Radio 1 DJ Greg James has raised over £4m for Comic Relief in a gruelling eight-day tandem bike challenge that saw him cycle 1,000km from Weymouth to Edinburgh in just over a week.
James’s final fundraising figure was revealed in the Comic Relief charity telethon on Friday night (20 March). Speaking to host Davina McCall, the DJ said his £4,225,939 total had “snowballed” thanks to a huge donation from the band Coldplay, who sent £100,000.
Since last Friday (13 March), the Radio 1 DJ has been supported by Prince William and comedian Joe Lycett, who both joined him for a leg of his epic 630-mile journey from Weymouth to Edinburgh.
James told McCall at the telethon: “I feel very happy to be here. I feel very confused because I woke up on the Scottish borders, cycled to Edinburgh and now I’m in Salford.”
Of the moment that royalty joined him on his route he added: “I was shouted at in my ear, they said turn off the road into the car park and Prince William was standing there.
“It was top secret, he was there, I said, ‘Have you got your own bike?’ And he said, ‘No, I’m getting on yours.’ I’ve never held on more tightly.”
The radio DJ joked: “Can you imagine what would’ve happened to me if he’d fallen off? It would’ve been the end, maybe of Comic Relief. It sort of just snowballed. Coldplay donated a hundred grand.”
James said that seeing the faces of people “at the top of the hill when you don’t have anything left in your legs” motivated him to keep cycling.
“You get to the top and see a whole primary school and there’s farmers waiting,” he said. “This thing has really captured people’s imagination. It was a hard thing we did, but a fun thing.”
When James’s final fundraising figure was revealed, the studio audience began chanting his name. “Wow, I’m uncomfortable with this, please stop, I’m uncomfortable with this,” the broadcaster replied, adding he’d had “too much praise”.
“When you treat people like you’re treating a minor celebrity that’s riding a tandem past you, there’s too much coming my way, put it somewhere else!” he added.
James broke down in tears when he reached the finish line in Scotland’s Murrayfield Stadium after eight days of cycling to huge cheers from a crowd on Friday. “I can’t believe it’s done!” he exclaimed.
The star is no stranger to completing exhausting challenges in aid of Comic Relief, also known as Red Nose Day. In the last 10 years, he completed five triathlons in five days and also climbed mountains Scafell Pike, Snowdon and Ben Nevis, raising approximately £2m in total.
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