What David Gandy wants for Christmas (ES Magazine)

¡IT'S CHTISTMAS! And some of the most recognized faces from UK tell The Evening Standard what they want most this Christmas.

Leona Lewis, Jennifer Saunders, Susan Boyle... and our very own David Gandy.





‘I’ve hired an estate in Scotland for my family. There will be lots of walks and a fast car to zoom around in’

To get into the Christmas spirit I usually spend a day in London with my mum, blitzing the Christmas shopping followed by afternoon tea at Brown’s. It has that Dickensian Christmas feel to it. I don’t host Christmas parties because I’ve never had the space. I’m in the middle of renovating a Victorian house, so next year will be my year to put up a Christmas tree like the one in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

This year I’ll be in Oban, on the west coast of Scotland. I’d heard it was beautiful up there, so I’ve hired an estate for all my family. There will be lots of walks, sherry and a fast car to zoom around in with my four nephews and nieces.

I grew up volunteering at a dog sanctuary, but my job as a model means I travel a lot, so I could never have a dog of my own. Fostering one through Battersea Dogs Home is a nice compromise — it means I can house puppies or breeds that don’t take well to being put into kennels for four to six weeks a year. One of the first dogs I brought home was a French bulldog called Patch. I never thought I’d fall in love with a French bulldog. That’s the point. You can’t go to Battersea and say, ‘I want this breed, I want this age’ — it’s the dog that finds you. All I want for Christmas is to foster another dog like Chico.

My favourite spot for walking dogs in London is the Thames Path — it’s practically on my doorstep in Fulham and it was where I trained for the marathon last year. I like the solitude and it gives you time to think. How do I stay fashionable on a walk? My essentials are a Barbour jacket and a coffee. DA

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