Andy Park (Mr. Christmas)
Andy Park is an electrician from Melksham, Wiltshire, England, who styles himself "Mr. Christmas"[1] after claiming to have celebrated Christmas Day every day since July 1993.[2]
Personal life
Andy Park has eaten 135,000 sprouts, 107,000 mince pies and drank 6,000 bottles of champagne since 1994.[3] Over the years he has sent himself more than 235,500 Christmas cards.[4]
In 2001, it was estimated that since he started celebrating he had got through 30 artificial Christmas trees, 10,000 m of tinsel and 10,000 balloons, at a (then) estimated cost of £100,000. In 2005, he released a single entitled "It's Christmas Every Day", with a video featuring Mike Read and produced by Andy Whitmore. There were suggestions in the media that much of the information released by Mr Park was false, and simply to attract publicity for the single:
He claims that each day he eats breakfast (turkey sandwich and mince pies), then goes to work, until returning around at lunchtime to eat a full roast turkey dinner before watching a recording of the Queen's Christmas speech, sherry in hand. In 2006, it was reported that the Queen had politely declined an invitation to broadcast her speech from his house.
In an interview published in 2006, Mr. Park was quoted as saying that, over the previous 13 years, he had consumed 4,380 turkeys (one a day), 87,600 mince pies (20 a day), 2,190 pints of gravy (half a pint a day), 26,280 roast potatoes (six a day), 30,660 stuffing balls, 219,000 mushy peas, 4,380 bottles of champagne, 4,380 bottles of sherry and 5,000 bottles of wine. However, in 2001, he was warned by his doctor that the diet was affecting his health after his weight increased to 19 stone (270 lb; 120 kg).
In the media
On 15 December 2007, in an interview on the BBC Radio 4 programme Saturday Live, Andy confirmed he was still celebrating every day.
On 25 November 2008, the Daily Mail reported he had to change his celebrations somewhat due to the credit crunch.[5]
The Christmas 2008 episode of Have I Got News For You got contestants to find a picture of Andy on a sixpence inside a Christmas pudding.
On 28 August 2009, Park appeared as a contestant on Ken Bruce's BBC Radio 2 quiz PopMaster. He lost.
On Monday 21 December 2009 on BBC Three he was the butt of one of Russell Howard's jokes on the Good News Xmas Special
On 22 December 2009, he appeared on talkSPORT radio. He was a guest on the Ian Collins' Late Show to discuss his lifestyle.
In 2009, Mr. Park appeared in former Radio 1 DJ Mike Read's Christmas single, "My Christmas Card To You".[6]
On 23 December 2011 he appeared on The JVS Show BBC Three Counties Radio and confirmed he was still celebrating every day.
On 25 December 2012, he appeared on Nick Abbot's show on LBC 97.3 at around 23:40, confirming that he still celebrates Christmas every day.
In 2008 Bristol based band The Zen Hussies released a satirical song in tribute to Andy Park entitled Midnight in Melksham, a parody of the famous Midnight in Moscow. The song can be heard on The Zen Hussies LP Continental Adaptor (2008, Musique Dada Records, ZHV01). The lyrics, penned by one time Bard of Bath and lead singer Jules Landau are as follows;
"It's christmas every day in a Wiltshire town,
an endless chore for poor old Santa Claus,
Because in Melksham town, they never take the decorations down,
and the turkeys just keep coming through the door,
yes in Melksahm town, the Queens' speech goes round and round,
and they watch The Railway Children every day..."
On 8 December 2015, Park appeared on the Channel 5 documentary 'Crackers about Christmas'. The show tells us about how Park wanted his single to reach Christmas number one and he still follows his daily routine now in 2015 however following recent reports in the Daily Mirror, he has decided to stop celebrating daily after Christmas 2015 due to wiping out his savings and is at risk of losing his home [7]
References
- ↑ "Britain's Mr Christmas, Andy Park". ABC News. Australia. 26 May 2011.
- ↑ "Mr Christmas: The man who has celebrated the festive season 365 days a year... for 15 years". Daily Mail. London. 5 January 2008.
- ↑ "It's Christmas everyday for festive addict Andy Park". Daily Star. London. 11 December 2010.
- ↑ "Mr Christmas has spent £1 million celebrating every day of the year". Bath Chronicle. UK. 2 December 2013.
- ↑ "Man who celebrates Christmas every day scaling back celebrations due to credit crunch". Daily Mail. London. 24 November 2008.
- ↑ "It's Christmas every day for Andy". Independent IE. 6 January 2014.
- ↑ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/festive-fan-celebrated-christmas-every-7043542
External links
- "The Forgotten Christmas". BBC News. 6 January 2001. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
- "Christmas addict to get cold turkey". BBC News. 27 December 2001. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
- "Mr Christmas 'devastated ' as Queen declines speech offer". Daily Mail. London. 15 December 2006. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
- Official website of Mr. Christmas
