The History of Red Nose Day

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.

Find out more

Tom Daley holding a paddle for his Red Nose Day 2022 challenge, Hell of a Homecoming

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

This 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.

Red Nose Day 2017 presenters

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!

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!

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.

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!

Other decades

Other decades