‘Sunday was the best gift I could have asked for’
TOWIE star and single mum Ferne McCann shares how she’s planning an excellent Christmas for her daughter
It’s her third Christmas with her little girl, and despite all the heartache of facing pregnancy and motherhood alone after Sunday’s father Arthur Collins was jailed for an acid attack in 2017, Ferne McCann says that the best time of her life was when her daughter was born.
She tells Closer, “One of the best Christmas gifts was in 2017, on 2 November, when I gave birth to Sunday. Just a few weeks later, it was Christmas, I had a newborn, and it was the best and most magical time ever. From that point on, my life has never been the same – she was the best gift I could ever have asked for.”
FAMILY TIME
This year, Ferne, 29, is hoping to have moved into her new Essex home with Sunday, two, whom she describes as her “little Christmas angel”, so she can pull out all the stops. “I really hope that I’m going to be moved into my new home,” she says. “I want to be really cosy with all my family and spend time with Sunday – she is becoming much more aware of everything.
“Christmas is so much more special when you have kids. What’s so nice about having a baby is that I can almost relive my Christmas traditions through her. I always used to get a sack at the end of my bed that my mum would sneak in while I slept, and we always got a satsuma and some chocolate from Father Christmas – and I do the same for Sunday.
“I love sneaking in when she’s fast asleep and seeing her face the next morning when she wakes up. I hope she believes in Father Christmas for the next six years at least.”
The pressure is on Ferne this year, as she’s cooking for her family, which includes mum Gilly, dad Simon, and sister Sophie. “I am planning to cook the full works – turkey, sprouts and pigs in blankets with stuffing balls,” she says. “Me and my family are such foodies. I always feel so full after my Christmas meal, but I do love a turkey and cranberry sandwich in the evening after Christmas dinner – with stuffing! And my mum makes this amazing Christmas cake every year, it’s absolutely gorgeous.”
After the feasting and festivities, Ferne is packing her bikinis for a getaway in Dubai. She reveals, “I’m going away on Boxing Day with my friend Carl [YouTuber Carl Cunard] and Sunday to get some winter sun. I will be there for New Year’s Eve, and the hotel where I’m staying is throwing the most unbelievable party.
It’s all about dressing up, wearing a ball gown, and there will be food and fireworks. I can’t wait to get away.”
SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions for 2020, Sunday is the first thing that comes to mind. Ferne says, “One thing that I want to do less of is burying my head in my phone when Sunday is around, because I don’t want her to grow up thinking that is what we all do. I need to set that good example to her.
“I also want to stay active for her. I think it’s really important to instil that in your children from a young age – it’s important to be active and it’s important to exercise and move around, and I am still loving the gym and keeping fit.”