‘Holly and I always fight to be Baby Spice on our girls’ night out’
Kate Thornton spills the gossip on her wild parties with celeb mates Holly Willoughby and Emma Bunton, and reveals why she keeps it low-key on New Year
She’s part of one of the coolest girl gangs in showbiz alongside Emma Bunton, Mel C, Myleene Klass, the Appleton sisters, Kimberley Walsh, Holly Willoughby and PR guru
Niki de Metz. But despite such a starry roll call, Kate Thornton tells Closer that their annual Christmas girls’ night tends to end in mayhem.
“We always have a very dedicated night out where we do Secret Santa,” she says. “This year, we’re going to Emma Bunton’s gig at the Royal Albert Hall. Over the years, we’ve hosted nights in various venues; we never go back to the same place twice – they probably don’t want us back!”
With a couple of real-life Spice Girls in the mix, there’s often a fight over who will be Baby Spice when the gang end up doing drunken renditions at karaoke.
Kate, 46, says, “We always end up doing Spice Girls songs and Emma and Mel C are so tolerant of us. It’s always me and Holly Willoughby fighting to be Baby.
I’m always like, ‘I’ll be your understudy,’ and Holly’s like, ‘No, I am!’”
BEST FRIENDS
The group have been mates for almost two decades after crossing paths in the showbiz world. Kate started out as the youngest-ever editor of Smash Hits magazine at 22, and rose to fame hosting Top Of The Pops before landing a gig as the first X Factor presenter when the series hit our screens in 2004.
She was sensationally sacked by TV mogul Simon Cowell three years later, replaced by current host Dermot O’Leary. Speaking at the time, Kate said, “I’ll never talk to Simon again,” but she reveals they’re now on good terms.
Praising her supportive showbiz pals, Kate says, “A lot of us meet at work and that’s it, we’re friends. I’m really lucky, I have the best girlfriends in the world.
“We make the effort, it’s as simple as that. There are so many of us now – our friendship group has grown so much over the years because someone will introduce somebody new to the group and we’re like, ‘Yes, brilliant, she’s a keeper!’
“When somebody has an opening night, we’re all there. Recently it was Kimberley Walsh’s opening for Big The Musical. We all turn out for those important moments.”
FULL HOUSE
The friendship group has been there in tougher times for Kate, whose longterm relationship with Underworld DJ Darren Emerson – the father of their son Ben, 11 – ended in 2011 after seven years together. Speaking about the split, Kate said, “Every relationship where a child is involved is born out of love. There is a little boy in the middle and he has to come first.”
Keeping new romances out of the spotlight, Kate is focusing on a packed Christmas with her son and family. “We have our house full for Christmas,” she says. “We’ve averaged around 16 for lunch for the past three years. Then we do an open house in the evening for those families who are in walking distance, and have cabin fever and need to escape their own four walls. Christmas is a very lively affair in our house, I love it. The busier, the noisier, the better.”
After that, Kate will skip the New Year parties for a quieter introduction to 2020 with Ben. “I always spend it with my son and friends – that’s become tradition,” she says. “I want to spend midnight with him. As his mum, he is without doubt the most important person in my universe.”
‘I’ll spend New Year with my son – he’s my universe’