24 December 2023 , 09:00
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Charlotte Crosby is jetting away to the Maldives to avoid feeling as sad as she did this time last year.
The former Geordie Shore star, 33, will be boarding a plane and heading off to the country in South Asia on Christmas Day as many across the U.K prepare to tuck into their turkey and pull a few crackers with their loved ones.
Charlotte, who shares baby Alba, one, with fiance Jake Ankers, made the decision to whisk her family off abroad for the festive season after experiencing "the worst" Christmas last year following the death of her beloved grandmother just weeks before the festive season began.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror earlier this month, Charlotte explained how her nan Jean passing away in November 2022 means Christmas will "never be the same again", so has inspired her to mark the holidays in a different way and leave the U.K for Christmas for the first time ever.
"This is a first time abroad I've never done a Christmas away and we're not doing any presents. It's just about making some memories, like amazing memories, on a big family holiday," the mum-of-one revealed. "We're going with my mum, my dad - just basically everyone who we would gather with on Christmas Day."
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Charlotte Crosby is ending 2023 on a high note, thanks to becoming engaged last month (charlottegshore/Instagram)
But last year was a much sadder affair for the star, as she suffered the loss of her beloved nan (@CharlotteCrosby/Instagram)Charlotte, who is the incredible voice behind Paramount+ UK's 2023 festive jingle, went on to admit: "I really don't enjoy Christmas. I don't really know why or where that stems from but I don't enjoy it as much as everyone else does. I think it can go one or two ways - you can either love Christmas or actually feel quite down over Christmas, and that's always how I've felt."
Last year was a mixed bag of emotions for Charlotte, who sadly lost her beloved grandmother Jean in November 2022, just months on from becoming a mother for the first time after giving birth to daughter Alba Jean with husband-to-be Jake. Reflecting on the loss of her nan one year on, Charlotte recalled how miserable Christmas was for her last year without her family's matriarch.
"Last Christmas, we obviously lost my Nana. So the thing that makes Christmas 'Christmas', when you have your grandparents round, was gone," the Celebrity Big Brother winner explained. "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 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.
"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 it's 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."
Thankfully, 2023 has ended on a much happier note for Charlotte and her loved ones, thanks to the Geordie star becoming engaged to boyfriend Jake a few weeks ago. Charlotte dubbed herself the "happiest woman in the world" as she shared the news Jake had popped the question with her fans in November.