Most Americans love the Cotswolds at Christmas – why doesn’t Ellen?

Tucking into a roast at the pub last weekend – open fire roaring away, a local farmer enjoying a pint at the bar with his Jack Russell in tow – I couldn’t help but think how fortunate I am to live in the Cotswolds.

Yes, it may have become a clichéd posh paradise, with more resident celebs than you can shake a riding stick at. But Christmas is when this part of the world really comes into its own.

Which is why I was surprised to hear that the Cotswolds’ most famous ex-pat couple, former US chat-show host Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, actor Portia de Rossi, are keen to be anywhere but here for the festive season.

The couple had moved into a seven-bedroom stone farmhouse in Oxfordshire the day after Donald Trump was re-elected. They planned not to return to California until he’s well and truly out of the White House. They’ve since moved to a new property half an hour’s drive away – but they don’t seem to have settled in: according to The Mail on Sunday, they have been telling friends they dread the prospect of another British winter, and intend to spend more time in the sunshine state after all.

As a Cotswold resident for the last 15 years, I think that if Ellen and Portia – who put their sprawling 43-acre estate, Kitesbridge Farm in Swinbrook on the market last summer after it flooded, and for a full £7.5m more than the whopping £22.5m they bought it for – can’t appreciate the Cotswolds at the most wonderful time of the year, they never will.

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Here in bucolic Bourton-on-the-Water, we have a floating Christmas tree, to go with the chocolate-box cottages, independent boutiques to buy the perfect present and, arguably, the most luxurious farm shop in the world, which stocks everything from truffle cheese to £135 doggy hampers. It’s festive, charming and delightfully eccentric – exactly what you’d hope for.

We have the Christmas lights at beautiful Blenheim, courses on tablescaping (if you’re into that sort of thing, which I’m not), carol singing with real reindeer (and celebrities galore) at Soho Farmhouse, and an advent calendar full of local Christmas fairs. If anything, it’s almost impossible not to feel festive.

Yes, it may get a bit muddy after a December downpour – especially if, like Ellen and Portia, you have dogs and horses – but that’s a small price to pay for the glorious valleys, bridle paths and breathtaking views you have here.

Let’s not forget that The Holiday – that cheesy film where wholesome Brit Kate Winslet swaps houses with glamorous American Cameron Diaz, and Diaz finds herself in a tiny country cottage with just a fire and Jude Law to warm the cockles of her perfectly painted toes – is now one of the most popular Christmas flicks of all time. And while not technically filmed in the Cotswolds, rather the patio of England, aka Surrey, the cottage with its honey-coloured stone, rustic interior and Farrow & Ball-coloured door is a passable dupe for the ones you might find here.

Up until now, Ellen and Portia have seemed to be enjoying all that we have to offer. They’ve been warmly welcomed in local pubs, including The Falkland Arms in Great Tew, a stone’s throw from the Beckhams, and Jeremy Clarkson’s Farmer’s Dog in Asthall, near Burford.

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And yes, while they might not appreciate our great British weather or seeing the region get flooded, I’m sure having a helicopter must help when you want to nip to the shops.

But if they would rather go back to Montecito and make jam with Meghan and Harry, so be it. Having spent some time in both California and the Cotswolds, I can confirm that I, for one, would rather browse the golden, cobbled streets here than the vast, homogenous out-of-town malls and highways there.

It’s also worth remembering that the Cotswolds are massive and span six counties, including Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Somerset, across almost 800 square miles.

It’s not just about the so-called Chipping Norton set, you know. The part I live in is distinctly not posh, so if Ellen fancies slumming it and bypassing the Range Rovers, celebs and fur gilets, tell her to give me a call.