Tony Mortimer has compared ‘Stay Another Day’s enduring popularity to “an old friend returning”.
The 54-year-old singer took the track to number one with his former group East 17 in 1994 and he loves the fact it is still a festive favourite.
Tony – who has released a new version of the song for charity – recently told heat magazine: “It still gets played on the radio a lot and because it was Christmas number one, it stays around and keeps the name of the band going.
“It’s nice when it comes out every year, like an old friend returning.
“Or like an old puffy white coat that comes out of the wardrobe every year and that’s getting tighter every year!”
But Tony admitted he can barely fit into the original white coat he wore for the song’s music video.
He said: “The original one is so tight, it’s like a corset now!
“I’ve got another one with loads of room in it, so I’m hoping that will get baggier over the years.”
Tony wrote the song in tribute to his late brother Ollie so he usually takes some time to reconnect with the track.
He said: “It’s very intense – I usually sit down and play it to myself, then it’s between me and him.
“He inspired it, but it’s an ambiguous love song about someone leaving.
“If we could be granted another 24 hours with them, how special that would be.
“Looking back, I was exorcising a demon. I was getting some pain that was inside of me out.”
The ‘House of Love’ hitmaker is looking forward to spending Christmas with his wife Tracey, their daughters Atlanta and Ocean and their own families and knows he is lucky to do so.
Asked how he is spending Christmas, he said: “I don’t take it for granted that I’m blessed with kids and grandchildren while there are people alone at Christmas, so I want to sit around with my family and absorb it.
“We’ll have dinner and watch the younger generation, who have so much more energy. It’s like I run on coal and they run on solar power.”