''Sport Relief'' was a
biennial charity event from
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
, in association with
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
, established in 2002.
It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Education and Communications and went on to become its creative director and CEO. Now joint Honorary Life President with Sir Lenny Henry, Cahill joined having created the Education Department at the National Theatre in London and been its first Head.
In 2021, Comic Relief announced that from 2022 it was changing from alternating ''Sport Relief'' and Red Nose Day campaigns to Red Nose Day becoming annual and ''Sport Relief'' evolving into a year-round brand. The annual Red Nose Day telethon would now take place at Dock10, MediaCityUK in Salford.
On television
Like Red Nose Day, historically the ''Sport Relief'' telethon show began after the six o'clock news, with the usual BBC One schedule suspended at 7pm in favour of a live programme, with a break at 10pm for the News. However, whilst the BBC ''News at Ten'' was aired on BBC One, ''Sport Relief'' continued on BBC Two, and then resumed on BBC One at 10:35pm, with each hour overseen by a different celebrity host team. All the celebrity talent who represent Comic Relief's campaigns agree to do so for no fee.
Presenters
*
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
(2002–2020)
*
Paddy McGuinness
Patrick Joseph McGuinness (born 14 August 1973) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television presenter. He rose to fame with the help of fellow comedian Peter Kay, who invited him to appear on the television comedy series '' That Peter ...
(2018–2020)
*
Alex Scott (2020)
*
Emma Willis
Emma Louise Willis (' Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV and Heart FM. (2020)
*
Rylan Clark-Neal (2020)
*
Oti Mabuse
Otlile "Oti" Mabuse (born 8 August 1990) is a South African talent show judge, presenter, dancer and Latin dance champion currently based in the United Kingdom.
She is best known for being a professional dancer on the British television serie ...
(2020)
*
Tom Allen (2020)
*
Maya Jama
Maya Indea Jama ( ; born 14 August 1994) is a British television presenter and radio DJ. She co-presented BBC One's '' Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer'' alongside Peter Crouch and Alex Horne and was the presenter of the BBC Three competition '' ...
(2020)
*
Jamie Theakston
James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, narrator and actor. He has hosted television programmes for the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Channel 4 and 5 (British TV channel), Channel 5. He co-present ...
(2002–2004)
*
Clare Balding
Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...
(2002–2014)
*
Ulrika Jonsson
Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, and moved on to present the ITV show '' Gladiators'', and later featured as a team captain on the BBC T ...
(2002)
*
Gabby Logan
Gabrielle Nicole Logan (''née'' Yorath; born 24 April 1973) is a Welsh television and radio presenter, and a former rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted '' Final Score'' for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She h ...
(2004–2014)
*
Tess Daly
Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English television presenter and former model. Since 2004, she has co-presented the BBC One dancing competition show '' Strictly Come Dancing''.
Early life
Helen Elizabeth Daly was born o ...
(2004)
*
Davina McCall
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...
(2006–2018)
*
Chris Evans (2006)
*
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...
(2008–2012)
*
Claudia Winkleman
Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing compet ...
(2010–2018)
*
Fearne Cotton (2010–2014)
*
James Corden
James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, singer, and television host. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom '' Gavin & S ...
(2010–2012)
*
Patrick Kielty
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...
(2010–2012)
*
Christine Bleakley
Christine Louise Lampard (''née'' Bleakley, born 2 February 1979) is a Northern Irish television presenter. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–20 ...
(2010)
*
David Walliams
David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...
(2012–2016)
*
Dermot O'Leary
Seán Dermot O'Leary (born 24 May 1973) is a British-Irish broadcaster. He presented the television talent show ''The X Factor'' on ITV from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV' ...
(2012)
*
Miranda Hart
Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won three Royal Television Society awards, four British Comedy Awards, and four BAFTA nominations for her self-driven semi-autobiographical ...
(2012)
*
Ore Oduba
Ore Oduba (born 17 November 1985) is a British television and radio presenter who has also worked as an actor. From 2008 until 2013, he presented the CBBC news programme '' Newsround''. In 2018 he hosted the game show ''And They're Off!'' in a ...
(2012–2018)
*
Jack Whitehall (2014)
*
Greg James
Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English broadcaster and author. He has been a presenter on BBC Radio 1 since 2007, hosting shows including his old drive-time show and the station's flagship breakfast show.
Since 201 ...
(2016)
*
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B / UK Garage group Mis-Teeq, who had seven UK top 10 hits, ...
(2016)
*
Freddie Flintoff (2018)
Official singles
The first ''Sport Relief'' single in 2002 was "
Your Song", re-recorded as a duet by original artist
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
and Italian opera singer
Alessandro Safina, reaching number 4 on the chart. In 2004, "
Some Girls" by
Rachel Stevens
Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer and actress. She has been a member of the pop group S Club, which was active from 1998 to 2003, and has reformed once again since 2023. She released her solo debut studio album ''F ...
made it to number 2 and in 2006, the third ever ''Sport Relief'' single, "
Don't Stop Me Now
"Don't Stop Me Now" is a song by the British rock band Queen, featured on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' and released as a single on 26 January 1979. Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it was recorded in August 1978 at Super Bear Studios in ...
"/"
Please, Please" by
McFly
McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...
, was the first to top the
UK Singles Chart, selling 36,496 units in the week ending 29 July 2006. In 2008, the ''Sport Relief'' single was by
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress, model, and activist. Born and raised in Islington, Inner London, she later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieve ...
with her single "
Footprints in the Sand", though it was officially released as a double A-side with "
Better in Time". In 2010, the single was "
Morning Sun", sung by Robbie Williams. In 2012, the song was "
Proud", sung by
JLS and in 2014 "
Word Up!" sung by
Little Mix
Little Mix are an English girl group that formed on the eighth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor.'' They are the first group and the only girl group to win the original UK series. The lineup consisted of Leigh-Anne Pin ...
both peaking at the 6th position. In 2016, "
Running
Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...
" sung by
James Bay
James Bay (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island.
Numerous waterways of the ...
peaked at No. 60.
History
2002 event
The first ''Sport Relief'' show was presented by
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
,
Ulrika Jonsson
Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, and moved on to present the ITV show '' Gladiators'', and later featured as a team captain on the BBC T ...
,
Jamie Theakston
James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, narrator and actor. He has hosted television programmes for the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Channel 4 and 5 (British TV channel), Channel 5. He co-present ...
and
Clare Balding
Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...
and included
Stephen Fry
Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
hosting a special edition of ''They Think It's a Question of Sport'',
John Inverdale and
Suzi Perry resurrecting the classic 1970s series ''
Superstars'' and the first ever bout of ''Celebrity Boxing'' when
Bob Mortimer
Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, author, television presenter, writer and actor. He is one half of the comedy double act Reeves and Mortimer with Jim Moir, Vic Reeves, and appears in the ''Mortimer & Whitehouse ...
beat
Les Dennis
Leslie Dennis Heseltine (born 12 October 1953) is an English television presenter, actor and comedian. He presented '' Family Fortunes'' from 1987 to 2002.
Early life
Dennis was born as Leslie Dennis Heseltine on 12 October 1953 in the Liv ...
. The first event took place on Saturday 13 July 2002. The final total on the night was £10,072,068.
Other items were ''Sport in the Square'' where cast members from ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'' and ''
Holby City
''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...
''/''
Casualty
Casualty may refer to:
*Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster
**Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare
* The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'' took part in a series of sporting challenges, ''Runaround'', with
Johnny Vegas
Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, angry comedic rants, and use of surreal humour.
Ve ...
, music from
Gareth Gates and
Will Young
William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...
and contributions from
Nick Hancock,
Patrick Kielty
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...
,
Angus Deayton
Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster.
Deayton was the original presenter of two successful British comedy panel shows, ''Have I Got News for You'' (1990–2002) and ''Woul ...
,
Ronni Ancona
Veronica Jane Ancona (born 4 July 1966) is a British actress, comedian, impressionist and writer best known for '' The Big Impression'', which she co-wrote and starred in and was, for four years, one of BBC One's top-rated comedy programmes, win ...
,
Alistair McGowan
Alistair Charles McGowan (born 24 November 1964) is an English impressionist, BAFTAaward winning comic, actor, pianist, poet, and writer. He starred in '' The Big Impression'' (formerly '' Alistair McGowan's Big Impression''). He has also wor ...
,
Audley Harrison
Audley Hugh Harrison, (born 26 October 1971) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. As an amateur, he represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division and ...
,
Alec Stewart
Alec James Stewart (born 8 April 1963) is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fifth-most- capped En ...
,
Tanni Grey-Thompson
Carys Davina Grey-Thompson, Baroness Grey-Thompson, ( Grey; born 26 July 1969), known as Tanni Grey-Thompson, is a Welsh life peeress, television presenter and former wheelchair racer.
Athletic career
Grey-Thompson started wheelchair racin ...
and
Sir Steve Redgrave.
One of the highlights of the campaign came at the end of the final of the Stella Artois tennis championship when there was a surprise additional match for ''Sport Relief'' between the Prime Minister,
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
and
Pat Cash
Patrick Hart Cash (born 27 May 1965) is an Australian former professional tennis player and coach. He reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 4 in May 1988 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 6 in August 1988. Upo ...
against
Ilie Năstase
Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (; born 19 July 1946) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the inaugural world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 40 weeks. Năstase is one of ten play ...
and
Alistair McGowan
Alistair Charles McGowan (born 24 November 1964) is an English impressionist, BAFTAaward winning comic, actor, pianist, poet, and writer. He starred in '' The Big Impression'' (formerly '' Alistair McGowan's Big Impression''). He has also wor ...
. Blair and Cash won the specially reduced set 4–1.
Tony Hawks
Antony Gordon Hawksworth Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 27 February 1960), known professionally as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author.
Early life
Born in Brighton, Sussex, Hawks was educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Gr ...
was the courtside commentator and the game was shown live on ''
Sunday Grandstand''.
2004 event
The second ''Sport Relief'' was on Saturday 10 July 2004. The main show was on BBC One from 19.00 to 00.30. The first half was presented by
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
and
Gabby Logan
Gabrielle Nicole Logan (''née'' Yorath; born 24 April 1973) is a Welsh television and radio presenter, and a former rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted '' Final Score'' for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She h ...
and the second half by
Jamie Theakston
James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, narrator and actor. He has hosted television programmes for the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Channel 4 and 5 (British TV channel), Channel 5. He co-present ...
and
Tess Daly
Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English television presenter and former model. Since 2004, she has co-presented the BBC One dancing competition show '' Strictly Come Dancing''.
Early life
Helen Elizabeth Daly was born o ...
.
In the first half of the show (19.00–21.00),
Cilla Black
Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter.
Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...
hosted a celebrity version of ''Inter-Channel Superstars'' where the BBC squad took on teams from ITV, Channel 4 and Five, the stars of ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
'' performed a special routine to a re-mix of iconic BBC Sport theme tunes,
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years.
Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...
was on hand to present a cheque,
Patrick Kielty
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...
was live in the studio to talk about the Indian railway project he had visited,
Rachel Stevens
Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer and actress. She has been a member of the pop group S Club, which was active from 1998 to 2003, and has reformed once again since 2023. She released her solo debut studio album ''F ...
performed the ''Sport Relief'' single "Some Girls", Dick and Dom introduced
Ray Stubbs being swung from a crane into a giant ball of dung and
Stephen Fry
Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
hosted another edition of ''A Question of Sport Relief''.
While the News and Lottery were on BBC One, there was a brand new show on BBC Two, ''
Stars in Fast Cars
''Stars in Fast Cars'' is a motoring-themed celebrity game show, in which celebrities compete in "a series of Wacky Races-esque events to become the fastest star-in-a-car." The series was first broadcast on BBC Three, in 2005, and repeated on BB ...
'' which featured
Alan Davies
Alan Roger Davies (; ; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only permanen ...
,
Jodie Kidd,
Patrick Kielty
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...
,
Jimmy Carr
James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of One-line joke, one-liners. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regula ...
and
Darren Jordon competing in a variety of car related races and stunts.
The second half of the main show was back on BBC One from 21.30 BC to 00.30. BC
Angus Deayton
Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster.
Deayton was the original presenter of two successful British comedy panel shows, ''Have I Got News for You'' (1990–2002) and ''Woul ...
looked at Sports Stars in adverts,
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...
and
Badly Drawn Boy
Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show '' The Magic Ball'', which he saw on TV ...
performed live in the studio,
Jon Culshaw
Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy ''Dead Ringers (comedy), Dead Ringers'' since 2000.
Culshaw has voiced ...
unveiled his Wayne Rooney impersonation, and Paul Whitehouse's Ron Manager interrogated
David Beckham
Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...
about his texting technique.
Eamonn Holmes
Eamonn Holmes (; born 3 December 1959) is a Northern Irish broadcaster and journalist. He co-presented the breakfast television show ''GMTV'' (1993–2005) for ITV, before presenting ''Sunrise'' (2005–2016) for Sky News. Holmes co-presente ...
was the host when Rugby took on Football with teams that included
Dion Dublin
Dion Dublin (born 22 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer, television presenter and pundit. He is a club director of Cambridge United.
As a player he was a centre-forward, notably playing in the Premier League for Manches ...
,
Lee Sharpe,
Martin Offiah
Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted ...
and
Matt Dawson and in this year's ''Celebrity Boxing''
Ben Fogle beat
Sid Owen.
Colin Jackson
Colin Ray Jackson, (born 18 February 1967) is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became w ...
,
Sir Steve Redgrave and
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...
were amongst the sporting names who also appeared live on the show.
The show also included highlights of some of the ''Sport Relief'' Miles which had attracted 81,000 at giant and local events in all parts of the UK. Jo Brandy was on hand to represent them and talk about her experiences at the Brighton Mile.
Throughout the night, there were also a whole series of appeal films to show where the ''Sport Relief'' money had already been spent and where the need was greatest. They were made by BBC Bristol and included
Nick Knowles in Africa,
Patrick Kielty
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...
in India and
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline, Lady Beckham (; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, singer, and television personality. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Posh Spic ...
in Peru.
The campaign itself involved 253 celebrities and raised £16 million. The final total on the night of the telethon was £11,078,359.
2006 event
The third ''Sport Relief'' took place on Saturday 15 July 2006 with a whole day of programming across the BBC that culminated in the main evening show on BBC One at 7pm.
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
,
Chris Evans and
Davina McCall
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...
were the hosts for the entire evening.
Once again the programme came live from TC1 at Television Centre and featured its biggest line up of names to date.
The second half was back on BBC One from 22.30 to 01.00. It included golf legend
Nick Faldo
Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...
competing against Lineker and Evans in a comedy pitching competition on the roof of the studio where they had to get their balls into the mouths of giant cut outs of
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years.
Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...
and
Jimmy Tarbuck, the second part of ''A Question of Sport Relief'',
Jon Culshaw
Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy ''Dead Ringers (comedy), Dead Ringers'' since 2000.
Culshaw has voiced ...
's live performance as
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
,
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate (born Catherine Jane Ford, 5 December 1969) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC Two, BBC sketch comedy series ''The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007), as well as bein ...
in a new football sketch as
Joanie "Nan" Taylor from ''
The Catherine Tate Show
''The Catherine Tate Show'' is a British television comedy sketch programme written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten featuring a wide range of characters. ''The Catherine Tate Show'' aired on BBC Two and was shown worldwide through the BBC ...
'' and
Sir Steve Redgrave and
Colin Jackson
Colin Ray Jackson, (born 18 February 1967) is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became w ...
taking part in a live power pint competition. There was also the last ever edition of ''Footballer's Wives'' which had been transferred from ITV for the night and included a guest appearance by
Graham Norton
Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...
as Brendan Spunk,
José González performed in the studio, several members of the ''Sport Relief'' Red Socks cricket team were there to talk about their tour to India, including
Harry Judd
Harry Mark Christopher Judd (born 23 December 1985) is an English musician who is the drummer for the rock band McFly.
Early life and education
Judd was born in Chelmsford, Essex in southern England, the youngest of three children. He is the so ...
,
Nick Hancock,
Nick Knowles,
Jack Russell and
Phil Tufnell
Philip Clive Roderick Tufnell (born 29 April 1966) is an English former international cricketer and current television and radio personality.
A slow left-arm orthodox spin bowler, he played in 42 Test matches and 20 One Day Internationals ...
whilst
Derek Acorah starred in a new sketch based in the ''Match of the Day'' studio. The third ''Sport Relief Celebrity Boxing'' bout was won by
Jack Osbourne
Jack Joseph Osbourne (born 8 November 1985) is a British-American media personality. He is the son of heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne. He starred on MTV's reality series '' The Osbournes'' (2002–2005), along with his ...
who defeated the former
S Club 7
S Club, formerly known as S Club 7, are a British pop group formed in 1998 by Simon Fuller after he was fired as manager of the Spice Girls. Original members were Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O'Meara, Ha ...
singer
Bradley McIntosh. It was presented by
Mark Durden-Smith with
Dave Spikey as ringmaster.
British pop band
McFly
McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...
covered the hit song "
Don't Stop Me Now
"Don't Stop Me Now" is a song by the British rock band Queen, featured on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' and released as a single on 26 January 1979. Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it was recorded in August 1978 at Super Bear Studios in ...
" originally by
Queen
Queen most commonly refers to:
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen (band), a British rock band
Queen or QUEEN may also refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Q ...
as the official single for the event. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
The final total raised during ''Sport Relief'' 2006 was £18 million.
2008 event
''Sport Relief'' moved to March in 2008.
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
's night of fundraising was held on Friday 14 March and the ''Sport Relief'' Miles took place all around the UK on Sunday 16 March. It was presented on stage by
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...
,
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
&
Davina McCall
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...
.
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years.
Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...
&
Tess Daly
Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English television presenter and former model. Since 2004, she has co-presented the BBC One dancing competition show '' Strictly Come Dancing''.
Early life
Helen Elizabeth Daly was born o ...
presented ''
Sport Relief Does Strictly Come Dancing''.
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...
,
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...
&
James May
James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' fr ...
presented ''
Top Ground Gear Force
''Top Ground Gear Force'' is a one-off TV special, featuring the presenters of BBC's '' Top Gear'', which originally aired on BBC Two at 22:00 GMT on 14 March 2008 as part of Sport Relief 2008. It was repeated on Easter Monday, 2008.
It bor ...
''.
Jimmy Carr
James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of One-line joke, one-liners. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regula ...
presented
''A Question of Sport Relief'' with the team captains
Sue Barker
Susan Barker (born 19 April 1956) is a British former television presenter and professional tennis player. During her playing career, Barker won 15 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including a major at the 1976 French Open. She reached a career- ...
and
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
.
Sir Alan Sugar presented
''Sport Relief Does the Apprentice''. There were occasional appearances by
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show '' Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s and early 2010s, hosted his ow ...
,
Jimmy Carr
James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish-British comedian, presenter, writer and actor. He is known for his rapid-fire deadpan delivery of One-line joke, one-liners. He began his comedy career in 1997, and he has regula ...
,
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other ta ...
,
Patrick Kielty
Patrick Kielty (born 31 January 1971) is a comedian, presenter and actor from Northern Ireland. He is the host of '' The Late Late Show'' on RTÉ One and presents a Saturday morning programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. His television credits include ...
,
Claudia Winkleman
Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing compet ...
&
Tess Daly
Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English television presenter and former model. Since 2004, she has co-presented the BBC One dancing competition show '' Strictly Come Dancing''.
Early life
Helen Elizabeth Daly was born o ...
.
The BBC presented another version of ''
Sport Relief Does the Apprentice'' with 10 celebrities. Also, new for this year, a special episode of ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
'' was shown.
That year's ''Celebrity Boxing'' saw
Ben Shephard
Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard (born 11 December 1974) is an English television presenter and journalist who is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2024–present), alongside Cat Deeley.
Shephard was a main presenter ...
of ''
GMTV
GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...
'' beat
Lemar
Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), known mononymously as Lemar, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially rising to fame after finishing third on the Fame Academy (series 1), first series of British talent show ''Fame Acade ...
on judge's vote.
The final total raised on the television broadcast was £19,640,321. During the telethon, a mystery donor donated £5.5million to the charity.
2010 event
''Sport Relief'' was broadcast on 19–21 March 2010. The appeal show was aired as usual on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
and
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
on 19 March from 19:00 to 01:30. A special of ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
'' (filmed on ''The Live Tour'' on Saturday 6 February) aired as well as ''
Let's Dance for Sport Relief
The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request.
The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. They are sometimes called ' ...
''.
On CBBC there were special shows dedicated to ''Sport Relief'' including a special edition of ''
Dani's House'' and Paddy McGuiness hosted a new series, ''Sport Relief does
We Are the Champions
"We Are the Champions" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released from the band's sixth album ''News of the World'' (1977). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems. ''.
The total raised on the night of broadcast was £31,633,091.
James Corden
James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, singer, and television host. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom '' Gavin & S ...
also performed various comedy sketches with British athletes like Andy Murray (tennis), David Beckham (football) and Tom Daley (diving).
Lawrence Dallaglio
Lorenzo Bruno Nero Dallaglio (born 10 August 1972) is an English retired rugby union player. He is a former captain of England, and a 2016 inductee of the World Rugby Hall of Fame.
Dallaglio played as a flanker or number eight for London ...
embarked on a gruelling cycle from Rome to Edinburgh during the
RBS 6 Nations Championship to raise money for ''Sport Relief'' and the Dallaglio Foundation. The Dallaglio Cycle Slam took place over the course of a month, seeing a team cycling through all of the
RBS 6 Nations countries, taking in each of the international rugby stadia along the way. The aim was to raise £1million and £1.14 million was raised with 50% going to ''Sport Relief'' 2010.
2012 event
The 2012 event appeal ran from 23 to 25 March 2012, with the television show airing on 23 March 2012.
On the night, there were specials from ''
Outnumbered'' with
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...
and
Christine Bleakley
Christine Louise Lampard (''née'' Bleakley, born 2 February 1979) is a Northern Irish television presenter. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–20 ...
, Miranda at
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
Tennis Tournament with many sports stars, ''
Twenty Twelve'' with
Zara Phillips
Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall (; born 15 May 1981) is a British equestrian, Olympian, socialite and member of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips, and the eldest niece of King Charles ...
and
Sir Steve Redgrave talking about how they should advertise the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
on ''Sport Relief'', ''
Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...
Underwater'' with
Chelsee Healey
Chelsea Jade Healey (born 6 August 1988) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the roles of Janeece Bryant in the BBC school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2012, 2023), Honey Wright in the BBC medical drama series ...
and
Harry Judd
Harry Mark Christopher Judd (born 23 December 1985) is an English musician who is the drummer for the rock band McFly.
Early life and education
Judd was born in Chelmsford, Essex in southern England, the youngest of three children. He is the so ...
, ''
Horrible Histories
''Horrible Histories'' is an educational entertainment franchise encompassing many media including books, magazines, audio books, stage shows, TV shows, and more.
In 2013, Lisa Edwards, UK publishing and commercial director of Scholastic Corpo ...
'' and
Stephen Fry
Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
with
Amir Khan and
Jermain Defoe
Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English football coach and former professional player. He was most recently the under-18s coach at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
Defoe was a striker and began his career with Charlto ...
, ''
Benidorm
Benidorm ( , , ) is a municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain.
Known as the “New York City, New York of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean”, Benidorm has been a tourist destinatio ...
'' meets ''
Britain's Got Talent
''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...
'' with the new judges, ''
Saturday Kitchen'' with the English football team
QI, ''
A Question of Sport
''A Question of Sport'' (known as ''Question of Sport'' from 2021 until 2023) is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It was the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December ...
'' with Sue Barker as you have never seen her before, ''
Celebrity Juice'',
Mo Farah
Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...
takes on the race of his life against Misery Bear, ''
8 out of 10 Cats
''8 Out of 10 Cats'' (stylised as ''8 out of 10 CATS'') is a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from ...
'', ''
Mock the Week
''Mock the Week'' is a topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. Presenter Dara Ó Briain and pan ...
'',
Kate Moss
Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model. Arriving towards the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her t ...
,
Stella McCartney,
Colin Jackson
Colin Ray Jackson, (born 18 February 1967) is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became w ...
and
Linford Christie
Linford Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former Sprint (running), sprinter and athletics coach. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes ...
are among the star names appearing with
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958) is an English actress, comedian, singer, and screenwriter. Saunders originally found attention in the 1980s, when she became a member of The Comic Strip after graduating from the Royal Central School ...
and
Joanna Lumley
Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...
in a special edition of ''
Absolutely Fabulous
''Absolutely Fabulous'' (often shortened to ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom created and written by Jennifer Saunders, which premiered in 1992. It is based on the 1990 '' French and Saunders'' sketch " Modern Mother and Daughter", cr ...
'' and
Jake Humphrey
Jacob John Humphrey (born 7 October 1978) is an English television presenter, best known for formerly hosting Champions League football on BT Sport, CBBC's '' Bamzooki'' and BBC Sport's coverage of Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Early life
Born i ...
presents a special ''
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...
'' with
Louise Redknapp
Louise Elizabeth Redknapp (née Nurding; born 4 November 1974), professionally known as Louise, is an English singer, dancer and media personality. She was a member of Eternal, an R&B girl group which debuted in 1993 with their quadruple-pla ...
and
Melanie C
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...
alongside the regulars.
On the night, there were performances from
LMFAO
LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off) was an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu (rapper), Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Leiviska. Sky Blu ...
,
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...
, and
JLS who performed the ''Sport Relief'' single with
Emeli Sandé
Adele Emily Sandé ( ; previously Gouraguine; born 10 March 1987), known professionally as Emeli Sandé, is a British singer and songwriter. Born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England and raised in Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Sandé rose t ...
and rugby players in the chorus. JLS also did a concert for ''Sport Relief''.
The total raised on the night of broadcast was £50,447,197.
Before the main event
In January 2012, there was a series called ''
The Great Sport Relief Bake Off'', which had celebrities competing.
Anita Rani
Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), better known as Anita Rani, is a British radio and television presenter.
Early life
Rani was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and grew up in Heaton, West Yorkshire, Heaton and Odsal. Her parents were ...
won the series, which also featured
Angela Griffin
Angela Mellissa Griffin (born 19 July 1976) is an English actress, television presenter and director who has been active on British television since the early 1990s. She is best known for portraying the roles of Fiona Middleton in the ITV soa ...
,
Arlene Phillips
Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, former television judge, presenter, and dancer. She reached mainstream fame on television as a judge on ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (2004-2008) a ...
,
Sarah Hadland
Sarah Hadland (born 15 May 1971) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Stevie Sutton in BBC One's BAFTA-nominated comedy television series '' Miranda'' (2009–2015) and Trish in '' The Job Lot'' (2013–2015).
Hadland appear ...
,
James Wong,
Saira Khan,
Pearl Lowe
Pearl Lowe (born Pearl Samantha Davis; 7 April 1968) is an English fashion and textiles designer and former singer-songwriter.
Career
Music
Lowe was the vocalist of mid-1990s Independent music, indie bands Powder (British band), Powder and ...
,
Joe Swift and
Fi Glover
Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover (born 27 February 1969) is a British journalist and presenter who currently hosts a two hour show for Times Radio and the Off Air podcast, for ''The Times''. Before joining ''The Times'' in October 2022, Glover w ...
amongst the other contestants who took part. Another series of ''
Let's Dance for Sport Relief
The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request.
The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. They are sometimes called ' ...
'' ran up to the telethon weekend for five weeks. It was won by
Rowland Rivron
Rowland John Rivron (born 28 September 1958) is a British writer, comedic actor and television personality.
Early career
Rivron played the comic character 'Dr Martin Scrote' on the Jonathan Ross chat show ''The Last Resort'', and also played S ...
who danced to "
Weapon of Choice" by
Fatboy Slim
Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...
. A new series of ''Sport Relief Does
Glee Club
A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in ...
'' started on Monday 12 March running with one episode each weekday. The first eight episodes were 30 minutes long then there was a live semi-final and final, on ''Sport Relief'' day, which were 45 minutes long.
Segments of this and past ''Sport Relief'' events aired as part of ''Sport Relief Goes Global'' weeks after the event, in which parts of the program could be viewed in other countries including sketches from ''
Miranda'', ''Outnumbered'', ''Smithy'', and "
David Walliams Swims the Thames".
2014 event
''Sport Relief'' 2014 took place from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 March 2014. The official campaign launch took place on Tuesday 21 January 2014. The ''Annual Live Telethon'' was broadcast live from the
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City devel ...
for the first time, on Friday 21 March. It was hosted by
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
,
David Walliams
David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...
,
Davina McCall
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...
,
Fearne Cotton,
Jack Whitehall and
Claudia Winkleman
Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing compet ...
. The ''Clash of the Titans'' was hosted by
Gabby Logan
Gabrielle Nicole Logan (''née'' Yorath; born 24 April 1973) is a Welsh television and radio presenter, and a former rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted '' Final Score'' for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She h ...
and
Clare Balding
Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...
.
In January 2014, the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
announced that the 2014 edition of its ''Sport Relief'' broadcast on 21 March 2014 would feature a new
''Only Fools and Horses'' sketch.
During the three weeks before the telethon, ''
Sport Relief's Top Dog'' aired on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
with
Gaby Roslin as host.
The ''Sport Relief'' Mile was joined by three major cycling events (in London, Manchester and Glasgow) and over 600
Swimathons, under the umbrella title of "The Sport Relief Games". The main public faces of the three sections of the "games" were
Jessica Ennis-Hill
Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (née Ennis; born 28 January 1986) is a British retired athlete who specialised in the heptathlon and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion (2 ...
,
Ellie Simmonds and
Chris Hoy
Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy (born 23 March 1976) is a former Track cycling, track cyclist and racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympics, Great Britain at the Olympic Games, Olympic and World Championships and Scot ...
. Advance entry opened on 24 September 2013, nearly four months ahead of the official campaign launch.
John Bishop and
Sebastian Coe
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, incl ...
competed against each other for the ''Clash of the Titans'' event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park along with their celebrity teams.
The total raised on the night of broadcast was £51,242,186.
2016 event
''Sport Relief'' 2016 took place from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 March 2016. The ''Sport Relief'' Mile and Swimathon both returned.
John Bishop,
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...
,
David Walliams
David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...
,
Claudia Winkleman
Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing compet ...
,
Davina McCall
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...
,
Greg James
Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English broadcaster and author. He has been a presenter on BBC Radio 1 since 2007, hosting shows including his old drive-time show and the station's flagship breakfast show.
Since 201 ...
and
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B / UK Garage group Mis-Teeq, who had seven UK top 10 hits, ...
hosted.
Ore Oduba
Ore Oduba (born 17 November 1985) is a British television and radio presenter who has also worked as an actor. From 2008 until 2013, he presented the CBBC news programme '' Newsround''. In 2018 he hosted the game show ''And They're Off!'' in a ...
and
Dan Walker hosted ''Clash of the Titans'' taking over from Logan and Balding.
The total raised on the night of broadcast was £55,444,906.
2018 event
''Sport Relief'' 2018 took place from Saturday 17 to Friday 23 March 2018 and was broadcast live from
dock10 studios. The total raised on the night of broadcast was £38,195,278.
2020 event
''Sport Relief'' 2020 was held from Monday 9 to Friday 13 March 2020. Gary Lineker and Paddy McGuinness returned as hosts for the ''Sport Relief'' night of TV from the
dock10 studios, which aired on BBC One on 13 March. The total raised on the night of broadcast was £40,540,355.
''Sport Relief'' Mile
The ''Sport Relief'' Mile was created to give the campaign a focus with an event that was open to anyone to run, walk, jog, wheel, bounce or crawl, regardless of ability or age. It was also designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of
Sir Roger Bannister's first
sub-four-minute mile. Participants could also choose to cover 3 miles or 6 miles (close to, but slightly shorter than, the
5K and
10K distances more commonly used in mass runs).
81,000 people took part in the first ''Sport Relief'' Mile, sponsored by
Fitness First
Fitness First is an international fitness centre brand founded in 1993 in the United Kingdom. The company owned and operated its clubs around the world until financial pressures saw parts of the company sold off to various owners in different re ...
, in 2004. Sainsbury's was the official sponsor of the Mile.
In 2006, more than 423,000 people took part in the ''Sport Relief'' Mile, making it one of the biggest mass participation events in history. The ''Sport Relief Mile Show'' on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
on the morning of Saturday 15 July was presented by
John Inverdale and
Colin Jackson
Colin Ray Jackson, (born 18 February 1967) is a British former sprint and hurdling athlete who specialised in the 110 metres hurdles. During a career in which he represented Great Britain and Wales, he won an Olympic silver medal, became w ...
and drew an audience of almost a million with an 18% share.
Among the 20,000 participants who took part at London's Embankment were
Lord Coe,
Dame Kelly Holmes,
Sportacus
Sportacus 10 () is a fictional character from the Icelandic children's television show ''LazyTown'', created and portrayed by Magnús Scheving. His name in English is a portmanteau of the ancient figure Spartacus and the word sport, which repres ...
,
McFly
McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...
,
Michael Watson
Michael Watson (born 15 March 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1991. He held the Commonwealth Boxing Council, Commonwealth middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and challenged three times for a world titl ...
,
Tessa Sanderson
Theresa Ione Sanderson (born 14 March 1956) is a British former javelin thrower. She appeared in every Summer Olympic Games, Summer Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in the Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's ja ...
,
G4,
Jamie Oliver
Jamie Trevor Oliver Order of the Star of Italy, OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and o ...
and
Sadie Frost.
Televised Miles were also held in Brighton, Southampton, Plymouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle/Gateshead, Leeds, Hull, Nottingham, Birmingham and Ipswich.
Children from
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
,
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
(The British School of Amsterdam) took part in 2008 and along with children from
Voorschoten, Netherlands (The British School in the Netherlands) again in 2010.
John Inverdale has hosted every ''Sport Relief Mile Show'', initially with Colin Jackson in 2004 and 2006, with
Jake Humphrey
Jacob John Humphrey (born 7 October 1978) is an English television presenter, best known for formerly hosting Champions League football on BT Sport, CBBC's '' Bamzooki'' and BBC Sport's coverage of Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Early life
Born i ...
in 2008, with
Chris Hollins,
Fern Britton
Fern M. Philomena Britton (born 17 July 1957) is an English television presenter and author. After beginning her career as a continuity announcer and a newsreader, she went on to co-present '' Breakfast Time'' in the 1980s and hosted the cookery ...
&
Helen Skelton in 2010 and from 2012 alongside ''The One Show'' presenters
Matt Baker
Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's '' Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wi ...
&
Alex Jones
Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...
.
The ''Sport Relief'' Mile was changed for 2014 where participants can run, swim or cycle 1 mile or indeed do all three. The ''Sport Relief Games'' were broadcast on Sunday 23 March 2014 on BBC One and were hosted from London by John Inverdale, Alex Jones and Matt Baker with reporters in Cardiff, Glasgow & Belfast. The second ''Sport Relief Games'' was shown on Sunday 20 March 2016 on BBC One.
The last ''Sport Relief'' Mile was held in 2016, with the campaign's focus moving back to individual challenges instead of mass events from 2018 onwards.
Other events
''Sport Relief'' provides material for the BBC and is part of a UK registered charity 326568 called Charity Projects.
In 2009, the charity awarded a total of £36m in grants with net assets of £120m, of which £97m is in fixed asset investments such as funds in equities and bonds. The charity reported staff costs of £6m plus agency staff costs of £6m. The charity will also be receiving a UK government grant of £5m in 2010.
In 2006,
David Walliams
David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...
swam the
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
to raise money for ''Sport Relief''. He trained for 9 months with Professor Greg Whyte of the
English Institute for Sport and was also helped by the "King of the Channel", Mike Read, chairman of the Channel Swimming Association. Walliams' feat was documented for a BBC programme called ''Little Britain's Big Swim''. Walliams also swam the
Gibraltar Strait
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa.
The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. F ...
for the 2008 campaign.
In 2006, the BBC staged a celebrity elimination
show jumping
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...
competition called ''
Only Fools on Horses'', which raised over £250,000.
On 26 July 2009,
Eddie Izzard
Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...
began running a series of 43 marathons over 51 days for ''Sport Relief''. On 15 September, Izzard arrived in
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
, marking the end of his 43rd marathon in only 51 days. He ran a day, 6 days a week for 7 weeks straight, covering across the UK. Izzard raised over £1,152,510 for ''Sport Relief''. On 23 February 2016, Izzard began a series of 27 marathons in 27 days running across
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
for ''Sport Relief''; the number 27 refers to the number of years spent in prison by
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
. He completed the last marathon on 20 March, arriving at the statue of Mandela outside the
Union Buildings
The Union Buildings () form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjeskop at the northern end of Arcadia, close ...
in
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria strad ...
, covering , in temperatures in excess of , and raising £1,648,087. He had attempted this effort in 2012, but was forced to back out due to health concerns.
In 2014,
Davina McCall
Davina Lucy Pascale McCall (born 16 October 1967) is an English television presenter. She has presented various television shows for Channel 4, including ''Streetmate'' (1998–2001, 2016), ''Big Brother (British TV series), Big Brother'' (2 ...
took on a ''Sport Relief'' challenge to raise money for the appeal. This was called ''Davina: Beyond Breaking Point'', which saw the presenter tackle bike riding, running and swimming for seven days as she travelled from the north of the country (outside
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...
) to the end (in
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...
).
Alex Jones
Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...
also took part in a ''Sport Relief'' challenge which saw her climb up a rock in
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
, United States. Extensive coverage of this event was shown on ''
The One Show
''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating ...
''.
Partners
*
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
*
Bannatyne
*
Better
*
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
(TV broadcasts)
*
BT
*
Bing
Bing most often refers to:
* Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer
* Microsoft Bing, a web search engine
Bing may also refer to:
Food and drink
* Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread
* Bing (soft drink), a UK brand
* Bing cherry, a varie ...
*
Ernst & Young
EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...
*
Fitness First
Fitness First is an international fitness centre brand founded in 1993 in the United Kingdom. The company owned and operated its clubs around the world until financial pressures saw parts of the company sold off to various owners in different re ...
*
HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...
*
Highland Spring
*
John Smith's
*
Kellogg's
Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...
*
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is a professional football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Assoc ...
*
Oracle
An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination.
Descript ...
*
Barclays Premier League
*
RBS
*
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997.
Based in Miami, Florida, it is the l ...
*
Rugby Football League
The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...
(RFL)
*
Ryman
*
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
*
Sock Shop
SOCKSHOP is a British-based specialist retailer of socks and hosiery. Founded in 1983 by Sophie Mirman and Richard P. Ross, SOCKSHOP became part of the Ruia Group in 2006, and is now based mainly online, with stores in the Manchester Arndale and ...
*
Sports Direct
Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...
*
Speedo
Speedo International Limited is an Australian-British distributor of Swimsuit, swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, England.
Founded in Sydney, Australia in 1914 by Alexander MacRae, a Scottish emigrant, the company is n ...
*
The FA
*
Unilever
Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
See also
*
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
*
Sport Aid
*
Children in Need
''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...
References
External links
Sport Relief WebsiteDonate*
*
All Out For IndiaSport Relief Fairtrade Cotton Socks Bench Press Challenge
{{Authority control
2002 British television series debuts
2020 British television series endings
2002 establishments in the United Kingdom
2020 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
2002 in British television
2004 in British television
2006 in British television
2008 in British television
2010 in British television
2012 in British television
2014 in British television
2016 in British television
2018 in British television
2020 in British television
Biennial events
British telethons
Charity events in the United Kingdom
Comic Relief
Recurring events established in 2002
Recurring events disestablished in 2020