London Hughes enjoys being child-free at Christmas: ‘Yay to us’

The comedian paid tribute to other child-free women

London Hughes arrives at the MOBO Awards 2022 at OVO Arena Wembley (Getty Images)

London Hughes has celebrated women who are child-free by choice this Christmas, declaring them to be “fabulous”.

The comedian posted a photograph of herself sipping on a festive cocktail in a red velvet dress and black tights as she marked the holiday season.

She tweeted on Boxing Day (26 December): “Merry Christmas to all the fabulous, single and childless aunties out there. For us, Christmas is just about seeing our many nieces and nephews, giving the best presents (because we have disposable income) and eating food we didn’t have to cook. Yay to us! Here’s to many more.”

Hughes, 33, added in a follow-up tweet that she was treating herself to a spa day as she was “still on my childless aunty at Christmas flex”.

She continued reflecting on her family status in a series of tweets throughout the day. In one tweet, she asked for advice on how to refer to women who choose not to have any children.

“Woke Twitter, I remember someone told me that we shouldn’t refer to women who don’t want children as ‘childless’ anymore, cos [sic] the ‘less’ makes it seem like a negative thing. Does anyone know what the new terminology is? And may I suggest ‘financially-happier’ and ‘not-as-tired’?” she asked.

After being told that the term “child-free” was preferred, she said she liked it. Hughes, who has a Netflix stand-up special titled How To Catch A D***, explained why she was opening up about being child-free and said: “Gotta go hard for my child-free Huns during Christmas, coz that’s when you lot come for us the most.

“With your, ‘Oh never say never’ and ‘One day you’ll meet someone you wanna have kids with’. Lol. How about understand that I have plans for my life outside of fertilisation please.”

Fans praised her for voicing her opinion, with some agreeing that they faced similar sentiments from family members during the festive season too.

“Every damn year,” radio presenter Nicola Hume said in response to Hughes’ tweet.

One person said it was “so tedious” to hear other people weigh in on their decisions, and another added: “What I find sad is it’s totally not anyone’s business – no one would keep asking a man when are you going to be a dad!!!”

Several fans who said they were in their 40s lamented that they still get questions and unsolicited advice about having children.

One fan wrote: “Thank you! I’m 42, when will it end?” while another said: “I’m 44 and it’s still happening, sorry to tell you.”