Every holiday season, children across the globe look forward to the arrival of Santa Claus. It’s an enormous under taking for old St. Nick who has to travel 510,000,000 KM but all the tasty treats and the spirit of giving inspires Santa Claus to take on his mission. 

Our newsroom had the honour of touching base with Santa Claus just as he was getting ready for the big day.  

“We’ve been preparing for it ever since last Christmas. The elves have all been building their toys and everything is almost ready. We’ve been making sure the reindeer have been well fed, and I’ve even had my suit recoloured… Red, of course!,” laughed Claus.

With all the extreme cold around central Alberta, we wondered just how Santa can stay warm all the way up in the North Pole. It turns out his outfit is more than just a fashion statement. 

“I walk around in my big red suit most of the time. I’ve got my nice big warm boots. I’ve got wonderful gloves and I do a lot of aerobics.” 

Of course, we all know Santa loves cookies. He said some his favourite treats are shortbread cookies but he’s been known to enjoy gingerbread as well. 

“I’ve eaten a whole gingerbread village before,” he chuckled. 

With so many milk options available these days, you may wonder what Kris Kringle prefers but he’s never come across a milk he didn’t like. 

“I do have a favourite milk but I am okay with all the milks. I love skim milk, 1%, 2%, 3%, oat milk, almond milk but my favourite milk, if you could leave it out, would be chocolate milk,” said Santa.

After his major toy delivery, Santa says self-care is incredibly important. He likes to wind down and enjoy a holiday movie like Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, or even The Grinch. 

“The first thing I’m going to do is kick off my boots and put them nicely by the door. I’m going to take off my big red coat and I’m going to sit down with Mrs. Claus. She’s going to bring me a nice cup of cocoa. It’s going to have marshmallows, whipped cream, and little sprinkles of candy cane on it,” he explained. 

Our staff in the newsroom have been wondering for ages just what is Mrs. Claus first name is and Santa shed a little bit of light on the topic. 

“People may say it is Jessica or Gertrude and I do love both of those names. She does have a first name and her first name happens to be Carly,” said Santa. 

Santa and Carly Claus are looking forward to spreading some holiday cheer throughout the world.

You can keep an eye on Santa's whereabouts by watching the NORAD Santa tracker. It goes live on Christmas Eve.