‘I’ll be celebrating with Sharon Osbourne and Danny Dyer!"
The TV host shares the details of his super showbiz celebrations, and how he keeps things traditional with his family
‘I love Sharon. We’re really
close!’
It’s hard to believe he started out as a joke act on The X Factor in 2012. Now, Rylan Clark-Neal is part of the showbiz elite, hosting the Strictly spin off with Zoe Ball, and Supermarket Sweep.
Rylan, 31, has also acquired a whole host of celebrity mates – and he tells Closer he’ll be having a blast over Christmas in the company of former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne, plus EastEnders’ Danny Dyer and daughter Dani, in a new production of Nativity! The Musical.
He says, “I cannot wait to be back with Shazza! I love her. We’re really close. We’re in touch all the time, dropping each other little texts. She’s everything you’d want her to be – she can be crazy, she can be all sorts, but Sharon is a decent woman. There are so many people out there who think they’ve been there and got the T-shirt – Sharon
f*****g made the T-shirt!
CELEB MATES
“I’ve known big Danny Dyer for a few years now. But little Dani I didn’t know until she duetted with me in Ka-RY-oke! She’s a really sweet girl.” But his favourite showbiz friends are This Morning double act Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes – who he calls his
“TV mum and dad”. He says, “They’ve always been my biggest supporters.
I’ll definitely be seeing those two over Christmas. We just gossip and talk about people – we love it! And Louis Walsh and I are terrible when we get together. It shouldn’t be allowed – we are dangerous!”
One of Rylan’s most memorable Christmas Days was when he went to chef Gordon Ramsay’s house. “That was a weird one,” he says. “Me, David Hasselhoff and the boxer Anthony Joshua were invited round for his Christmas Cookalong Live. There was an actual reindeer wandering around the garden and I was in charge of the turkey.
The whole day went by in a blur!”
And loveable Rylan has a fan in chef
Jamie Oliver. He says, “Another year,
Jamie got in touch with me, which was a bit random. He asked what I was doing for Christmas. I said, “I’m indoors, doing some cooking,” and he asked if I wanted a turkey. He sent it, I cooked it, and it went down well. It was a lovely bird!”
He continues, “I like to indulge myself at Christmas with all my favourite food!
It’s the one time of year you can think, ‘Do you know what, I will eat this.’ That’s what New Year’s resolutions are for – to make up for being naughty at Christmas!”
FAMILY FUN
The star insists he won’t accept any help in the kitchen – and says his mum Linda always interferes with his festive dinner.
“On Christmas Day, I’ll be at my brother-in-law’s. I only get two days off Nativity, but I’ll make the most of them. And it’ll be Boxing Day around mine. [We’ll have] a big dinner with all the trimmings – and lots of aggravation. There’s always a Christmas disaster with my mum.
“I’m very OCD when I’m organising the meal. She always wants to get involved – but messes it up. I’ll get everything prepped, and she’ll start fiddling in the kitchen. With all due respect, I am a MasterChef finalist –
I can cook! I tell her to sit down and have a drink, but she won’t. She’ll be telling me how to do the potatoes, and we’ll have a fullblown argument. I know we will have one again this year!”
But despite rowing with his mum, Rylan – who married Big Brother housemate Dan, 40, in November 2015 – adores the festivities.
He says, “I love Christmas, it’s one of my favourite times of the year. It’s an excuse for everyone to be together, whether they like it or not. That’s what Christmas is all about! And lots of rows. Lovely!
“As I get older, I don’t really care about getting gifts. I love giving them. Dan always has good ideas. One of his best presents to me was a Build a Robot, because he knows I am a real Inspector Gadget.
“But all I want for Christmas is a day off to relax and not worry about work!”
By Jane Oddy
● Rylan is starring in Nativity! The Musical at the Eventim Apollo from 11-29 Dec. Visit Nativitythemusical.com