Mariah Carey vowed to make sure “every Christmas is great” for her children, after growing up in a “very dysfunctional family” herself.

The All I Want For Christmas Is You hitmaker says she never got to experience a “really good” Christmas as a child because of struggles within her family, so she has made it her mission to ensure her eight-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe – whom she has with her ex-husband Nick Cannon – have a “magical” time over the festive period.

Asked what her Christmas was like growing up, she said: “Growing up I had a very dysfunctional family. I always wanted to have a really good time at Christmas, and they would ruin it, so I vowed in my own life I would make sure every Christmas was great. I want to make it magical for my kids. You know, I think it’s this kind of childlike love of Christmas that saved me. I go through so much all year long just to have a great Christmas.”

The holiday season for the 49-year-old singer now involves travelling to Aspen, Colorado, where she pulls out all the stops to create a “great experience”, including hiring real reindeer to take her family on a sleigh ride.

She added: “I think everybody should spend Christmas with me because it’s a great experience.

“When I get off the plane, our drivers have All I Want For Christmas… playing, we have hot cocoa and some butterscotch schnapps. Then we’ll go through the woods on a two-horse open sleigh with blankets and real reindeer. It’s freezing cold, but it’s beautiful, and you’re looking at the stars. It’s an incredible moment I love every year.”