The only thing David Koch loves nearly as much as his big family is Christmas!
“I do a Santa’s cave in our family room and I try and add some extra stuff each year, so we’re on the hunt for extras,” the 65-year-old Sunrise host tells Woman’s Day.
He’s currently en-route to his local Bunnings with his eldest grandchild Matilda, 14, to stock up on Christmas decorations.
“She’s my assistant. But my wife Lib is putting a dampener on it because she says we have too many inflatable decorations.”
David meeting his new grandchild, Florence
(Credit: Supplied)Kochie’s wife of forty-two years Libby, 64, may not be a fan, but the teen is following in the festive footsteps of her “Poppy”.
“It’s just so fun,” she tells Woman’s Day.
“I love that the Christmas spirit has been passed down to me.”
A proud Kochie, whose grown up children are Georgina, 31, AJ, 34, Bree, 37, and Samantha, 41, is hoping his love of Christmas is also inherited by his other seven grandchildren.
There’s Oscar, 12, Lila, 10, Jax, 9, Teddy, 5, Ella, 18 months, Florence, seven weeks and Catalina, four weeks.
The newest members of the family might be too young to enjoy the festive menu, but Kochie plans to keep everyone else happy with “a light seafood lunch with lots of prawns and salmon and then at night it’s ham, turkey and all of the trimmings.”
With family members scattered overseas and interstate, the star says they were planning on finally enjoying a big Christmas get-together this year, but had their plans cancelled twice by border closures.
Kochie loves being a Poppy
(Credit: Supplied)Even so, it will still be a full house at the Kochs this year, with the couple’s youngest daughter Georgie home visiting from London.
And that’s just the way Poppy likes it!
“We downsized when [Georgie] moved out. [But] we just put plans in to expand with extra rooms for grandkids,” Kochie says with a laugh of the couple’s home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
“We’re going the full circle. The lovely thing is, everyone loves coming to stay with us. Lib and I often say we couldn’t be more thankful that we’ve got a family and grandkids who love their cousins so much that they want to hang out with them.
“They’re best friends. It’s the greatest joy in our lives. We never take it for granted.”
Kochie and Lib love spoiling their grandkids
(Credit: Supplied)And the much-loved TV star says being a grandparent wins over parenting hands-down!
“When you’re a parent, it’s that time of life when you’re building a career and everything’s hectic.
“When you’re a grandparent, you have a bit more quality time with your grandkids. I don’t think you’re as,” says Kochie, who admits he and Libby do “spoil” the little ones.
And the Seven star says he wouldn’t mind if some of them choose to follow him into the spotlight.
“I don’t really care, as long as they stay grounded and don’t get too carried away with all the unrealistic hype around TV,” he tells Woman’s Day.
