Australian celebs on how they're celebrating a COVID-safe Christmas this year

It’ll be a Christmas time like no other, a moment to reflect on the year that was – and one many would rather forget. But if the pandemic has taught us one thing, it’s about the significance of family, the importance of relationships and to respect and love the place you live because we’ll be stuck here a little longer than we might have anticipated. And while some can’t travel to be reunited with their immediate families this year, we asked a variety of Australian celebrities to share how they’ll be spending Christmas Day in 2020.

Pip Edwards, co-founder of P.E Nation

“My family is super small and tight, so pre-Covid and post-Covid will actually look very similar. It consists of my parents and my son, Justice, at our house at Avoca Beach. It’ll include a morning beach walk and swim, fresh king prawns and ham carved off the bone for lunch, an afternoon snooze, then back to the beach for more sun and surf. It doesn’t get more intimate and Aussie than that. We like to enjoy the downtime and slowing the pace right down, as we don’t get much one-on-one time during the year. Mum loves to make a pavlova – my favourite – as well as put out the usual Christmas candles and ornaments around the house, too.”

Kat Stewart, actress

“We have been mixing it up a little the last few years since my mum, Kitty died. She would put on a very traditional, glittering spread at her and Dad’s place. She had special Christmas tablecloths, table decorations, tea towels, aprons, bathroom towels – you name it.

In more recent years it’s been an ‘everyone pitches in’ scenario. We’re leaning towards more seafood than turkey and ham, and I think we’re finding our groove. Last year we assembled at my father’s place on Phillip Island for the first time, which was great fun. We all arrived a couple of days before Christmas – seven adults and nine kids of varying ages and stayed together for about 10 days straight. It was wonderful.

2020 has taught us all to be flexible. Restrictions pending, we’ll probably be back at Phillip Island. Lots of seafood, salads, Christmas pudding, berries. We have a slightly rustic decor for Christmas – a real tree with lots of native flowers and Australiana tree decorations. My kids are aged four and eight, so Santa is a massive part of Christmas for us at this point. Watching them get swept up in all that excitement and magic is one of my favourite parts of Christmas – that and seeing family. That’s something I don’t think any of us will take for granted in a hurry after this year.”

Kirsten King, founder of Fluidform Pilates

“Christmas is always a family day at our house.  My mum and dad live on the Gold Coast, and my sister and her family live in Perth, so we usually base ourselves at our house in Sydney. It’s an early morning champagne breakfast with present opening followed by the morning in the pool. We tend to have a long late lunch and eat way too much food. We will be celebrating Christmas this year at our home with hopefully family (depending on restrictions) and friends as many of our friends cannot get to their families. For my Christmas decor, I always go for a clean, modern feel. I love white and silver or gold with lots of flowers and green foliage. The main table is always set and decorated for guests on arrival.”

Sam Elsom, COO of Sea Forest

“For Christmas, we will road trip up to Yamba to the in-law’s cane farm. It will be a relaxed classic Aussie Christmas; our kids will be up at the crack of dawn sneaking a peek through tiny tears in the corners of their pressies and will involve a surf, an oversized feast, a nap and lots of precious family time. Old carols playing and all the boxes of vintage and collected ornaments will come up with us on the road trip to give the space a Christmas feel.

Grandma Nancy’s Christmas cake she makes with a 4th generation recipe she keeps under lock and key will be at the table too. My wife Sheree does an amazing job of giving the home a festive feeling with a mix of antique and handmade ornaments and a wreath I made out of an overgrown wisteria vine.”

Myf Warhurst, TV personality and podcaster

“If numbers permit, I’ll have mum and dad, my brothers and their families over to my house on Christmas Day. To make things easy, we all contribute to the food, and it’s a rather rip-roaring time where Dad ends up playing the piano, and we all drunkenly sing along. It’s wonderful.

Decorations will probably be re-using what I had last year and any updates from my local K-Mart. I’ll decorate the extended table (a rather glamorous plastic fold-out table from Bunnings means we’ve all got a spot to sit, with some Australian native flowers and then we just eat, drink, and be merry. I’m most looking forward to seeing my whole family in one room. It’s been a hard year, and seeing them will make it all the brighter. I am sure we’ll all be thankful that we got through it. There will be champagne, prawns with Mum’s legendary Thousand Island dressing, roast chicken and lamb, ham off the bone, salads and trifle for dessert. It’s old school, and we all love it.”

Tristan MacManus, Studio 10 co-host

“The plan for this year was to take my 19-month-old son, Oisín, home to Ireland for the first time and for our kids to have an Irish Christmas with the MacManus clan. They’ve been coming to Sydney for the past four years to spend it with us, although we like every other family, have had to adhere to the world at this time. Instead, we’ll spend Christmas thinking about them at home in Sydney with the in-laws and any of our friends not able to get home to theirs.”

Miguel Maestre, TV presenter and chef

“We were planning on having my parents come over from Spain to be with us for the holidays, so it’s really sad that we don’t get to see them. We have two Christmas celebrations planned – one with my wife’s family at Bilgola Beach, and then one at our house with my family. I do all the cooking, and I love it. But the part I look most forward to is Christmas morning with just Sascha and I watching the kids open their presents. Having that time with just the four of us always makes me happy.”

Kate Ceberano, singer

“Being the youngest and also the only girl, I always exploit my position to ask that everyone come to my house for Christmas. I know it’s selfish, impractical and insensitive – but it has to be done. I want complete control over the decor, the food, music and entertainment. I am usually left exhausted, ‘hangry’ and unsatisfied. This year I will be loving, kind, grateful and expect nothing and enjoy everything.

I plan to take a walk along the beach with my daughter, dog and husband before we have lunch with anyone who is available and wants to hang out. I’ll order extra prawns and keep the champagne on ice and slow dance with my husband to Bing Crosby and David Bowie.”

Liam Gough, drummer for The Teskey Brothers

“Christmas pre-COVID would’ve involved a big catch-up with friends and family from interstate with lots of amazing food, family stories and laughs being shared – and it still will to some degree. 

What I’m looking forward to most on Christmas morning is hot croissants with my mum’s homemade plum jam from my grandmother’s plum tree with lots of melted butter whilst sipping hot black coffee. This ritual is my favourite part of Christmas and a tradition for longer than I can remember. Then I’ll be off to lunch with my partner’s family where we will have baked ham and prawns followed by my aunt’s famous boiled Christmas pudding.”

Ricky Ponting, cricketer

“I would have spent Christmas pre-Covid the same way as I will this year. My wife Rianna and I will host Christmas lunch at our place. Both of our parents and my sister-in-law and her partner will come and stay with us. It will be the first time I have seen my family this year, so it will be extra special. We’ll serve cold seafood, roast pork with truffle potatoes and we’ll toast with Ponting Wines. I can’t think of a better way to spend Christmas Day.”