KOCHIE & NAT TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY
THE SUNRISE HOSTS CAN’T WAIT TO CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH FAMILY
There’s no denying it’s been another a tough year for Aussies, after spending months separated from loved ones. So, it comes as no surprise that families around the country are looking forward to celebrating the holiday season together.
And, you know that it’s starting to look a lot like Christmas when the Sunrise hosts, Natalie Barr and David ‘Kochie’ Koch, take to the stage to host Woolworths Carols in the Domain.
“It’s been a hard year for so many people, so I think this year the carols mean more than most other years,” Nat tells New Idea. Despite years working alongside each other on the breakfast television program and having hosted the carols together multiple times in the past, the pair still get nervous before walking out onto the stage in The Domain, Sydney. “We still think that we might stuff something up,” says Nat. “I get nervous Kochie will step on my gown or I’ll mess up my lines.” Kochie cheekily adds: “We do that sometimes on Sunrise, so we could easily do it here.” But, seeing the joy that the carols bring to the audience is what keeps them coming back year after year. “My favourite carols memory is the same one every year, and it’s when The Wiggles come out,” says Kochie. “Remember, we are facing the crowd, so when they come out we see all these little kids’ faces light up and they get in the aisles and dance – it brings us great joy. Of course, then they usually conk out in their parents’ lap for the rest of the evening.”
The atmosphere of the event is so infectious that the TV duo can’t help but burst into song when they are backstage.
“I thought for many years we were adding to the performances as backing singers, but it wasn’t till recently they told me they turned off our microphones during the performances,” laughs Kochie.
“I was a bit disappointed, but that hasn’t stopped the enthusiasm – or the singing.”
Although, Nat says their skills leave something to be desired. “We’re both really bad singers, but we don’t care because everyone is singing and there’s an orchestra to drown us out.”
As a self-confessed ‘Christmas addict’, Kochie admits that he tends to go a bit overboard when it comes to Christmas, buying his family a new set of matching pyjamas each year to wear on Christmas Day.
“I have done all the shopping and I’ve got them for the whole family, from the grandkids through to me,” he says. “But I can’t tell you the theme because it’s a surprise.”
When it comes to her own family Christmas traditions, Nat says it’s all about the hot Christmas dinner.
“I am a turkey fan – I feel like that’s what makes Christmas special,” she says.
“In my family, growing up my dad always said, ‘You can have cold meat and salad any time of the year, but at Christmas you sit down for a hot meal.’ And we still do that every year.”
Of course, nothing says Christmas like seeing those perfectly wrapped presents under the tree. But this year, Kochie admits the arrival of his two new grandchildren – Florence, born in October, and Catalina, born in November – is the only
‘WE’RE BOTH REALLY BAD SINGERS, BUT WE DON’T CARE BECAUSE EVERYONE IS SINGING’
Christmas gift he needs.
“We have two little babies under the tree, so I couldn’t be happier with that,” the grandfather of eight gushes, before adding that he recently had to put his grandad skills to the test.
“I babysat little Catalina by myself on the weekend. I was very proud of myself.”
Meanwhile, Nat doesn’t mind what her two sons, Hunter and Lachlan, buy her, as long as it comes from the heart. “I just like a surprise,” she says. “If someone’s gone to the trouble of picking something out, I don’t mind what it is.”