Hilarious deleted scene in Love Actually resurfaces in which Sam becomes a ‘trained gymnast’

The question of whether or not Richard Curtis’ classic Love Actually is actually a Christmas film will no doubt pop up in some households this festive season, but we’d like to propose a far more important debate.

Why were scenes showing Sam somersaulting through an airport deleted from the final version of the 2003 film?

Yes, you read that right. A real, filmed scene left on the cutting room floor showed Sam (Nanny McPhee’s Thomas Brodie-Sangster) rushing through the building to tell love interest Joanna (Olivia Olson) how he feels about her before she catches her flight to the US – but in a rather unusual manner.

Most of the original scenes appear in the deleted version (that is, several shots of security guards running after the young boy), but while the final release shows diddy Brodie-Sangster doing a short jump over a guard and past the metal detector, Gymnast Sam decides to do a full-blown somersault, because of course.

Well, when we say Gymnast Sam, we actually mean a body double who looks nothing like him – not least because said body double is an Actual Adult, which makes the whole thing even funnier.

And that’s not the only impressive display from Sam in the deleted scenes, as he cartwheels through an airport lounge and, when he is eventually cornered by staff, opts for a few full circles on a metal bar.

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At this point, you may think we’ve left it several months too late for April Fools’, but Curtis himself acknowledges in the film’s commentary that they were “a bit torn” as to whether or not they should include it.

He said: "There would have been some effects and polish done on it. We didn't in the end, and I thought it was fun.

“In the original draft of the movie, there was lots of mentions about the fact that Sam, the little boy, was a brilliant gymnast and when he was sad you'd just see him casually being brilliant at gym.

“So when it came to an airport scene, he brought his gymnastic prowess into play. This is a very rough edit."

It sure does look like one, but that hasn’t stopped Twitter users from absolutely loving the clip after it was shared again on Saturday.

“I always switch from running to cartwheels when I need a burst of speed,” joked one.

Another declared it was “absolutely the greatest thing we never knew”.

There were also a few with far harsher opinions on the footage and the film as a whole.

One wrote: “Can’t decide if this would have made the film slightly more tolerable or even f***ing worse.”

“I’ve never seen Love Actually and now I swear to God I never will,” another concluded.

We honestly think including such a scene would have been flipping brilliant (sorry), but ultimately the film’s creative team thought differently, so Christmas is cancelled.

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