2024

In 2024 we saw Sir Lenny Henry hosting Red Nose Day for the final time, after nearly four decades of presenting. The amazing public helped us increase our income to an amazing £38,631,548, and the night of TV saw some extra special moments for Sir Lenny throughout the course of the night.

The cast of W1A reunited in a bid to find his replacement and a cast of award-winning actors and comedians played some of the most iconic characters from series two of The Traitors.

In terms of challenges, BBC Radio 1’s Mollie King swapped her mic for a bike and conquered the biggest endurance challenge of her life, and the formidable foursome of Sara Davies, Vicky Pattison, Alex Scott and Laura Whitmore, battled unforgiving conditions trekking across the Arctic Circle to raise £630,294 in Comic Relief’s coldest ever challenge.

2023

Thanks to the amazing public, this year we raised an amazing £35,310,407.

Emma, Oti and Rylan climbed the cold and unforgiving Cairn Gorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands; Radio 1's very own Arielle Free took on 50 hours of cycling over 5 days, whilst Djing non-stop; and, on the eve of Red Nose Day, Gethin Jones kept dancing for an entire 24 hours.

The night of TV took place in Salford, Manchester, and was presented by AJ Odudu, David Tennant, Joel Dommett, Paddy McGuinness, and Zoe Ball.

2022

This year Red Nose Day raised an astounding £42,790,147.

Thanks to the people across the UK, Comic Relief has now passed the momentous milestone of £1.5 billion raised in its 37 years.

Olympic legend, Tom Daley took on the ultimate challenge of physical and mental endurance by taking on four new Team GB disciplines, rowing, cycling, open-water swimming and marathon running. Radio1 DJ Jordan North took on a 100-mile row between London and Burnley.

The Red Nose Day Show was broadcast live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Salford, Manchester. Viewers were treated to a star-studded line up of comedy and entertainment, presented by Alesha Dixon, David Tennant, Paddy McGuinness and Sir Lenny Henry.

2021

It never felt more important to use the power of laughter to make a difference to the people living incredibly tough lives in the UK and across the world this year.

Billy Monger took on an epic triathlon inspired challenge, and The One Show’s Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas braved tough terrain to compete in the Red Nose and Spoon Race. The Radio1 LOL-a-thon with Scott Mills and Chris Stark returned and was bigger than ever with more than 24 hours of comedy gold.

Sir Lenny Henry, Alesha Dixon, Davina McCall, Paddy McGuinness, and David Tennant hosted this year’s hilarious night of TV, which featured Justin Bieber’s first British TV performance in five years, Bond encountering Catherine Tate’s Nan, and Dawn French giving a fierce lip sync performance as the Vicar of Dibley.

All of this helped to raise an amazing £55,028,000!

2019

IThis year saw the return of the Kilimanjaro challenge with 9 celebrities including Ed Balls, Dani Dyer and Shirley Ballas taking on the 19,000 feet climb up Africa's highest mountain.

Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly took on the longest ever Danceathon at the BBC Radio 2 studios. Scott Mills and Christ Stark completed Radio 1's 24-hour LOL-a-thon with the help of celebrity guests. There were celebrity specials of University Challenge and the Apprentice and the first ever Comic Relief Spectacular took place at The SSE Arena.

There was even a special reunion of the cast of Four Weddings and a Funeral for the first time in 25 years for 'One Red Nose Day and a Wedding'.

In total the British Public raised an incredible £63, 548, 668 to help people in the UK and around the world.

2017

In the run up to this year's Red Nose Day, there were a whole host of 24-hour challenges raking in the cash.

First off, DJs Scott Mills and Chris Stark undertook an epic LOL-a-thon, telling joke after joke on air all through the night. Then Radio 2's Sara Cox boogied to a whole 24 hours of 80s tunes, raising well over one million pounds. A YouTube first, famous vloggers also took part in a 'RedOut', spreading an important message about vulnerable young people.

The raucous night of TV was led by comedians including Greg Davies, Joe Lycett, Miranda Hart, Romesh Ranganathan, Warwick Davies and Luisa Omielan presenting some hilarious sketches. Ed Sheeran and Kurrupt FM joined forced in a daring new music video, Take That and James Corden tried to break America in carpool karaoke and the cast of Love Actually reunited for a heart-warming ten minute special.

All of that, plus the generosity of the British public, saw Red Nose Day 2017 pull in over £76 million!

2015

Dermot O’Leary smashed it for Comic Relief with his 24-hour day of dance. His non-stop jiggling, bouncing and banter on live TV raised a cool £1 million.

Oh what a night of TV it was too! The Vicar of Dibley got punchy in a hilarious bid to become a bishop, Daniel Craig and Roger Moore sounded seriously off-key as 007, while Stephen Hawking transformed into a super-size robot and attacked David Walliams in Little Britain. The laughs kept coming thick and fast with phenomenal performances from Lenny Henry, John Bishop, Davina McCall and Claudia Winkleman, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Stephen Fry, David Gandy, Miranda Hart, Sheridan Smith and The Chuckle Brothers.

All that helped Red Nose Day 2015 raise an amazing £99,418,831. And if that wasn’t enough the night brought Comic Relief’s fundraising total, over the last 30 years, to more than £1 billion! Watch a clip here(opens in new window)

2013

Our crack team of celebrity Fun Raisers challenged the British public to do something funny for money.

Celebrity friends Melanie C, Jack Dee, Chelsee Healey, Phillips Idowu, Greg James and Dara O'Briain raised £1.1 million rowing the Zambezi river. Back on dry land, Miranda Hart had a very Mad March and raised another £1.1 million. One Direction hit number one in 63 countries with their official single, 'One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)'.

On the night of TV the public were treated to Call the Midwife, Simon Cowell's wedding and the return of two comedy legends, David Brent and the Vicar of Dibley. All that raised an incredible total of £100,331,808!

Watch the wedding here(opens in new window)

2011

Celebrity chums Lorraine Kelly, Scott Mills, Kara Tointon, Olly Murs, Ronnie Ancona, Dermot O'Leary, Peter White, Nadia Sawalha and Craig David faced a gruelling 100km trek in Kenya and raised an incredible £1.36m.

Chris Moyles earnt a place in the Guinness Book of records for his 52-hour marathon show on Radio One, raising a phenomenal £2.8 million. There was a fantastic Fake That tribute featuring Alan Carr, Catherine Tate, David Walliams, James Corden and John Bishop. Watch the video here.

But all that was nothing compared to the positively mind-blowing generosity of the British public, who smashed all previous totals and raising a colossal £108,436,277!

2009

Gary Barlow lead a BT sponsored team of celebrities up Mount Kilimanjaro, raising a whopping £3.5m along the way.

The night of TV featured a live performance from Take That, Smithy giving the England men's football team a pep talk and a hilarious Mamma Mia tribute from French and Saunders - their last ever sketch together. Over £82.3m was raised, smashing all previous Red Nose Day records. Watch Smithy’s sketch here(opens in new window)

2007

Millions watched as Catherine Tate's infamous school girl character, Lauren, seriously 'bovvered' former Prime Minister, Tony Blair at Number 10 and Borat made a unique TV appearance live from Kazakhstan. Watch the sketch here(opens in new window).

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was crowned queen of the celebrity singers in Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, and Sir Alan Sugar fired Piers Morgan in the thrilling Comic Relief Does The Apprentice final.

The official music single ‘Walk this Way’ by Girls Aloud and the Sugababes hit the top of the charts while I’m The Proclaimers ‘(I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles’ – featuring Peter Kay as Phoenix Night’s Brian Potter and Matt Lucas as Little Britain’s Andy Pipkin – became the fastest-selling video download ever. Thanks to you, Red Nose Day 2007 raised a whopping £67.7 million!

2005

Celebs put their vocal skills to the test on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy whilst Rowan Atkinson unleashed his inner superhero as Spider-Plant Man. We were treated to truly unique Little Britain sketches featuring Sir Elton John, George Michael and Robbie Williams and a Vicar of Dibley special.

Peter Kay and Tony Christie performed Amarillo for the first time on Red Nose Day live. The single went straight to No 1 and stayed at the top spot for seven weeks. It sold over one million copies, becoming the biggest-selling download single of 2005.

Red Nose Day 2005 raised an incredible £65 million!

2003

Celebrity Fame Academy saw top TV personalities including Ruby Wax and Fearne Cotton attempt to wow the judges with their vocal skills. Dawn French took on the role of Harry Potter in a spoof special and Gareth Gates and The Kumars reached No 1 with Spirit in the Sky - the second-biggest single of 2003.

In total, a huge £61.6 million was raised!

2001

Red Nose Day's 'Say Pants to Poverty' saw great swathes of the public sport their pants with pride, raising a total of £55 million.

J.K. Rowling's released special edition Harry Potter books raised a further £6 million.

On the night of TV, Piccadilly Circus saw more than it's fair share of Billy Connolly with his naked streak, Jack Dee reigned victorious in the celebrity Big Brother house and Ali G interviewed Posh and Becks. Watch the interview here.

Westlife covered Uptown Girl, reaching No1 in the UK singles chart and selling over one million copies. Overall, Red Nose Day 2001 raised a huge £61m.

1999

1999 saw Jonny Depp and Dawn French in a Vicar of Dibley special which you can watch here(opens in new window), and Alan Partridge performing his Kate Bush medley.

Boyzone reached number one with When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going.

Red Nose Day 1999 broke records - including 'The most naked people on stage at one time'. A total of £35 million was raised.

1997

Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Kathy Burke joined the Spice Girls in remaking their iconic music video for the single 'Who Do You Think You Are?' selling 672,577 copies.

Watch the Prime Cracker sketch here(opens in new window). Over £27m was raised.

1995

A whopping £22 million was raised for Red Nose Day 1995! Chrissie Hynde, Cher, Neneh Cherry released 'Love Can Build A Bridge' selling 310,000 copies. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer drank 75 pints (?) whilst singing 'I Can't Live if Living is Without You'.

Not forgetting the infamous Hugh Grant and Dawn French kissing scene, which you can watch here.

1993

72% of people in the UK took part in Red Nose Day 1993 and 3,307,000 of them bought the delightful tomato style noses.

On TV we saw Mr Bean in a 'Bling Date' spectacular which you can watch here(opens in new window), whilst Angus Deayton, Ian Hislop and Paul Merton took in a number of sporty celebs in 'Have I Got a Question of Sport for you'.

An amazing total of £18m was raised

1991

On TV we saw Tom Jones thrash Theophilus P. Wildebeest to win 'Battle of the Sex Gods' and French and Saunders' incredible ABBA performance.

An incredible £20m was raised.

1989

Over 20 million people across the UK took part in 70,000 activities for Red Nose Day 1989 raising £26.9 million.

On TV we saw the premiere of Night of the Comic Dead - a terrifying tale of ordinary folk haunted by a disgusting array of Comic Ghouls from French and Saunders to Frank Carson.

Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Kathy Burke reached nujmber 3 in the UK charts with their single 'Lananeenoonoo' (with a little help from Bananarama).

Watch the Blackadder special here(opens in new window).

1988

The very first Red Nose Day was in 1988 and raised a huge £15 million! Over 30 million people tune in to watch 'Blackadder - the Cavalier Years' and the Young Ones on 'University Challenge'. Mel Smith and Kim Wilde.