Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page has revealed that she made her husband, actor James Thornton, dig up the remains of her deceased dog from their garden on the eve of a house move. The bizarre request came as the couple prepared to relocate, with Page unable to bear leaving her beloved Jack Russell, Daisy, behind.
Speaking on the Shagged Married Annoyed podcast, Page explained that Daisy had been her companion since she was 21, living until the age of 16. After the dog's death, Page chose to bury her in the garden rather than cremate her, saying: 'I can't cremate her. I just can't imagine doing that. I just want to keep her and I'm just going to bury her.' The family buried Daisy in a basket with flowers and a blanket.
When the time came to move house, Page insisted her husband exhume the remains. 'I said to James: Well, you got to dig her up... she's my first child. She's my firstborn. You have to dig her up,' she recalled. Thornton postponed the task until the last moment, eventually digging up the grave using a head torch. Daisy's remains now sit in a transparent plastic storage container in the couple's garage.
Page plans to re-bury Daisy only when she and Thornton find their 'forever home'. She added: 'If I die before then, basically, that whole box is just coming in with me.' The actress also revealed her ultimate wish to be buried in a coffin containing her children's nursery school artwork alongside Daisy's remains.
In a further twist, Page admitted to unknowingly purchasing a dog-shaped urn containing another pet's ashes from a charity shop in Wales. Initially thinking it was a paperweight, she later realised the 'sand' inside was actually cremated remains. Despite her husband's pleas to dispose of it, Page has kept the urn, bringing it back to her home in Oxfordshire.
