CELEBRITIES are often closely associated with their latest jobs, so we think of Victoria Beckham as a fashion fiend and Daniel Craig as a brooding 007.
It’s a rare celeb that becomes synonymous with a season – but this is where singer turned TV presenter Aled Jones is the exception to the rule.
Aled has become a traditional favourite for Christmas festivities ever since he covered Walking In The Air, from animated film The Snowman, in 1982.
The song reached number five in the charts and became an instant festive classic.
Now 37, Aled still hasn’t tired of the season of goodwill – and he’s still a great fan of Walking In The Air and The Snowman.
“I think it’s a fantastic cartoon, and it’s in my set when I do Christmas concerts,” he says.
“There was a time when I was at college where if I went into a department store and it was playing, I’d feel a bit embarrassed – well, very embarrassed – but now not at all. I’d be a fool if I didn’t say that there was a time when it helped keep my name in the public eye.”
Aled’s passion for singing is still just as strong as when he was 12 and this Christmas, he’s hoping to gain a higher chart position when he sings with Terry Wogan on Little Drummer Boy to raise money for Children In Need.
He’s also back on TV with a special show, Aled Jones’ Ultimate Christmas Carols.
“Basically, it’s a celebration of carols we all know and love,” he says.
“The carols are all performed and there’s a section with the history of all the carols and how they have been used to effect throughout time.”
While we are all familiar with Silent Night, Aled gives the song another level of emotion when he explains about when it was sung in the trenches during the bloody battles of World War I.
“There was a truce and the British troops heard the German troops singing Silent Night from the trenches and, in return, they sang Good King Wenceslas back,” he says.
“You think to yourself this is phenomenal, the fact that this is the last piece of music these soldiers would have probably heard and sang. Silent Night was so poignant and then, half-an-hour later, they were jumping over the trenches again, most of them probably getting killed.
“It brings a different feel to the carols in that, while they are pieces of music we’ve sung since we were kids, there is a deeper meaning to them, too.”
While filming the show, Aled and his team visited Shepherd’s Fields, in Israel, where the song, While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night, was based, and Assisi, in Italy, where St Francis lived.
“It’s thought that that’s where the beginning of the popular carol originated, as they used to be terribly complicated, but thanks to St Francis, they changed.
“At the time, he recommended to the composers and songwriters that they make them simpler and make pieces of music that the common person could sing.”
Alongside the documentary, Aled sings with internationally renowned boys’ choir Libera and gospel group The Adventist Vocal Ensemble.
“All the music comes from St Bartholomew’s Church in London,” he says.
“It is, as you can imagine, unashamedly Christmas – more Christmas trees, lights and tinsel than you can ever imagine; lots of smoke and atmosphere.”
Of all the carols Aled performs on the programme, he names Away In A Manger as his favourite.
“People always put it down for being childish, but that’s the point,” he says.
“Yes, it’s childlike, but also the message of it is fantastic – that hopefully you’ll have somebody with you by your side, whether it’s God or someone else guiding and helping you.
“I was probably three years old when I first started singing this, but it’s just a perfect melody and really simple. I’m actually singing it with my daughter at her nativity this week. I think that’s what Christmas is all about – that ‘ahh’ factor.”
Now that Aled has children of his own, his enthusiasm for Christmas has grown even more.
“We don’t walk around singing Walking In The Air all the time, but I took my daughter along to see the ballet version of The Snowman at the Peacock theatre last year for the first time, and it was amazing, it really was.
“Otherwise, they’re just like any other children. At the moment, they are really looking forward to Christmas – opening their advent calendars in the morning. They are already in the zone.”
Aled Jones’ Ultimate Christmas Carols is on STV at 11.25am on Christmas Eve.