Charlotte Crosby has shared the heartbreaking reason why she isn’t decorating or buying Christmas presents this year, but says she's 'excited' about what's in store all the same.
Charlotte, 33, will have a huge cause to celebrate this festive period, having recently got engaged to partner Jake Ankers – who romantically dropped down on one knee on a rooftop in Dubai.
Sharing the happy news with her fans on Instagram, she wrote: “Happiest woman in the world. Yes yes yes and yes @jake_ankers you are my best friend you are my life I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M ENGAGED AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh. Best night ever.”
The pair also welcomed their first child, a little girl named Alba, in October last year, with Charlotte saying her daughter was ‘perfect in absolutely every day’.
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But while last Christmas marked the couple’s first as parents, the occasion was also tinged with sadness after the loss of Charlotte’s beloved grandmother Jean, who died in November 2022.
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One year on, the reality star has decided to treat the big day very differently to the ones she grew up enjoying with family.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: "Last Christmas, we obviously lost my Nana. So the thing that makes Christmas 'Christmas', when you have your grandparents round, was gone.
"Obviously I've never liked Christmas but last Christmas was the worst. It was the first Christmas without my Nana - she had died a month beforehand - and just nothing felt the same.
“It was a really, really sad day. And we actually sat there and wondered how was Christmas ever going to be the same now she's not here.
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"We've only got a small family so sitting in in my mum's house on Christmas day just feels like every other Sunday when we'll go round for a Sunday dinner.
“So [I thought it was time] to do something completely different and turn it around and switch it on its head because honestly, I was so upset and sad last Christmas without my nan there.
“We didn't want to just be in that situation again, where it's just doesn't feel the same, because my nan is not there. So we're doing something completely different."
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This time round, Charlotte has decided to head somewhere sunny with her fiancé, daughter and parents, meaning she doesn’t see much point in putting any decorations up.
“This year we're really not preparing for Christmas, it's such a random one," she explained.
"We're not even going to decorate the house."
"We're gonna do a small little tree just for Alba's sake, like a little one that you put at the table.
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“We're actually flying away on Christmas Day to the Maldives so we're doing Christmas completely different this year, and I have never been so excited.”
Jess Hardiman