Katharine McPhee has received some memorable Christmas presents over the years, but none compare to one particular gift from her grandparents.
“My grandparents, as they started to get older, they started giving the family really, really weird gifts from their travels,” the “American Idol” alum told Page Six exclusively Sunday at The Grove’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Los Angeles.
“And the last one that was very strange was a box full of canned tuna,” she explained, clarifying that it was “fresh” tuna as opposed to cans that had been sitting in the couple’s cupboard.
“I was just like, ‘Wow, thank you for the canned tuna,’” McPhee, 38, recalled, jogging a similar memory in her husband, David Foster.
“That reminds me of my grandparents,” the Grammy-winning music producer, 73, told us. “When I was a kid, they used to come over and give us an orange. An orange! What’s up with that?”
For the event — which saw a handful of musical guests perform holiday songs live for a CBS special set to air later next month — McPhee stunned in a white, strapless, figure-hugging gown with puffed sleeves, while Foster opted for a black suit and a white button-down shirt, which he paired with a navy blue Louis Vuitton scarf.
Their son, Rennie, who turns 2 in February, was present to watch his parents take the stage and perform a handful of seasonal tunes from their upcoming album, “Christmas Songs.”
With new music, an accompanying tour, the launch of her jewelry line and a little one at home, McPhee and Foster are looking forward to enjoying some downtime this holiday season.
“We’re just always on the go, and it’s been great to be busy, but it’s gonna be great to not be busy and to just be home and order in some meals and cook some meals and decorate a Christmas tree and put some holiday decorations up and just relax,” the actress told Page Six and other reporters. “We’re so burnt out; we’re excited to just do nothing.”
Foster couldn’t agree more, noting that they’ve “traveled so much this year.”
Ironically, the pair told us earlier this week that part of their Christmas present to each other will likely be a getaway on the slopes.
“I think we’re going to take a ski trip with some friends — like, ‘You buy the lift tickets, I’ll get the hotel,’” McPhee said.
The “Over It” singer and Foster, who is more than three decades her senior, famously met on the set of “American Idol” Season 5 in 2006 — when she was a contestant and he was a mentor.
Though they didn’t begin dating until 2017, McPhee said Sunday, “I think that that day that I was in the studio with [him], I was like, I really got the charm and charisma of David Foster.”
She noted, “The age difference doesn’t change, but you obviously grow up, so it wasn’t the same thing then. I was so charmed by him, but it wasn’t like what it is now.”
The musically gifted twosome made their red carpet debut at the 2018 Met Gala. Two months later, Foster proposed, and in June 2019, the duo said “I do.”
