By India McCarty
Ben Napier might be a major star on HGTV, but he has his sights set on a very different job — being Santa Claus!
“He has a retirement plan,” his wife, Erin Napier, joked in a video.
Ben added, “I would call it a life goal, a life plan. I want to be the Macy’s parade Santa. Obviously not now. I play a young Santa when I play Santa. My beard hasn’t gone white. I got a few grays in there, a few whites. But yeah, that’s the goal.”
It’s not surprising Ben hopes to take on the role of Santa in the annual Thanksgiving parade. He has often spoken about his love for Christmas, writing in an essay for Guideposts, “Christmas is part of who I am. I was raised on it.”
Related: Erin and Ben Napier Share Christmas Decorating Tips Ahead of Holiday Season
From his love of Christmas carols and decorations to the fond family memories he has of the holiday — including the arrival of a baby brother when he was 10 — Ben loves every part of the Christmas season.
“Christmas only gets better as I get older,” he wrote. “Little did I know at 10. Someone once asked me, ‘By the time actual Christmas rolls around, aren’t you tired of the carols, the movies, the good cheer?’”
Ben continued, “No, ma’am, not one bit. Same way I never get tired of spending time with my family or of going to church or of counting every surprise as a Christmas blessing.”
Erin shares his love of Christmas, and the pair recently talked about their favorite holiday traditions in an interview with Us Weekly.
“My mom and I made pomanders together,” Erin shared. “We would stick cloves and oranges and make them decorative. And she had this tower we would stack them up on. Now my girls love it. We do that together every year. The smell is just the smell of Christmas. It’s really specific. You only smell it this time of year.”
Ben added that their daughters Helen and Mae’s “favorite thing” is the church service the family attends on Christmas Eve.
“They both talk about on Christmas Eve, we go to our church, we have a candlelight service and it’s very simple, it’s very short. Then they [get to hold candles in the dark],” he explained. “They get to hold fire but it’s beautiful. It’s a really beautiful service. They never forget it. They talk about it. And then we go home and we have fettuccine alfredo and it’s a very simple night that transcends and means more to them than anything else.”
With his strong love of Christmas, it’s no surprise Ben dreams of getting to play Santa in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade!
Read Next: Why HGTV Star ‘Never Gets Tired’ of Celebrating Christmas
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