Kanoa & Mike's happiest holiday - ‘OUR BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!'

The TV stars share their mouth-watering plans for the festive season

- SEBASTIAN VAN DER ZWAN

For friends and colleagues Mike McRoberts and Kanoa Lloyd, Christmas is all about two things – food and whanau. The more of both, the merrier!

As the Three stars clamber into Santa’s sleigh for our fun festive shoot at iconic Auckland department store Smith & Caughey’s, the very merry host of The Project, 34, tells Woman’s Day, “We’re pretty casual in my family – our only traditions revolve around kai. It’s not Christmas without my mum’s herb mayonnaise, which goes on absolutely everything, or trifle. But it turns out we’re some of the last Kiwis who still eat trifle! As an adult, when I discovered that there are people who don’t like it, I was truly disgusted. I feel sad for them. It’s amazing!”

Meanwhile, Mike is more excited about making the food than eating it. The Newshub presenter, 54, confesses, “I’ll be doing the cooking – it gets me out of sitting down to open presents. I prefer to watch the turkey. It’s my specialty.

“I like the time it takes to cook because you get a bit of peace and quiet, and maybe a glass of pinot! I’ve been vegan for just over a year now, so it’ll be a furkey [fake turkey] for me, but because we’ve got so many people coming over, I’ll be doing a traditional one as well.”