TV presenter Paddy McGuinness has said he was pushed to his “absolute limits” by Sir Chris Hoy while preparing for his BBC Children In Need ultra-endurance cycle challenge.
The former host of Top Gear and Take Me Out, 51, is embarking on a 300-mile cycling feat which will see him travel from Wrexham in Wales to the finish line in Glasgow, Scotland.
Speaking about his training sessions with six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris, he told the PA news agency: “Chris Hoy has been absolutely, as you can imagine with some like him, outstanding, first class, brilliant with his advice.
“I really feel as though everyone’s got behind me on this, and just wants me to do it, so they’re giving me as much help as possible. But it’s been an eye-opener certainly.”
He continued: “When I go on a bike ride with Chris, I really know about it, because he pushes me to my absolute limits.”
Sir Chris, one of Britain’s greatest cyclists, revealed last month that he has terminal cancer, and said he was given two to four years left to live following a diagnosis last year.
He told The Sunday Times: “You remind yourself, aren’t I lucky that there is medicine I can take that will fend this off for as long as possible.”
McGuinness said his motivation for his charity cycle is fuelled by the people he has met who benefit from the money raised by BBC Children In Need.
“I’ve been to a place called the Seashell Trust, which is a project up near me which Children In Need fund, and I’ve met a young lady called Grace who’s come through her cancer battle,” he said.
“She’s on the other side of that, and she’s taking on her own challenge as well.
“And when you meet these people… that’s what spurs you on, and when you see the work that’s being done in and around it, and again, when you’re out and about, just people stopping me.
“I did a gig last night – I’m just on tour at the minute – I came off, I finished the show in Milton Keynes, and when people are applauding at the end and they’re standing up, a fella just ran to the front and handed me a wad of cash, and he gave me £880.
“Literally, I’m still on stage, getting applause and stuff, and he was shouting: ‘Children In Need, it’s for Children In Need’. And I was like, ‘That’s so amazing’, you know? So things like that happening is what spur you on.”
McGuinness, who hosts a Sunday morning show on BBC Radio 2, is undertaking the challenge on his dream childhood bike, the Raleigh Chopper.
The TV star will start cycling during the radio station’s breakfast show on Monday and he is aiming to finish on the morning of November 15, by which point he will have travelled through – Flintshire, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, Westmorland, Cumberland, Dumfriesshire and Lanarkshire.
BBC Children In Need will air at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on November 15.
A behind-the-scenes documentary showcasing McGuinness’s journey called Paddy: The Ride of My Life will air on November 19 from 8-9pm on BBC One.
