Scots are known around the world for their exuberant Hogmanay celebrations.
However, veteran broadcaster Kirsty Young has revealed she hates the New Year, saying the ‘jollity’ has been ‘forced’ onto her due to her Scottish roots.
The 56-year-old said she stopped enjoying Hogmanay after being repeatedly told it’s the ‘biggest night of the year’ – only for them to end up being ‘the worst’.
Every year thousands of tourists head to Scotland to enjoy the party with Edinburgh’s huge street shindig the most famous event.
But Ms Young, who was brought up in Stirling, admits she would rather just have a quiet night in.
The former Desert Island Discs presenter told the When There’s a Will, There’s a Wake podcast: ‘I don’t like New Year. I think it’s because I’m a Scot.
Broadcaster Kirsty Young has admitted Hogmanay is not for her
Scotlant’s Hogmanay celebrations are known world over – but veteran journalist Kirsty Young is not joining the party
‘You’re absolutely forced that this is the biggest night of the year. And then when you go to the biggest party, it’s the worst party.
‘You could say Christmas is kind of forced enjoyment. It’s not a watertight argument, but there’s something about New Year. I don’t like it. I don’t like the forced jollity.
‘I like to sit in with my husband, have a whisky, have a glass of champagne in my bed by quarter past 12.’
She added: ‘I also feel quite poignant about New Year. It’s a time when I’m sitting thinking about what’s gone.’
Ms Young, who also previously fronted BBC’s Crimewatch, took a four-year break from presenting in 2018 after developing the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia.
She returned to present coverage of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. But despite her high profile, Ms Young reckons her death will barely make the news.
After telling the podcast it would suit her if she died suddenly from a heart attack in her garden, Ms Young said: ‘If it was a very slow news day, when Parliament wasn’t sitting, they might put it on the news but I doubt it.’
