Christmas is fast-approaching and Santa is getting ready to deliver all those presents to boys and girls around the world.

Join the man himself as he sets off on his far-flung travels at the New Wimbledon Theatre. It's the 21st-century and our festive hero has a Sat Nav to help him on his way.

But the device suddenly goes haywire and leaves him stranded! Santa and his helpers must come up with a clever plan to save Christmas.

Filled with songs, nursery rhymes and magic, Santa Claus and the Magical Christmas Journey promises to transport you into a winter wonderland.

As an added Christmas treat, all good boys and girls in the audience will meet Santa after the show and receive a special gift of their own.

Star of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing Russell Grant, who will guide Santa along as the voice of Santa’s Sat Nav, shares his family's festive traditions ahead of the show: How do you like to spend Christmas?

I love church at Christmas because I was the head choir boy at Harefield Church in Middlesex, and the most glorious time for me was singing that very first line of Once in Royal David City, which the boy soprano always did. So Christmas for me is always going to church.

And it has to be family. In recent years, not having my grandmothers around, it’s a little bit said so it’s nostalgic in many ways. I think the older you get with Christmas the more sentimental and nostalgic it becomes, so Christmas is now memories for me, and the memory of Christmas past is very much the thought that I take into Christmas present.

Wimbledon Times:

Getting in the festive spirit: Russell Grant with Santa 

Are you excited about being involved in a show which celebrates the festive spirit?

I think it’s wonderful that the show is giving children a truly magical and memorable experience. It snows on the audience, and every child gets to meet Santa and receive their own gift which I think is really special. For many children this will be the first piece of theatre they have been to, so it’s also a brilliant introduction to theatre and the magic of live performance. I’m really excited to be voicing one of the characters, and literally being part of the adventure.

You have decided to donate half of your fee to Alzheimer’s Research UK. Tell us about that.

I was a carer for my grandmother with Alzheimer’s in the 1990s. When she passed away I went through a very dark and gloomy period, and there was no help and no support in those days for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Until this year for every £1,000 that went into the funding of research into heart disease or cancer, it was just £11 per person for Alzheimer’s, which is a travesty. But things are changing now and so they should. For me the only way forwards is finding a cure and for that you need money.

Before becoming known as an astrologer you were an actor for many years. How did you get into performing?

My mum decided that she wanted me to carry on a line of the family that was in movies. My uncle was a producer, my dad was a set designer and my mother worked at Pinewood as the contracts secretary for all the big British stars. There was a side of the family that was very much into theatre and movies, and so she sent me at the age of seven to drama school in Middlesex.

My big theatre break came when I went into Tom Brown’s School Days with Simon Le Bon, Keith Chegwin and Christopher Guard. Astrology, which was only a hobby, then took over when I was signed by the head of BBC news to be the astrologer on BBC Breakfast. That was it really, so my whole background is in theatre and film.

Santa Claus and the Magical Christmas Journey; New Wimbledon Theatre, 93 The Broadway; December 1 to 24; £10.50 to £16.50; 0844 871 7646, atgtickets.com.