I'M BESIDE MYSELF WITH EXCITEMENT'

Handmade Christmas presenter Kirstie Allsopp reveals why she's forsaking tradition this year and heading Stateside to celebrate the festivities

-  LAUREN MORRIS

Kirstie Allsopp has become the queen of DIY Christmas over the years, drumming up festive cheer with her homemade baubles and crafty colourful wreaths. However, this year, for the first time ever, the TV presenter is escaping the traditional British festivities and boarding a plane to the Big Apple for a lavish New York Christmas.

Kirstie, 52, is taking her partner Ben Andersen and their sons Bay, 17, and Oscar, 15, on an American trip to the famously festive city — and plans to celebrate the holidays in style.

“We’re in a hotel — I’ve never been to New York for Christmas so I’m beside myself with excitement,” she beams. “I picked this hotel in March, which looks like the most Christmassy hotel. I must remember to double, double, double check the booking!

“We’re going to do it all. We’re going to go to a basketball match, we’re going to go skating. I want to do the Rockettes [Radio City Music Hall’s dance troupe], the kids are less keen on that. We may have to negotiate that one.”

Kirstie didn’t originally intend to spend Christmas in the States, but the family settled on New York after making “a chronic balls-up” with her kids’ travel plans.

“To be absolutely honest, my son was going on a school ski trip and we were spending Christmas somewhere else, where we often go for Christmas with friends,” she says.

“I realised I couldn’t get him from that place to that place, so I was like, ‘Right. How do I make this work?’”

But with all the stress now taken out of her festive arrangements, the family will be stopping by a friend’s house on Christmas Eve — and Kirstie plans on doing it in style.