If you head to Frankie Bridge’s house this Christmas don’t be surprised if you trip over a blow-up mattress and find someone kipping on the sofa. The star says she hosts the whole family for Christmas Day – and everyone is welcome!.
“My family love Christmas so we always have it together – we have everyone to stay at ours and it’s the more, the merrier,” she laughs. “I don’t know where everyone is going to sleep yet though.”
But Frankie – mum to Parker, ten, and Carter, eight, with husband retired footballer Wayne Bridge, 43 – says Christmas in the Bridge household is pretty chaotic.
She explains: “It’s always an early start, my dad is usually up first, singing and playing Christmas songs loudly. The kids get to open their stockings from Santa and then it’s onto scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and a glass of fizz for breakfast. Then we all gather around the tree for presents, and then the adults spend the whole time trying to build everything! Then my mum will get started on ChristmasdDinner, even though she’s in our house she always cooks.”
But for Frankie and Wayne’s sons, the day will be a long time coming: “The boys are counting down from about September,” she laughs. “But I often think the run-up to Christmas is even better than the actual day. The decorations go up early in our house, so no wonder the boys get so excited. If I could I’d put the tree up as soon as Halloween is over.”
But when the singer – who shot to fame in girl group The Saturdays and is now a regular on Loose Women – finally gets some down time after the big day, she says she sometimes struggles to relax.
She says: “I always find that bit between Christmas and New Year quite hard, I’ve never been good at slowing down and not working. I try to be kind to myself, do some self-care and prepare for the madness of the year to begin again.”
This year Frankie is an ambassador for Braun IPL at-home hair removal device.
“That downtime period is great for keeping on top of my IPL top ups, I use Braun Silk-Expert Pro 5 when I get five or ten minutes in the evening. Shaving is such a hassle and salon appointments are tough when you’re juggling so much. It’s a game changer – such an easy thing to do in front of the TV.”
Speaking of television, Frankie will be tuning in to this year’s Strictly Christmas special. She took part herself in the 2014 series of the show, making the final with dance partner Kevin Clifton.
“I’ve watched it on and off this series, I was gutted when Krishnan went out, I think he was the full embodiment of what Strictly is about. We love a bit of family TV on Christmas night. A cup of tea, biscuits and Strictly can’t be beaten.”
But despite her background in a girl band and on Strictly, you won’t find Frankie hitting the dancefloor this New Year’s Eve. “I do love to dance when I’m out, I feel bad for the DJ if everyone’s sitting down. But I’m not a massive fan of going out for New Year’s Eve. My dream is to be on a beach somewhere. We try to have people round and kids for the boys to play with, it’s nice to be together as a family. But realistically I’ll be in bed by 12.”
Frankie is the first ambassador for Braun IPL at-home hair removal device, which offers up to one whole year of hair reduction*. Browse here.
*Regular use required, individual results may vary.