Aled Jones enjoys a "traditional" Christmas.
The ‘Walking in the Air’ hitmaker – who has children Emilia, 16, and Lucas, 13, with wife Claire Fosset – believes December 25 is an important day for family and they try to put the youngsters at the heart of their celebrations, echoing his own childhood.
He said: "It’s important to have family time. Our Christmas is so traditional – we play loads of carols and Christmas songs and when the kids were little, we’d put out carrots for the reindeer.
"When they were younger, we’d see Christmas very much through their eyes and think back to when we were kids and about people who aren’t here any more, like my nan, who would always let me win at games at Christmas.
"For me, it’s a really important time to connect with family, eat and drink loads, laugh at rubbish jokes and watch stuff on TV. I love festive TV."
The family have an early start on Christmas Day – but never as early as Aled, 47, once got his parents up on the big day.
He wrote in a guest column for Closer magazine: "We’re usually up by 9am at the latest. We always do presents first – I would never make my kids wait.
"My daughter takes about an hour to open her presents while my son takes 60 seconds. He’s like the Tasmanian Devil!
"When I was a kid, the earliest I ever got up was at 2.30am, when my mum and dad found me sitting on a bike that I’d already unwrapped."
Aled Jones’ traditional Christmas
