Family

Toni Street and other Kiwi celebrities reveal what their Christmas ‘firsts’ will be this year

Antonia Prebble, Toni Street, Kanoa Lloyd, Alex Tarrant and other Kiwi celebs will all be enjoying a different type of Christmas this year.

For these Kiwi stars, this Yuletide is going to be a little bit different to what they’ve experienced in the past.

Whether it’s their first festive season as a mum, as a homeowner, or it’s their first Christmas Day without the traditional ham, they fill us in as to what will make the holiday unlike any other!

Antonia Prebble: My first Christmas with my fiancé!

Antonia Prebble, Westside actress

“There are a couple of firsts for me this Christmas − the first where I’ll be an engaged woman and the first one I’ll be donating to Variety’s Have a Go scholarship, in addition to sponsoring my own individual child through them. This year, they’ve included a new scholarship as part of their Christmas appeal. It gives children up to $500 for extracurricular activities they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do. It’s wonderful to receive Christmas presents, but I think what’s even more important is actually the giving.”

Alex Tarrant: My first Christmas as a dad!

Alex Tarrant, Shortland Street and 800 Words actor

“This Christmas is going to be a very special time for us. Our son Beaumont will be 10 months old. We’ve booked flights to Fiji, so Luci, Beau and I will spend Christmas there, which will be great. Growing up, Christmas wasn’t really a big thing in my family. My dad used to say about Christmas and birthdays that getting gifts and spending time with family shouldn’t just be a one-day thing – we should be grateful for every day… I guess I grew up learning to appreciate things on an everyday basis. I think us going over to Fiji is more about the company. Instead of getting presents, we chose to go overseas and the present is that we’ll get to be somewhere beautiful together.”

Kanoa Lloyd: My first Christmas…celebrating a 70th birthday!

Kanoa Lloyd, a host on The Project

“My father-in-law Rex was born on Christmas Day and it’s the big 70 this year. So I’m sure Santa will make an appearance, but it will be birthday cake instead of Christmas cake after dinner for us!”

Toni Street: My first Christmas with my newborn son!

Toni Street, The Hits breakfast radio and TV host

“This will be the first Christmas we share with our new son Lachlan (he’ll be four months old). I’ve already purchased him his very own Santa outfit from Farmers! It will also be particularly special as we are meeting our two-year-old niece, Ava, for the first time. My husband’s sister Claire lives in London, but they are coming to celebrate here in New Zealand. It is also the first ChristmasI will be spending with my sister in two years as she has also been living in London, so I’m cooking a big feast!”

Jesse Mulligan: My first Christmas without traditional food!

Jesse Mulligan, a host on The Project

“My wife and I are sick of spending Christmas morning basting turkeys and glazing hams, so we’re going to do a Middle Eastern feast! Instead of the usual British, middle-of-winter stuff, we’re inviting everybody to bring a Yotam Ottolenghi-style dish. Shareable, feastable and generally room temperature, these dishes will hopefully encourage people to focus on the important stuff, not whether the gravy is going to be hot enough at the perfect moment!”

Matty McLean: My first Chirstmas as a homeowner!

Matty McLean, Breakfast weather presenter

“This is my first Christmas as a homeowner. It’s been such an exciting year in our first house and given how obsessed I am with Christmas, I’m so pumped to be able to put up a tree and decorate, and listen to Michael Bublé and cook with my partner Ryan in our new home. I mean, I do all those things every year anyway, but it makes it extra- special doing it in our own place!”

Jeremy Corbett: My first Christmas without a dog

Jeremy Corbett, Weekly columnist and a host on The Project & 7 Days

“This is my first Christmas without a dog. We had Nugget the Golden Retriever opening presents with us for many years, and then Spud the Pug chewing the most expensive gifts. Sadly, neither are here this Christmas. The big downside is that I will have to clean the food crumbs manually because we won’t have a four-legged canine vacuum doing the job for us.”

Sharyn Casey: My first Christmas as a mum!

Sharyn Casey, TV host and radio presenter on The Edge

“This year will be the first Christmas my husband Bryce and I have with our son Tyson, which is super-exciting − even though he won’t know what’s going on, I’m super-excited to start new traditions with him!”

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