Discussing the genesis of Christmas Number One, Michael says “the show at the Hall was inspired by the kind of Christmas specials Andy Williams or Bing Crosby would host back in the day, where a series of guests would drop by the “house” and sing a few holiday numbers. In this case, the story was that actor Richard Kind and I were spending the holidays in London due to work, where we learned about the annual radio contest of the Christmas Number One song, so we decide to try and write one of our own, which became one of the closing numbers of our show, performed by Himesh Patel and backed by the band Itchy Teeth. As this difficult year unfolded, we all felt that we could use a little holiday spirit, so we had the band record remotely at Kore Studios in London. Xav Clarke (guitar/bass) and Charlie Hannah (guitar/keyboard) took on the lead vocals with bandmate Oli Booker on drums. It was so much fun collaborating with a group of people so full of energy and positivity. Interestingly, the lyrics, while written pre-pandemic, really resonate for this particular year. Elyssa and Kate are so fantastic to work with and I am thrilled to be releasing this song with them.”