COMIC RELIEF LIVE 2023: Red Nose Day news, celebrity updates and fundraising as this year’s event begins
This is MailOnline’s live blog for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day 2023 on BBC One:
Host commentator
In honour of Red Nose Day a slew of celebrities posed sporting the accessory in Instagram snaps.
Leading the stars were the Beckhams, with David posing alongside daughter Harper, 11, as they grinned at one another across a table.
The former footballer, 47, remarked ‘I love this years Red Nose by Sir Jony Ive’ – the former Apple guru who designed the accessory.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp4c8UdIZWp/
A post shared by David Beckham (@davidbeckham)
What other merchandise is there?
Although the charity’s red nose has been its main merchandise item since its creation, Comic Relief has also partnered with the Mr. Men and Little Miss brand and TK Maxx to create t-shirts, tote bags and other merchandise.
TK Maxx has pledged that at least £5 from the sale of every adult T-shirt and at least £2.50 from the sale of every kids’ T-shirt will go to Comic Relief.
Celebrities including Tess Daly, Amanda Holden, Hugh Bonneville and Martin Freeman modelled the collection to encourage customers to fork out.
Dame Joan Collins sent temperatures soaring as she took to Instagram in a pair of black lace stockings on Friday.
The 89-year-old looked sensational as she posed up a storm modelling a T-shirt for Comic relief.
Joan slipped her feet into black heels as she showcased her long and elegant pins while beaming for the camera.
The stunner sported a gorgeous palette of make-up with a classic pillar box red lip and wore her dark locks in curls.
She captioned the snap: ‘My husband INSISTED I post this photo for #rednoseday…but the t-shirt is so fabulous I’ve been wearing it to bed!’
Gethin Jones wiped away tears and collapsed on the floor after learning he had raised over £1m for Comic Relief following a 24-hour danceathon on Friday.
WOW! The last 24 hours have been amazing. Thank you to everyone who donated, and to @GethincJones for dancing his socks off.
There's still time to donate, so if you can, please do: https://t.co/snRGIwin9d pic.twitter.com/vBIYHt6Qpo
Exhausted Gethin Jones wiped away tears and collapsed on the floor after learning he had raised over £1m for Comic Relief following a 24-hour danceathon on Friday.
The 45-year-old former Blue Peter presenter couldn’t control his emotions when he was told about the milestone figure amount he had raised.
The BBC Morning Live host boogied his way through the night – while dressed in various costumes, including as Pixar’s Mr. Incredible – in a bid to raise funds, which continue to climb.
Gethin was joined on the daytime show by his co-stars Kimberley Walsh and Helen Skelton live on air for the final countdown to completing his charity danceathon.
Golden confetti rained down on them after the ticker ran down, and he told viewers: ‘This celebration sums it up. All the messages overnight have been phenomenal.
‘I can’t quite believe what we’ve raised for Comic Relief!’ admitted the veteran TV host.
Choking up, Gethin began to cry as he gushed: ‘It’s going to change lives. It’s going to save lives. I’ve said it all along, I’m so proud. I feel privileged to have led it but it’s a team effort.’
All the TV action kicks off on BBC One at 7pm tonight.
The countdown is ON for tonight. It's going to be AMAZING and we have some very special people hosting. Tune in to @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer at 7PM.@joeldommett @ZoeTheBall @PaddyMcGuinness @AJOdudu pic.twitter.com/hyWl5oBMED
Where can I buy a red nose and how much does it cost?
Red noses are on sale for £2.50 from the Comic Relief shop at shop.comicrelief.com.
All profits from sales of the new red nose will go directly to Comic Relief.
For the first time, the red nose is also being sold on Amazon, which Comic Relief says is the new home of the red nose.
Amazon is offering free shipping to all customers, regardless of your Amazon Prime status.
This year’s red nose
The staple of the event is the red nose and this year’s was designed by former Apple guru Sir Jony Ive.
Made from 95 percent plant-based materials, the new nose starts as a tiny, flat crescent that springs into a honeycomb paper sphere when opened.
Ive told The Independent : ‘We’ve grown up with Comic Relief and are proud to support their remarkable work.
‘This new and seemingly simple red nose has been a fabulously complex little object to design and make, and has involved our entire team. ‘We hope it brings a little moment of joy to everyone who wears one.’
The design of the red nose changes every year so that people keep buying it.
Jamie Dornan, Dermot O’Leary, Courteney Cox, Jonathon Ross, Graham Norton and AJ Odudu have all recently modelled the brand new nose.
The first Comic Relief fundraising event, which broadcast live from Shaftsbury Theatre in London, featured countless artists and comedians, including Lenny Henry himself, Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry and Kate Bush, among others.
In 1988, Lenny Henry hosted the first live Red Noes Day telethon from Ethiopia, with 150 celebrities and comedians participating. The event, which raised £15million in funds, then would take every other year.
Due to its popularity, Red Nose Day became a yearly occurrence, and is a high profile TV event, watched religiously by millions across the country and worldwide.
Charity challenges are also completed ahead of the televised events in order to raise more funds.
For the past 34 years, March has been synonymous with Red Nose Day, a joyful fundraising effort raising millions to fight poverty around the world.
The slogan of the campaign, which was created by Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry’s Comic Relief in 1988, is ‘Do something funny for money.’
Several celebs have taken part in the Red Nose Day charity appeal over the years, taking on all types of challenges to raise funds, such as Emma Willis, Oti Mabuse and Rylan Clark, who reached the summit of Cairn Gorm Mountain to fundraise for the event.
Others have also taken part in Red Nose Days specials of popular movies or shows, like Red Nose Day Actually, which reunited the original cast of Love Actually in 2007, and One Red Nose Day and a Wedding in 2019, after the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Red Nose Day returns to our screens tonight, Friday 17 March, with millions of people expected to take part through various challenges and donation appeals.
The crux of the campaign is a telethon broadcast live on the BBC to appeal for funds, with high profile celebrities taking part with last years appeal raising £42.8 million.
Money raised from the Red Nose Day appeal will help charity Comic Relief support people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and tackle issues such as homelessness, mental health problems and food poverty.
Join us here for news and updates now and throughout the BBC One broadcast at 7pm.
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