Paloma Faith has been getting in tune with her authentic self after being diagnosed with ADHD later in life.
The 43-year-old London-born singer-songwriter says she spent her “whole life struggling with certain things” which began to take on new meaning after she received the eye-opening diagnosis a year ago.
While some people are opposed to “labels”, the Only Love Can Hurt Like This hitmaker said she found it “really helpful”.
She told The Standard: "I have spent my whole life struggling with certain things but didn't get a diagnosis until a year ago which I found really helpful.
“Lots of things start to add up. When you go through the assessment process the questions you're like 'Oh my God, that's part of it as well!' They start asking you these questions and you're like I didn't even think that was part of it.
"I don't think that many people aren't on the spectrum and quite often society actually favours what I consider around me to be a minority. It is proven that neurodivergents attract to each other so it's probably that everyone I know is neurodiverse."
The mum-of-two has lent her voice to a reimagined version of the song Silent Night.
Titled Silent Night, Gentle Light, the song is performed by Faith along with the Sky Kids Choir and is being released as a single with royalties being donated to the Caudwell Children’s Charity.
The song is an accompaniment to Ready Eddie Christmas!, an animated special of Sky Kids series Ready Eddie Go! which follows the adventures of Eddie, a six year old autistic boy and is narrated by former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker.
The festive staple’s lyrics have been rewritten by Ready Eddie Go! creator Nikki Saunders to highlight how to navigate all the elements of Christmas (from flashing lights to loud Christmas jingles) and help others understand how to make it more accessible.
Faith said of her involvement: “It’s not the kind of bells and whistles that we’re used to when someone jumps on a charity fundraising song because it’s sensitive to ears and sensibilities of a child with autism so there’s not lots of noise in it. I think that it’s quite sweet because of that.
“I just feel like it’s really nice for people listen to so they can have a conversation and start maybe being a bit more open about their daily experiences and not feeling like it means they’re weird or different in a bad way.”
Giving an insight into what her own Christmas experience is like, she said this year it will involve her “being Santa, being the chef, the maid, the cleaner.”
“I’m excited - I’m more excited than my kids sometimes,” she added. “I love Christmas so much, I think it’s very suited to me and being a parent makes it even better.”
Faith has teased that 2025 will see her begin to work on new music and she plans to release a new podcast.
Silent Night, Gentle Light is available to stream now on Amazon Music, Apple Music and iTunes, and Spotify, and Ready Eddie Christmas! is out now on Sky Kids.
