A retired Brynamman engineer who became a TV extra at the age of 61 has described his new-found fame on the Welsh equivalent of Gogglebox as the ‘stuff of dreams’.

Panto performer Huw Williams, 62, who now lives near Mold, in Flintshire, said he couldn’t believe his luck when he secured a place on S4C’s Gogglebocs Cymru - alongside his brothers Stephen, 57, and Mike, 64.

The brothers, who grew up in Brynamman, near Ammanford, are avid fans of the British reality show and wasted no time replying to an advert calling on friends and families to try out for the Welsh language version.

Former British Coal engineer Huw, 62, who has appeared on Emmerdale as a vicar since first trying his hand as a TV extra a few years ago, said audiences had already warmed to the trio’s brotherly banter – so much so that he’s now being recognised in the most unusual of places.

“Just this morning I was half-naked in the doctors when the doctor said in Welsh ‘I’ve seen you on Gogglebocs,” said Huw.

“I couldn’t believe it, as I had a face mask on as well. But he must have recognised my voice.”

Huw, who has three daughters, aged 27, 24 and 22, was born in Brynamman and worked for British Coal for 18 years, before moving to North Wales in 1989 to work on a pilot plant changing coal into oil.

He has appeared in panto for Northop Presents for the last 16 years – most recently last month as Minnie Thesa, a fairy, in Beauty and the Beast – and took up his friends’ advice to find work as a TV extra upon his retirement last year.

S4C commissioned the independent production firms Cwmni Da and Chwarel, both based in North Wales, to co-produce the first ever Welsh language version of Channel 4’s and Studio Lambert’s top-rated format in the autumn.

The inaugural show was broadcast in the first week of November and the new series hit the screen on Wednesday, January 4 after the celebrity special on December 28.