Innehållsförteckning för Festive Special 2025 från Chat Specials

Welcome to the festive issue of Chat Monthly, packed with exactly what you want in the run up to the big day. Got a Chrimbo do on the horizon? We’ve found bargain shimmery styles (p20) and nifty beauty tips (p56) to get you party-ready. Need present ideas for friends and fam? Check out our jam-packed gift guide (p36) and DIY foodie pressies (p46). And if what you’re really after is a bit of ‘me-time’ away from all the chaos, get stuck into our fun puzzles and shocking real-life reads. Brave Storm shares the attack she suffered at the hands of her hubby, who accused her of flirting with Santa (p26). We meet two rescue pets who both got a miracle – a forever home (p62). And Hannah shows off her…

Louise Newell, 44, Norwich From the kitchen, I heard my partner Dean groan. ‘These instructions are useless!’ he sighed as our son Jake, then 4, hovered impatiently. I’d go to help him, but I had my hands full with peeling the sprouts! It was Christmas 2020 and we’d been up since 6am, when Jake had woken us. Now Dean, 40, was building the toy car garage that Santa had left, while I prepped dinner. During lockdown, it was just us three, and our elder two kids Millie, 18, and Mikey, 16. Looking out across our peaceful crescent in Norwich, I imagined similar scenes happening behind our neighbours’ front doors. We’d moved from London when Millie and Mikey were little, thinking it would be the perfect place for them to grow…

Going on strike at Christmas Q I told my husband that I’m going on Christmas strike – no buying prezzies, no picking up online orders and definitely no wrapping! I’ve done it every year but with three kids now to buy for, as well as my side of the family, I’m refusing to do his too. Only, he’s not bought a single present and hasn’t even scraped together a list! I don’t want to cave but I don’t want his mum and dad going without at Christmas. Jess, 38 A First of all, good for you for laying down the law, my love. Some blokes just don’t realise quite how stressful this time of year can be – or how lucky they are to have a wife to act as…

Itchy willy Q I’m 24 and heading out on a lads’ holiday in the new year. I think I might be allergic to condoms, as my penis gets sore and itchy after using them. What should I do? Louis, Arundel A As you gear up for your holiday, it’s important to think about keeping yourself safe from sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Most people associate STIs with chlamydia, gonorrhoea or genital herpes, but serious conditions like HIV and hepatitis B can also be spread through sex. Condoms are your best bet for reducing STIs, but if you have a latex allergy, that can make things tricky. As you’re sore and itchy after using them, you may be reacting to latex, but some people also react to the lubricants or spermicides in…

Verity Wareham, 42, Ferndown, Dorset My boys raced around the living room, giggling and play fighting as I tried to enjoy a relaxing cuppa. Who was I kidding? As a single mum to four boys, I had no chance! ‘Mum, can we put the Christmas tree up this weekend?’ my youngest, Albie, then 8, asked. ‘It’s far too early!’ I laughed. It was November 2021, and Albie and his brothers Joe, 15, Cayden, 13, and Levi, 11, loved Christmas. Every year, we made a big thing of putting up the tree. Festive tunes playing, hot chocolates and letters to Santa, it was magical. But November was way too soon. ‘Let’s wait until December,’ I told him. But the following week, Albie started to look unwell. The whites of his eyes…

Top tip Mix and match your cookie shapes – try Christmas trees, angels and stars. Fun festive cookies Whether you pop them on the tree or give as a gift, these cookies are a Christmas essential! MAKES 20 PREP 20 mins COOK 1 hr ● 2tbsp runny honey● 30g unsalted butter● 60g light muscovado sugar● 250g self-raising flour● 1tsp ground ginger● ½tsp ground cinnamon● Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus 2-4tbsp juice● 60g ground almonds● 1 large egg● 50g icing sugar, sieved● Silver balls, to decorate(optional) You will need: ● Piping bag and nozzle 1 Put the honey, butter and sugar into a small pan and stir over a low heat until the butter melts. 2 Sieve the flour, ginger and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the lemon zest…

Shelly Gill, 51, Merseyside Presents wrapped, I stashed them in a suitcase and shoved it under the bed in the spare room. ‘No one will find them there,’ I chuckled to myself. It was November 2022, and I was all prepped for Christmas. I’d bought my little boy Theo, then 4, a Nintendo Switch and some games. Squirrelled them away. I’d even dragged the tree down from the loft. That night, as I topped it with a star, I couldn’t wait to see Theo’s face light up the next morning. I’d separated from his dad Graham the year before, so I wanted to make this Christmas extra special. Starting early, I planned to take him on light trails, visit Santa’s grotto and generally soak up all the festive magic. As…

Tylena Williams hugged her little girl close on her lap. It was Christmas Day 2015, Maleah’s first proper Christmas. Maleah, then 1, was doted on by her mummy and daddy Shaquille Williams. A big Minnie Mouse fan, she had an infectious smile they described as being able to ‘melt your heart away’. Nicknamed ‘Peanut’, she enjoyed holding hands, listening to her parents sing. Had hugs and kisses for everybody. Especially her big brother and sister. For somebody so little, she had a lot of love to give. That Christmas, after opening their presents, the family went outside to gather with other residents of Trinity Court flats in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As Maleah sat in her mother’s arms, around 10 other children played with new toys around them. A dad…

Watching Paul, then 25, leaping about on the pub stage and screaming into the mic, I rocked along in the mosh pit below. I loved his heavy metal band, Dancing with Dakota. Paul was the frontman and I’d known him for years. We often hung out together after his gigs. Sure, he was cocky, boasting about female fans and talking about making it big. But I laughed it off. Until that summer, in 2013, when I broke up with my fiancé. Need a shoulder to cry on? Paul messaged. So I invited him over to the photography studio I ran, cracked open a few beers. As we chatted, Paul leaned closer, and we kissed. Only, just then, the room started spinning. Suddenly, Paul pushed me on to the floor. ‘You’re…

Huddled with her school pals by a twinkling tree, Jonelle Matthews, 12, sweetly sang Jingle Bells. The children’s voices ringing around the bank in Greeley, Colorado, where Franklin Middle School choir were performing at a carol concert. It was 20 December 1984, and Jonelle’s mum Gloria was away visiting a sick relative. So after dropping Jonelle, his youngest, off at the concert, Jim Matthews had taken his older daughter Jennifer, 16, to her basketball game. After the concert, Jonelle got a lift home with her friend Deanna and Deanna’s dad, Russ Ross. Greeley was a safe town, where people left their front doors open. Jonelle and her friends played in the street, rode around on their bikes. So at 8pm, Deanna and Russ watched Jonelle get out of the car,…

Storm Gubby, 40, Milton Keynes Stepping through the double doors, I gasped at the twinkling lights strung around us. A giant tree stood in one corner covered in tinsel. It was Christmas Eve 2015, and our local sports hall had been transformed into Santa’s grotto. ‘And look who it is, boys,’ I grinned. ‘Santa!’ my twins Jack and Ben, then 3, squealed, racing across the hall. My hubby Charlie, then 35, and I looked on smiling, with our baby Oliver, then 5 weeks, snoozing in his pram. Father Christmas looked like the real deal, in his 60s with his padded red suit and bushy white beard. He played pass the parcel with the kids, before taking his throne to meet them one by one. When the twins’ turn came, I…

1 Singing Whether it’s warbling serenely at a candlelit carol service or belting out I Will Survive at the Christmas party karaoke, most of us will be exercising our vocal cords more than usual. Singing doesn’t just lift the spirits, it’s also been linked to stress reduction and even to longevity, according to Heart Research UK. And it counts as valid aerobic activity – good news for your ticker. 2 Dancing Get those toes tapping and you could be giving your brain a boost at the same time. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that dancing regularly was linked to a 63% reduction in the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Oh, and it’s a great calorie burner too! 3 Hibernating Being cold outside does have…

For HER For HIM For KIDS…

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Danielle Barr, 31, Scotland Stepping on to the nightclub dance floor, I thought of my younger siblings snuggling in bed, waiting for Father Christmas. ‘Can’t stay out too late,’ I shouted to a mate over the thumping music. It was Christmas Eve 2011, I’d just turned 18 and was out with workmates from the chippie, but was eager to get home. Pop my gifts under the tree for the little ones, then aged 5 and 7, for them to open in the morning. Then someone handed me a vodka and lemonade through the crowd. Assuming it was from a pal, I glugged it while dancing. Only, I started to feel strange. Fuzzy. At the same time, a tall, broad-shouldered bloke with ginger hair and arm tattoos appeared. ‘I’m in a…

I was only 14 when Paul first cornered me at a mate’s house in 2005. Most of my friends back then were older than me. We were listening to music and joking around before Paul, then 17, got me alone in a bedroom and sexually assaulted me. Shame and guilt just swamped me. I didn’t understand what had happened, so I told my boyfriend that I’d cheated on him, and we broke up. I rarely saw Paul after that, so I pushed it out of my mind. Until a few years later, when I was 21, I started bumping into him at house parties. Everyone loved him, gushed about his band, and I started to wonder… Had I led him on? So I started hanging around with him again, and one…

In October 2022, Steven Pankey, then 71, was found guilty of second degree kidnapping with the use of a deadly weapon, and first-degree felony murder. He was acquitted of first-degree murder. The jury concluded that Pankey had lured Jonelle from her home that night in December 1984. He was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 20 years. During the sentencing, Jonelle’s parents and sister spoke of their loss. In an emotional speech, Jennifer described how her graduation, wedding and the birth of her son had all been marred by the absence of her sister. ‘My husband never met his sister-in-law and my son never met his aunt,’ she said. Jonelle’s father Jim commented on Pankey’s obsession with his daughter’s disappearance. ‘Your consciousness could not let…

Sian Evans, 30, Ascot, Berkshire A French fry hanging from my lips like a ciggie, toilet roll wrapped around my head and dressed in a bin bag, I sashayed down the bar. ‘Yay!’ cheered my friends as I jiggled my hips. It was November 2022 and I was at my best friend Laura’s hen do in a drag bar in London. Playing some daft dressing-up game and having the time of my life. ‘You’ve got so much confidence,’ Laura, then 28, laughed afterwards. ‘The life and soul,’ I chuckled. Only, behind the outgoing persona and crazy antics, I was a mess. Inside and out. At 27st 7lb, a dress size 30 and 5ft 7in tall, I was morbidly obese. I hadn’t always been big, though. At school, I’d been teased…

Alexandra Nailwal, 41, Winchester, Hampshire Pulling off layers of clothing in the school hall, I smiled at the mum and dad sat next to me. It was December 2015, and me and my husband Shekhar were at our eldest son’s school for his Nativity play. Only, as I took off my gloves and hat, I noticed the couple next to us staring at me. ‘Is everything OK with your face?’ the mum whispered. My heart just sank. ‘It’s my rosacea,’ I explained. ‘It always flares up when I come in from the cold.’ She smiled sympathetically. But for the next hour, while we watched the kids dressed up in tinsel singing Christmas songs, I wanted the ground to swallow me up. For years, ever since giving birth to my second…

Maria Suarez Cassagne was a devoted mother of three. But as her kids grew up, she found that most of her attention was spent on her middle son Christian. He’d been a happy, affectionate child. But by the time he was 18, things had started to fall apart. He couldn’t keep a job. He didn’t want to drive. He stopped showering. Convinced that his mum and his sister Maria Jose were watching him, he started isolating himself from his family and said that he heard voices from underneath his bed at night. Maria did everything she could for her boy Christian. She contacted mental health agencies and professionals in the hope of finding help. One diagnosed him with schizophrenia, another with bipolar and a third suggested depression and psychotic behaviour.…

When solicitor Dylan Rhys Jones was woken by a phone call in the early hours of Christmas Eve 1995, dread filled him. It was the local police. The man he was representing, cinema-chain owner Peter Moore, then 49, was being held at Llandudno police station. Accused of murdering four men. For two days, Moore had claimed it was simply mistaken identity. But now, apparently, he wanted to tell them something. And minutes after Jones arrived that cold December morning, he and several detectives were listening to a most disturbing confession. One that not only put the solicitor off his Christmas dinner, but left him needing counselling – and eventually resigning from his profession. Moore, a respected local businessman, told the stunned Jones and two detectives that he’d been brutally attacking…

By a whisker His little meows were almost drowned out by the roar of the bin lorry. Almost. But just in time, Tiny Tim’s faint cries were heard. A binman went to investigate and found a tiny white kitten nestled among the rubbish in the back of his huge truck. The poor puss had been dumped in a bin at just 2 days old. What might have happened to his siblings didn’t bear thinking about. But this little cat was alive. Filthy, cold and hungry, he was taken to the Blue Cross Victoria animal hospital for emergency care. A binman heard Tiny Tim’s cries in the back of his truck Weighing just 93g – less than a satsuma – he was named Tiny Tim after the character in A Christmas…