It’s Christmas with the stars
Celebrities let us in on the little family traditions that help make the festive period extra special for them
TV presenter and Heart Breakfast’s Amanda Holden
Christmas Day starts early and it’s normally me that’s up, not them [the kids]. We all have stockings, including the rabbits. We’ve got two rabbits and a dog and a cat. So Father Christmas is very generous.
And then we normally open everything and I will have a Buck’s Fizz while we’re doing that. I like to make smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, which noone eats, but I still like to do it.
They all like going to play with their toys. And then I love starting to cook the dinner quite early, in an apron, with my mum, with Michael Bublé playing.
We have a nice lunch at the proper time and then just chill the rest of the day, really. Play with the toys and watch Christmas telly.
Dame Julie Walters, whose voice can be heard in Channel 4’s The Abominable Snow Baby
Sitting in front of the fire in my pyjamas, opening presents and drinking tea. That’s the main traditional thing, in front of the fire. Then my husband’s out on the farm, he comes in and I cook the turkey – one of our turkeys.
Comedian and TV presenter Rob Beckett, whose Wallop tour starts in January
This year my mum and dad will be coming to us for Christmas dinner. I love staying in at Christmas.
At Christmas we go for it. We have two trees – one in the kitchen, one in the front room.
We have lights at the front and loads of presents. We normally get all our brothers together on Christmas Eve (four brothers) so that’s a big event.
I treat myself to a Marks & Spencer’s food order – that’s the big middle-class Christmas. I pick it up on Christmas Eve.
I would never have admitted that until recently because I would have been scared that people would have thought, ‘He’s changed, we hate Rob Beckett now, so we’ll never go and see him again’.
You might be ringing me up next year to find that no-one’s gone to my tour dates, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Comedian and The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice presenter Tom Allen In our family, we always have a bottle of Asti Spumante in the morning because my mum likes that, which is quite retro, isn’t it?
So, we have some Asti Spumante and open presents and then usually there’s some beginnings of cooking happening, which is quite exciting, and then we usually eat really late.
I think some families have a great regimented ‘We sit down at 12!’ My family are quite sloth-like and we get up really late and it’s a slow start to the day. So we have dinner late and then probably drink too much and then I fall asleep.
But it’s quite unusual this year because I’ve just moved into my first home, so it’s my first year of hosting. So, I’m going to need Christmas decorations for one thing!
And we’re having beef not turkey, because I heard there was going to be a turkey shortage – but apparently there are actually loads of turkeys!
Chef and TV host Matt Tebbutt
I’ve cooked the last couple of years, and I really like doing it. I like getting down to the pub in the morning. Obviously we weren’t allowed to do that last year, were we? Which was a shame.
But this year, hopefully, that’ll be back on the cards. Yeah, go to the pub, come back, late lunch.
We try and kind of make the day quite long, really, glass of Buck’s Fizz in the morning, or two or three.
We stick the dinner in, have a walk to the pub, a couple of pints, rush back, try and sort of, you know, put it all together, and then just a late one so you don’t have to worry about the evening.”
TV presenter Fern Britton
Well, my aim this year is to not do any tradition at all.
My children are growing up, so they are often away somewhere else in the UK, so they’ll be having their own Christmases.
I have one daughter, I think, coming and I said to her the other day, ‘What should we do on Christmas Day? I really don’t want to do anything traditional. What do you really want to eat?’ And she said, ‘Spaghetti bolognaise’.
So I said, ‘Right, OK, I fancy a curry’, so we’re going to be cooking spaghetti bolognaise and curry – but we’ll also have pigs in blankets and roast potatoes of course.
So it’s a weird one. There’s no sprouts, obviously, and just have a laugh. We’ll probably spend the day in our jim jams.
Death In Paradise actor Ralf Little
I’m going to spend Christmas with my mum, who I’ve not seen for ages, in North Devon.
Obviously I’m from Manchester originally.
But after my first season here (filming Death In Paradise in Guadeloupe), in 2019, I had to then spend the Christmas period helping my mum move down to Devon.
So, I’m going to reap the rewards of that and just have a lovely time there chilling out.
My brother’s going to come down, so it’s going to be nice.