Watch the moment Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman completed their 24-hour Comic Relief danceathon
The Strictly presenters have raised over £1 million and there were a lot of tears and surreal moments along the way
Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly have successfully danced non-stop for 24 hours and five minutes in aid of Comic Relief – and it’s been an emotional journey.
The Strictly Come Dancing presenters, just about able to stand, were joined by The One Show’s Alex Jones and Radio 2 host Jo Whiley on Tuesday night as they completed the longest ever danceathon for Comic Relief.
At 7.20pm, Whiley revealed the latest total for money raised stood at £782,686 – a figure that has since risen to over £1 million.
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THEY DID IT!!!!!! 24 hours dancing NON STOP 🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to these hot-steppers @tessdaly and @claudiawinkle over £700,000 for @comicrelief you legends 🏆🏆🏆 privilege to be with you at the finish line 🙏 thank you to everyone who was inspired and donated #RNDdanceathon pic.twitter.com/KkojcgPRhy
— Ore Oduba (@OreOduba) March 12, 2019
The pair started their dancing to Beyoncé’s Crazy In Love and finished with Destiny Child’s Survivor, and were joined by a lot of celebrity guests along the way.
Strictly pro Katya Jones and her former dance partner Ed Balls recreated their famous Gangnam Style move when they popped by…
The danceathon has reached peak dance. Still 6 hours to go. On radio 2. And online at bbc website. pic.twitter.com/74GjXXxbAg
— emma freud 🔴 (@emmafreud) March 12, 2019
And Radio 2 presenters Jeremy Vine and Rylan Clark-Neal had an epic dance-off. (Warning: you can never unsee this.)
Winkleman and Daly were overwhelmed with the support they received, and even shed tears – probably partly due to exhaustion – when they reached the £500,000 mark just before 5pm…
This is what happened when they got to 500k in the Danceathon. Two hours to go. pic.twitter.com/Kxb0soQ9Va
— emma freud 🔴 (@emmafreud) March 12, 2019
“I never want to dance again,” Winkleman told BBC News. “I don’t like movement.”
Daly, who suffered from motion sickness for six hours of the danceathon, added that her co-host had been her lifeline.
“She’s had my back the whole way through. We’ve looked after each other. We’ve seen each other strapped up with tape. We both had a little cry,” she said.
“We are a bit tired and emotional.”
You can donate to Comic Relief via their website here, or – on 15th March – you can call 03457 910 910. Lines will be open all day (standard charges apply).
Comic Relief’s campaign culminates in Red Nose Day which this year is being held on Friday 15th March and will be marked with a live TV telethon on BBC1. It will air from 7pm-10pm on BBC1, 10-10:35pm on BBC2 and from 10:35pm-00:30am back on BBC1.
