Celebrity special
From eloping to New York to spending Christmas in space, the stars share their most memorable festivities ever
SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR
I’m one of those people who adores Christmas. I think having everyone over and trying to create a version of Christmas in your own home is a really big deal – and I’ll never forget the year I did it for the first time.
I was 26, my eldest son, Sonny, was only one and my husband, Richard, and I invited the whole family over for dinner. I went out and bought all the decorations that we still have now. My style is bright, exuberant and maximalist, so there was lots of colourful tinsel, streamers and fairy lights all chucked on the tree.
I decided to do all the cooking myself – and I was a slight control freak about it because I’d never made a Christmas dinner before! I’d been given a Jamie Oliver DVD of how to do a Christmas dinner and threw myself into making all the different dishes. My favourite moment was when we all sat down to eat and everyone seemed to like it. These days, we delegate and I tend to be ‘front of house’ looking after the guests, including our five children, while Richard cooks. Christmas Day is about hunkering down, but as there are so many of us, it’s pretty busy. The little ones get so excited, we have a lovely long meal and then Richard puts our snow machine out of the window to make it look like snow’s falling.
One of my favourite traditions is setting fire to the Christmas pudding; then we all form a conga line. We carry the pudding around the house, singing, ‘Here comes the Christmas pudding,’ to the tune of For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow. People usually look quite embarrassed when I tell them that! Music plays a big part in our house. Festive songs are so evocative because they link you with all the Christmases that have gone before. We love all the classics, such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Frosty The Snowman, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and a bit of Shakin’ Stevens. It wouldn’t be Christmas without them.
• Sophie’s Christmas Kitchen Disco UK tour begins on 23 November. For tickets, see ticketmaster.co.uk
TOM KERRIDGE
My mum single-handedly raised me and my brother on a council estate, working two jobs to support us. She didn’t have much money and yet she managed to make Christmas feel so special – we never felt like we went without.
When I became a parent myself in 2015, it brought the joy of Christmas back again. My wife, Beth, gave birth to our son, Acey, on 21 December. Four days later, we hosted all our family, including my mum, at our house. I remember Acey being passed between guests, e
