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All I want for Christmas

What’s the worst that could happen with gift giving?
Colin Mathura-Jeffree

We’ve all had them – the Christmas presents that made you squeal with delight and the ones that probably should have stayed wrapped at the bottom of the tree. The Weekly asked some of New Zealand’s favourite celebrities about their fantastically wonderful and freakishly awful festive gifts.

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**COLIN MATHURA-JEFFREE

Host, Chelsea New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker**

I love Christmas – I love getting that awesome gift because I’m a narcissistic show-off. As for my worst present… I had a friend who I would go out all night partying with and at about 3am I’d \ make him come with me to buy a Ponsonby Pie. Well, one year we went for a round of G&Ts and to exchange presents – I gave him an S Club 7 calendar (dated and used) and he gave me a Ponsonby Pie. As we laughed and drank he all of a sudden asked me where the pie was. I said, “I just ate it.” He turned white as a sheet and said it had been sitting in his car for a week. I had never been so sick in my life.

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**DEBBIE NEWBY-WARD

Nothing Trivial actress**

My best ever Christmas present was a bubblegum machine. I was eight and to this day I’m still searching for the blue flavour. It was out of this world! Worst was a box of expired chocolates – so excited, then so bitterly disappointed.

**JOSH HESLOP

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TV3 weatherman**

The best present was probably a care package my friend sent to me while I was overseas. It had all of my favourite Kiwi treats in it, including lollies and biscuits. The worst was psoriasis cream! I’ve only ever had it once and it happened at Christmas time. Mum and Dad even wrapped it!

**MICHELLE PICKLES

3 News presenter**

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The best present was my dad surviving throat cancer and being able to spend Christmas with us – and hopefully many more to come! As for the worst, the saying goes, “It’s the thought that counts,” so there’s no such thing as a bad one.

**DOM BOWDEN

Host, The X Factor NZ**

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The best was when the whole family was in the US for a Californian Christmas – it was the first one out of New Zealand and very bizarre! The worst was a few years ago – food poisoning from the night before.

**BEN BOYCE

TV personality and comedian**

Best Christmas present – I got given the One Direction album last year and, to be honest, it sounds great, but only when you smash the CD against the coffee table. Worst Christmas present – my friends like to buy me the Pulp Sport DVD so I can put it in my garage with the other 4000 that never sold.

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**SHANNON RYAN

TV presenter**

One Christmas, as a gift, my mum and stepdad let me choose the colour I wanted my room painted. I went with yellow – bright canary yellow. That was amazing. Worst? When my grandparents moved in and my grandad used the room as his office, he found it too much and painted it white again.

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**JACQUIE NAIRN

Shortland Street actress**

The best present will be this year when I get to meet my little 11-month-old niece, Lilly Rose. The worst? My mum fills stockings with joke presents every year and thinks it’s hilarious.

**ANNABEL LANGBEIN

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TV chef**

In hindsight, the best gift was probably the Elizabeth David and Julia Child recipe books my mother gave me when I was in my teens. I cooked from them constantly for years afterwards. The worst was a few years ago. I had Christmas in Colombia with a family up in the hills of Bucaramanga. The next day, I was quizzing them about their special food traditions. They said since I was an overseas guest they would make me a very special Christmas dish for a treat. We all got in the car, drove to the abattoir and picked up a bucket of fresh blood. They took it home and boiled it. Nothing else – no salt or pepper even – and that was it. The smell was so disgusting I could not eat it.

**MATT CHAMBERLAIN

Shortland Street actor**

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The year my family got me a chainsaw was the best present as it was the only thing I wanted. When I got it, I was just over the moon. The worst present would be the years I didn’t get one!

**ALIX BUSHNELL

Go Girls actress**

The best – my puppy Toby (not really a puppy any more). The worst – cleaning up the “gifts” from Toby.

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