth Melanie Walters (born 30 January 1962) is a Welsh actress, known for portraying the role of Gwen West in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey (2007–2010, 2019, 2024). With a career spanning five decades, her other roles have included Helen Powell in We Are Seven (1989–1991), Bonnie Bevan in Hollyoaks (2007–2009) and Yvonne Mallowan in the BBC crime mystery series Death Valley (2025–2026). She has also appeared in various stage productions and pantomimes, ran her own Pilates company and is set to appear as a contestant on the twenty-fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2026.
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Early life
Elizabeth Melanie Walters was born on 30 January 1962, the youngest of four children born to David Walters and Margaret (née Warnes), and was raised in the Mumbles, near Swansea. She has an older brother David, and two older sisters Eleri and Julia. Their father died when Walters was young, leaving their 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 began her acting career in the late 1980's. Her first credited role was as Milwen Parry in two episodes of the BBC series The District Nurse in 1987. She went on to appear in episodes of Screen Two, Mistress of Suspense and Coronation Street. Between 1989 and 1991, she portrayed Helen Powell in the BBC drama series We Are Seven. Between 2000 and 2001, she appeared in the BBC One Wales series Belonging as Delyth. She has also made various guest appearances in television shows including The Bill, Dangerfield, Casualty and Holby City.
Walters' most known role came in 2007, when she began playing Gwen West, the widowed mother of title character Stacey Shipman (née West) known for her frequent making of omelettes, in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, a role she held until 2010, before returning for Christmas special episodes in 2019 and 2024 respectively. Between 2007 and 2009, she sporadically portrayed the role of Bonnie Bevan in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Walters 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 has appeared in various stage productions and pantomimes, including Educating Rita, Blue Remembered Hills, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Importance of Being Earnest, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast and numerous productions of Cinderella.
Since 2025, she has appeared in the BBC crime mystery series Death Valley as Yvonne Mallowan. In 2026, she appeared in an episode of Beyond Paradise. In August 2026, Walters was announced as a contestant on the twenty-fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Personal life
Walters lives with her son in the Mumbles, Swansea, where she also runs a business teaching Pilates.