Peter Crouch – international football icon and podcast king – recalls the moment he realised there was more to this whole Father Christmas malarkey than he’d been led to believe.

‘I remember my dad falling down the stairs after a few drinks,’ he laughs, fresh from his podcast studio, waiting to get his train back home. ‘I found out that it might not be Santa that delivered my stocking when I heard him swearing at midnight.’

The reason we’re talking about Christmas in early November is the release of Peter’s seasonal extravaganza for Debenhams Delivery, the ad in which he stars alongside Judi Love and Olivia Attwood, who actually says, ‘Too soon? Never!’ in the ad.

He’s wearing Burton’s for Debenhams and apparently Boss Bottled Beyond – as he shouts, ‘Come on, Christmas! Let’s have it!’

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