Lorraine Kelly, Lenny Henry and other celebrities on their hopes for 2022

Don’t worry – we’re not about to start talking about New Year resolutions (we’ve all got enough to contend with). But most of us like to look to the future every now and then.

So, as another pandemic year comes to an end and we prepare to toast in 2022, we asked some famous names about their hopes…

Lorraine Kelly, TV presenter

“I’m just hoping we can start to travel again safely. I love Africa and my daughter was living in Singapore for a long time so I used to spend a lot of time there. I’d love everybody to get access to the vaccine. That for me is hugely important.

“We are so incredibly lucky that we have that here and to have the incredible scientists and volunteers who’ve done such a great job.

“So I want to see countries like Africa and parts of Asia get that too. What we don’t want to do is leave some countries behind. That is my wish.”

Lenny Henry, comedian, actor and writer

“I have lots of goals. I’m trying to play the piano. I originally started to learn with my daughter but she raced ahead – she was only five.

“She’s 30 now and she can jam. She didn’t do any grades but I’m still doing mine. I’m Grade 4, going into Grade 5 now and it’s really hard. My hat goes off to anybody who plays the piano because it’s very difficult. And I want to do more acting. I want to write more. I want to write children’s books that I can be proud of.”

Mo Farah, champion athlete

“My key goal is just to stay hungry, stay motivated and keep putting in the work. Obviously we don’t know what’s going to happen in 2022 but just to get through each month and hopefully by January things will be a bit clearer as to where I am in terms of training – then I can plan better and see what races I can do.”

Alexandra Burke, singer and actor

“I’d love a holiday but I’m in no rush. I just look forward to balancing my time between work and family. That, for me, is really important – I’ve struggled with that because I’ve always put work first. My year is quite chocka already, by the grace of God. When the pandemic hit, lots of people couldn’t work, especially in the entertainment industry, so we don’t take an opportunity for granted.

“Not that I ever did before but I think it’s important to acknowledge that now, more than ever. But balance is the biggest challenge for me and I want to make sure I spend as much time with my family as I do working.”

Matt Tebbutt, chef and Saturday Kitchen host

“I’d love to just get away more. I went to Argentina before lockdown for work and I was blown away. Buenos Aires and the surroundings is a very cool place. I’d love to get back there. I spent a bit of time in Mexico and I’d love to get back there too.

“And I went to China a while back – fascinating place – the food was incredible. I just like exploring, trying new stuff, seeing what’s out there. It keeps life interesting, you know.”

Becky Adlington,sports presenter and former Olympic swimmer

“I have a number of different goals – one is to get back into some sort of exercise routine and get back into shape, definitely.

“Another is to keep developing my ‘learn to swim’ store, developing the baby products we’ve got, getting more kids learning this amazing life skill and opening up new venues.

“And from a personal perspective, going away travelling again would be really lovely – obviously that’s not down to me but I really miss travel, so hopefully we can get back to that.

“I miss seeing different places, people, cultures and food.”