red woman
to be one person; it takes up too much of their life. I like
the fact that Abrar does no evenings or weekends. I want
her to go home in the evening and have her free time.’
She’s equally honest about the difficulties. ‘A lot of
working mums end up trying to be all things to all people.
In our house, if I say I’m working, at least two of the
kids get really cross with me, like, “Why don’t you tell
them you can’t sing?” I say, “You have to stop punishing
me for what I do. I love what I do.” Obviously you couldn’t
do the practical [things] without my work, it wouldn’t be
Christmas or whatever, but I don’t want to make it about
money. I say it’s good for feeling purposeful, for giving
me something I love to do. Working definitely makes me
a better mum. I’d be a rubbish full-time mum.’
One thing that sounds far from rubbish in the
Ellis-Bextor-Jones household is Christmas. ‘It’s big!
A big family thing’, she says,
‘usually held at our house. My
mum, stepdad, brother, sister,
brother’s girlfriend, Richard’s
folks, his brother, they all come
to us. And some stragglers, too.
We’re really fortunate that we can always feed
more people, and there’s always enough room.’
She’s flummoxed when I ask her what she wants
for Christmas. ‘I don’t mean this to sound overly modest,
but I tend to forget that Christmas will mean I get presents
as well, because you think so intensely about all the people
you have to remember.’ She pauses. ‘I mean, I suppose
I’ve realised that I’m quite a simple creature in a lot
of ways. As long as I have momentum and something
to put my energy into, I’m quite happy.’Sophie's
Christmas
Favourite songs...
I like Phil Spector, The
Ronettes and all those
really 60s-sounding
Christmas songs, plus
Bing Crosby’s White
Christmas. And you must
have Mariah. You know
it’s Christmas when
you’ve heard Mariah.
Best traditions...
Piano playing, silly games
and Richard’s mulled-wine
martinis. We always do
a conga around the house,
too, chanting, ‘Here comes
the Christmas pudding,’
to the tune of For He’s
A Jolly-Good Fellow.
What she wants...
I like to experience
things, so maybe going
out for a meal, or theatre
tickets. I’d like to see
Everybody’s Talking
About Jamie again.What she wears...
It’s nice to wear a bit
of a party frock but,
at the same time, you
want something you
can eat a lot in! It’s pretty
chilled in our house.Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s orchestral greatest h i t s a l b u m , T h e S o n g D i a r i e s , i s o u t n ow.
She is touring in the UK this November; for dates, go to sophieellisbextor.netSHIRT,^ £
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