WE CELEBRATE THE SEASON WITH: Sam Armytage, Curtis Stone, Mel Doyle, Sonia Kruger, Jessica Rowe and David Campbell
Some familiar faces share their fondest and funniest festive memories. Tiffany Dunk passes the tinsel.
Jessica Rowe, Peter Overton, Allegra & Giselle
Jessica Rowe knows how to play to her strengths. The TV presenter and self-confessed “crap housewife” leaves the cooking to her extended family when it comes to Christmas preparations, preferring instead to focus on the important thing – the trimmings. “I love a theme,” Jessica, 48, grins. “We dress up our three cats, we have a fantastic talking reindeer that sings carols whenever you walk past. The girls (Giselle, eight, and Allegra, 11) and I do the tree. I’ll put on antlers and we’ve got great glasses with Chrissy trees or ‘Ho Ho Ho’ written on top of them.” “Honestly, you should see our house,” chips in Giselle. “Whenever I go to other people’s houses they have matching decorations. But we have everything.” The rest of Christmas will be simple and built to honour the bonds that tie them all together. “Family is the most important thing in our lives,” says Jessica’s husband, journalist Peter Overton, 52. “And it’s really important that we all come together, not just at Christmas but as regularly as we can.”
“I’m so conscious Christmas can be a stressful time for a lot of people because of the expectations put on it,” adds Jessica. “What matters most is being with people who love and understand you best. It doesn’t have to be the traditional idea of family, it can be friends or other people.”