TANYA BARDSLEY
TANYA AND PHIL BARDSLEY INVITE ok!’s KATIE LANGFORDFOSTER TO VISIT THEIR WONDERFULLY FESTIVE HOME
Stepping inside Tanya and Phil Bardsley’s four-storey Cheshire home is like walking into a festive fairy tale. With two Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands aplenty, a lifesize polar bear and two giant nutcrackers, the holiday spirit is in full swing!
It’s hard to believe that this is the family’s first Christmas back in their home since a freak fire devastated the property back in the summer of 2018. Forced to temporarily relocate, it took a year to restore their house.
The Real Housewives Of Cheshire star Tanya explains: ‘It’s so special to be back in our own home.’ And though she admits that she and her Burnley FC defender husband will fill the house with presents for their children Gabriella, 17, Rocco, ten, Renz, seven, and three-yearold Ralphi, she insists that the fire has put things into perspective for them all. ‘It just confirmed that the home is where the family is, and it doesn’t matter about bricks and mortar,’ she tells us.
Here, the 38 year old gives OK! a taste of Christmas with the Bardsleys and explains why she never cooks on the big day…
It’s already beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Bardsley household…
We’ve been Christmassy since the beginning of November. We’re nuts! The kids absolutely love it. I wanted the company The Christmas Decorators to do it because they are the best. I just can’t do it myself, because there would be tinsel everywhere.
Do you always go all out? Yeah, we always do. Because the kids are still little, it is such a special time for them. We weren’t here last year for Christmas, so that’s another reason we’ve gone all out
this year. We were renting last year after the fire and just had a little pop up tree in the kitchen so it’s so special to be back in our own house.
How did the fire start?
We had a mirrored TV that was under the skylight, and during the heat wave the sun was shining on it and it just got too hot and exploded. It set the whole top of the house on fire. It’s taken a year to get the house restored. We had to take it right back to its shell and start again.
Were you at home when the fire broke out? My daughter was in and she was about to go downstairs to use the treadmill with her headphones on. The fire brigade knocked on the door right then, thank God, and they rang me. It was mental. I got home and my daughter was sat outside. She goes on the treadmill in her pyjamas, so she was sat there in her pyjamas with her earphones in crying on the floor.
Has that made you think differently about material possessions?
Yes, we lost everything but, of course, because the kids and the whole family were okay, we weren’t bothered. It just confirmed that home is where the family is, and it doesn’t matter about bricks and mortar. This Christmas will feel extra special too.
What are the Bardsleys’ Christmas traditions? We always go to church on Christmas Eve for carol singing, and then we go for a meal. We put carrots and mince pies out and the kids make reindeer food and we sprinkle that on the drive for them. Me and Phil always argue about
who is going to have to eat the carrot and the mince pie, because one Christmas, Renz found a little bit in the bin and he was very confused. So we have to actually eat everything now! We always get a chef to cook every year because I can’t! My husband and I have both gone vegetarian so I don’t know what we’ll have to eat this year. We have family over too and there’s normally about 20-30 of us! But then Phil has to get ready and leave us to go to training because he always has a game on Boxing Day. So I’m left with all the washing up!
Do you go all out with presents for the kids too? Yes, we do go all out really! The house is full of presents. You spend the whole day just trying to get the toys out of the wrappers – you need a chainsaw and a tool kit for some of them. And then you
need a science degree to put them together. Ralphi is three, so last year he didn’t really know about Christmas but this year he’s really excited. My eldest Gabriella wants a new car for Christmas. I was like: ‘Oh, right! Is that it?’ She said: ‘Don’t worry, I don’t mind a second hand one.’ [Laughs]
Is Phil good at thoughtful presents?
Well, I just usually tell the personal shopper in Harvey Nichols what I want. And guide him that way to save disappointment [laughs].
You’re good friends with Coleen Rooney. What do you make of her situation with Becky Vardy?
I have no thoughts on that. Phil would kill me!
There was a lot of drama at the Real
Housewives reunion too between you and Ester Dee. What happened there?
Oh, my God, I know! I usually stay sober because I’ve got loads of beef with people, so I thought I’m going to get drunk because for once I haven’t. Then the next minute I’m swearing like a potty mouth at Ester! Oh, but it’s funny really.
Gabriella has done some modelling for your My Glam Style range. Is modelling something she wants to pursue and would you encourage that?
Yeah she does, but because she’s my little baby I wrap her
up in cotton wool. I don’t even like putting her out there on the internet to be honest. She’s my little baby! I will have to let her go free at some point but I’m trying to keep her as long as I can. I like her working with me because I know where she is and what she’s doing.
Would you like any more babies?
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