Greatest Showmum

THIS year is a big one for Katherine Jenkins – not only has she released her first album in four years, she’s tackling the Elf on the Shelf for the first time.

More on him later but Katherine already has plenty going on. The opera star is currently being kept busy as the mother of two and the recording and release of new album Guiding Light.

On it, the 38-year-old lends her acclaimed vocals to an eclectic mix of songs, with everything from Greatest Showman to Stormzy.

“It feels like it’s been such a long time since I did all this but it’s a nice feeling to be back,” she said.

“So much has changed and with this album I wanted to sing songs that I felt an emotional connection with.

“It wasn’t a conscious decision to have such a mix of different genres, it kind of just happened this way.

“All the songs on Guiding Light move me and I really wanted this album to have an intimate and personal feel.”

One of the stand-out tracks from Katherine’s new release is Never Enough from The Greatest Showman.

And while it is a song that many people have fallen in love with this year, Katherine revealed it had extra poignancy for her.

“I was quite late in the game to seeing the film but as soon as I saw it and heard Never Enough, I was like ‘I have to sing this.’ “And then not long after I got a call from the Classical Brit Awards asking if I’d perform it at the Royal Albert Hall. “It was like it was meant to be so it’s not got a really big place in my heart. My daughter loves it to and makes me sing it to her at bedtime every night.” One of the other songs that most impresses on Guiding Light’s tracklist is Blinded by Your Grace, originally done by Stormzy.

“It’s a song that has such gorgeous verses,” Katherine explained.

“I’m a really spiritual person and I really connected with the lyrics; it really grabbed me and because Stormzy has done two parts to it, we joined the two together.

“The best part of the whole process for me is still to come.

“I can’t wait to perform the songs live and sing in front of audiences all over the country again.” With a new album and a nationwide tour next year to rehearse for, Katherine has enough on her plate. But her festive season has been handed an added burden .... elf on the shelf. “Don’t get me started on him,” she joked.

“I feel like I’m running out of ideas already, I’m not very imaginative! I could do with finding an Instagram page for inspiration!”

■ Katherine will play Sage Gateshead on Tuesday, April 30. Tickets are £32.20, £43.10, £60, £90, £170 (VIP) and are available now from the Sage website.