BBC Children In Need raises more than £39m after star-studded live show

BBC Children In Need has raised more than £39 million following its annual fundraising show.

The appeal show featured appearances from stars including Oscar-winner Gary Oldman, pop group Girls Aloud, chat show host Graham Norton, singer Kylie Minogue and Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa, as well as the cast of Outnumbered, Gladiators, and the Strictly Come Dancing professionals.

Ella Henderson and Rag’n’Bone Man were among those to provide musical entertainment during the live programme from MediaCityUK in Salford.

At the end of the show, co-host Vernon Kay thanked viewers for their generosity as he announced that a total of £39,210,850 has been raised so far.

TV presenter and radio host Paddy McGuinness raised £8,856,580 after his BBC Radio 2 ultra endurance cycle challenge, which saw him travel through three nations and eight counties to finish a 300-mile cycle ride.

Meanwhile Children In Need’s 2024 charity single was played for the first time during the live show, which features a new version of Girls Aloud track Stand By You (Sarah’s Version) with the late Sarah Harding on lead vocals.

The song was originally released in 2004 as a Children In Need single and topped the UK chart for two weeks.

The 2024 version features Harding’s solo recording, with unseen archive footage used in the video. The singer died in 2021 at the age of 39.

The Children In Need show also saw Rag’n’Bone Man perform an acoustic version of his track Put A Little Hurt On Me.

Introducing the singer to the stage, presenter Kay told the audience: “He was so keen – this is a true story – he was so keen to be a part of tonight’s Children In Need, he’s left his honeymoon early. What a dude.”

Rag’n’Bone Man reportedly married Zoe Beardsall in West Sussex over the weekend.

The charity night, co-hosted by The Saturdays star Rochelle Humes, Paralympian Ade Adepitan, TV presenter Mel Giedroyc, comedian and podcaster Chris Ramsey and Bafta TV award-winning actor Lenny Rush, also featured a sneak peek of the Doctor Who Christmas special.

The clip saw 15th Time Lord Ncuti Gatwa and Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan star in the festive episode titled Joy To The World, facing off with a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Meanwhile, pop superstar Minogue, who appeared in the Doctor Who 2007 Christmas special as Astrid Peth, asked Doctor Who fans to “bid for a piece of that history” in a pre-recorded video.

Her waitress costume from the episode titled Voyage Of The Damned is up for auction, alongside Jodie Whittaker’s Tardis used on the set of 2022’s Eve Of The Daleks episode.

The Strictly Come Dancing professionals were also joined by animated TV dog Bluey to perform a playful dance with moves such as the mashed potato, alligator and the floss in a pre-recorded segment which aired on the show.

Among the stars who joined in with the dancing from home were comedians Josh Widdicombe, Miranda Hart and Frank Skinner, alongside Bez from Happy Mondays, star Jane McDonald, and Sir Lindsay Hoyle in the House of Commons.

Meanwhile, Hollywood star Oldman read a special CBeebies Bedtime Story written specifically for Children In Need, based on a true story.

After eight years, the cast of Outnumbered also reunited in a skit to promote the Children In Need donation number, ahead of its BBC Christmas special.

The live show also featured famous faces including JLS star Aston Merrygold, Strictly’s Nikita Kuzmin, and Olympian Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill taking a seat on Norton’s famous red chair, as they attempted to make a group of children laugh.

While stars of the BBC’s Gladiators took part in a dance class alongside unexpected new recruits – host’s Ramsey, Rush and Kay.

Popstar Henderson also sang a duet of her song Brave with a teenager who has been a hospice ambassador after her father’s death.

Children In Need funds family centres, community spaces, youth clubs and refuges, homeless shelters, hospices and helplines across the UK.