Martha Stewart reveals why she ‘cancelled’ Thanksgiving this year

‘I gave up Thanksgiving, I cancelled’

Martha Stewart has revealed why she cancelled her Thanksgiving plans this year.

The celebrity chef, 84, spoke candidly about her holiday plans during a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. Speaking to host Kelly Clarkson, Stewart revealed that after years of hosting a party on Thanksgiving, she decided not to do so this year.

“I gave up Thanksgiving, I cancelled,” she said. “Nine guests cancelled because somebody got sick. So…I called up my chef friend and I said: ‘We’re not doing Thanksgiving.’”

She specified that she’s not necessarily up for cooking on Thanksgiving, since she already had opportunities to make a turkey.

“I’ve also cooked 14 turkeys already for my TV show,” she said. “And I still have to [cook] one more turkey on the Today show. So forget it.”

After telling Clarkson that she’s “turkey-ed out”, Stewart then revealed that she still made some fun plans for Thanksgiving. “Friends, of course, invited me to their home, so I’m going to about five different homes to taste different courses,” she explained.

When the “Stronger” singer said that those “friends must be so stressed out” about cooking for the chef, Stewart quipped: “Oh, I hope so.”

Clarkson then joked about how she’d react to Stewart coming over for Thanksgiving, adding: “If you were coming to my house, I would for sure lie and say I cooked it and have somebody else do it.”

While the cookbook author may not be hosting her own Thanksgiving dinner this year, she’s still a longtime fan of the holiday. During an appearance on Today earlier this month, Stewart described what she loves the most about Thanksgiving.

“Well, I love holidays, you know that, and Thanksgiving is one of my favourites. I do have gobblers in the poultry yard. I have 17 of them right now,” Stewart said, referring to the livestock she keeps on her farm in Bedford, New York.

She also shared her candid thoughts about beloved holiday foods, expressing her concerns about the all-consuming obsession that people have with pumpkin spice, especially during the fall.

“In a pie, I love it. In anything else, I do not love it,” Stewart confessed, before TV host Al Roker agreed, declaring that the overuse of pumpkin spice is unnecessary. “The queen has spoken. By royal decree, get rid of the pumpkin spice,” he said.

Earlier this month, she also partnered with Booking.com to celebrate the holiday season, as she invited two fans to her farm for a Thanksgiving-themed stay. During the visit to the house, the two guests will be treated to a special itinerary that includes some of Stewart’s go-to activities before Thanksgiving. Some of the activities during the stay – which takes place from Saturday 18 November through Sunday 19 November – include a “table setting and wreath-making demo” and a brunch with Stewart.