Mariah Carey on her ‘Magical Christmas Special’: “I wouldn’t feel happy if I couldn’t celebrate with fans”

Courtesy of Apple TV+Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special streams on Apple TV+ tomorrow. On Thursday, Mariah Carey appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America to talk about how important it was for her to make this special, despite all the COVID-19 restrictions they had to follow during production.

“I wouldn’t feel happy if I couldn’t celebrate with fans this year…it’s just been so traumatizing,” she said. “But I think pushing through…with this holiday season for me was super-important. And I’m just being festive in spite of everything! And…it is what it is. Like, it’s just about your heart.”

Carey started working on the special back in February, before the pandemic took over the world, and she says when it came time to film it, they had to follow strict guidelines.

“We just all really got together, we dealt with all the rules, everybody had to be tested every day for COVID, we were super-careful,” she explained. “And I just think it’s a way that people can share in the holiday spirit with us all and kind of, like, push past the moment, even if it’s just for that amount of time we’re watching this special together.”

The Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special is narrated by Tiffany Haddish and features a slew of guest stars, including Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Billy Eichner, Snoop Dogg, Jermaine Dupri, Misty Copeland and Mariah’s children, Roc and Roe.

“I’m just excited because I know my fans are going to have festive moments,” Mariah predicted. “And, you know, for even anyone who’s not a fan, we really try to embody, like, the spirit of positivity for Christmas. And I do that every year, but this year it was even more important.”

By Andrea Dresdale
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