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| Sport Relief | |
|---|---|
 Logo from the 2008 telethon | |
| Genre | Charitytelethon |
| Created by | Comic Relief BBC Sport |
| Presented by | Gary Lineker Davina McCall Claudia Winkleman Ore Oduba Freddie Flintoff Paddy McGuinness |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Production locations |
|
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | Various |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One BBC Two |
| Release | 13 July 2002 (2002-07-13) – 13 March 2020 (2020-03-13) |
| Related | |
| Children in Need (1980–present) Comic Relief (1985–present) | |
Sport Relief was abiennial charity event fromComic Relief, in association withBBC Sport, established in 2002.
It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Education and Communications and went on to become its creative director and CEO. Now joint Honorary Life President with Sir Lenny Henry, Cahill joined having created the Education Department at the National Theatre in London and been its first Head.
In 2021, Comic Relief announced that from 2022 it was changing from alternatingSport Relief and Red Nose Day campaigns to Red Nose Day becoming annual andSport Relief evolving into a year-round brand. The annual Red Nose Day telethon would now take place at Dock10, MediaCityUK in Salford.
Like Red Nose Day, historically theSport Relief telethon show began after the six o'clock news, with the usual BBC One schedule suspended at 7pm in favour of a live programme, with a break at 10pm for the News. However, whilst the BBCNews at Ten was aired on BBC One,Sport Relief continued on BBC Two, and then resumed on BBC One at 10:35pm, with each hour overseen by a different celebrity host team. All the celebrity talent who represent Comic Relief's campaigns agree to do so for no fee.
The firstSport Relief single in 2002 was "Your Song", re-recorded as a duet by original artistElton John and Italian opera singerAlessandro Safina, reaching number 4 on the chart. In 2004, "Some Girls" byRachel Stevens made it to number 2 and in 2006, the third everSport Relief single, "Don't Stop Me Now"/"Please, Please" byMcFly, was the first to top theUK Singles Chart, selling 36,496 units in the week ending 29 July 2006. In 2008, theSport Relief single was byLeona Lewis with her single "Footprints in the Sand", though it was officially released as a double A-side with "Better in Time".[3] In 2010, the single was "Morning Sun", sung by Robbie Williams. In 2012, the song was "Proud", sung byJLS and in 2014 "Word Up!" sung byLittle Mix both peaking at the 6th position. In 2016, "Running" sung byJames Bay peaked at No. 60.
| Release Date | Title | Artists | Peak Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 July 2002 | "Your Song" | Elton John Alessandro Safina | 4 |
| 12 July 2004 | "Some Girls" | Rachel Stevens | 2 |
| 17 July 2006 | "Don't Stop Me Now" "Please, Please" | McFly | 1 |
| 9 March 2008 | "Better in Time" "Footprints in the Sand" | Leona Lewis | 2 |
| 8 March 2010 | "Morning Sun" | Robbie Williams | 45 |
| 19 March 2012 | "Proud" | JLS | 6 |
| 16 March 2014 | "Word Up!" | Little Mix | 6 |
| 11 March 2016 | "Running" | James Bay | 60 |
The firstSport Relief show was presented byGary Lineker,Ulrika Jonsson,Jamie Theakston andClare Balding and includedStephen Fry hosting a special edition ofThey Think It's a Question of Sport,John Inverdale andSuzi Perry resurrecting the classic 1970s seriesSuperstars.[4] The first ever bout ofCelebrity Boxing whenBob Mortimer beatLes Dennis on points on Saturday 13 July 2002.[5] The final total on the night was £10,072,068.[6]
Other items wereSport in the Square where cast members fromEastEnders andHolby City/Casualty took part in a series of sporting challenges,Runaround, withJohnny Vegas, music fromGareth Gates andWill Young and contributions fromNick Hancock,Patrick Kielty,Angus Deayton,Ronni Ancona,Alistair McGowan,Audley Harrison,Alec Stewart,Tanni Grey-Thompson andSir Steve Redgrave.
One of the highlights of the campaign came at the end of the final of the Stella Artois tennis championship when there was a surprise additional match forSport Relief between the Prime Minister,Tony Blair andPat Cash againstIlie Năstase andAlistair McGowan. Blair and Cash won the specially reduced set 4–1.Tony Hawks was the courtside commentator and the game was shown live onSunday Grandstand.
The secondSport Relief was on Saturday 10 July 2004. The main show was on BBC One from 19.00 to 00.30. The first half was presented byGary Lineker andGabby Logan and the second half byJamie Theakston andTess Daly.
In the first half of the show (19.00–21.00),Cilla Black hosted a celebrity version ofInter-Channel Superstars where the BBC squad took on teams from ITV, Channel 4 and Five, the stars ofStrictly Come Dancing performed a special routine to a re-mix of iconic BBC Sport theme tunes,Bruce Forsyth was on hand to present a cheque,Patrick Kielty was live in the studio to talk about the Indian railway project he had visited,Rachel Stevens performed theSport Relief single "Some Girls", Dick and Dom introducedRay Stubbs being swung from a crane into a giant ball of dung andStephen Fry hosted another edition ofA Question of Sport Relief.
While the News and Lottery were on BBC One, there was a brand new show on BBC Two,Stars in Fast Cars which featuredAlan Davies,Jodie Kidd,Patrick Kielty,Jimmy Carr andDarren Jordon competing in a variety of car related races and stunts.
The second half of the main show was back on BBC One from 21.30 BC to 00.30. BCAngus Deayton looked at Sports Stars in adverts,Lionel Richie andBadly Drawn Boy performed live in the studio,Jon Culshaw unveiled his Wayne Rooney impersonation, and Paul Whitehouse's Ron Manager interrogatedDavid Beckham about his texting technique.Eamonn Holmes was the host when Rugby took on Football with teams that includedDion Dublin,Lee Sharpe,Martin Offiah andMatt Dawson and in this year'sCelebrity BoxingBen Fogle beatSid Owen.Colin Jackson,Sir Steve Redgrave andArsène Wenger were amongst the sporting names who also appeared live on the show.
The show also included highlights of some of theSport Relief Miles which had attracted 81,000 at giant and local events in all parts of the UK. Jo Brandy was on hand to represent them and talk about her experiences at the Brighton Mile.
Throughout the night, there were also a whole series of appeal films to show where theSport Relief money had already been spent and where the need was greatest. They were made by BBC Bristol and includedNick Knowles in Africa,Patrick Kielty in India andVictoria Beckham in Peru.
The campaign itself involved 253 celebrities and raised £16 million. The final total on the night of the telethon was £11,078,359.[7]
The thirdSport Relief took place on Saturday 15 July 2006 with a whole day of programming across the BBC that culminated in the main evening show on BBC One at 7pm.Gary Lineker,Chris Evans andDavina McCall were the hosts for the entire evening.
Once again the programme came live from TC1 at Television Centre and featured its biggest line up of names to date.
The second half was back on BBC One from 22.30 to 01.00. It included golf legendNick Faldo competing against Lineker and Evans in a comedy pitching competition on the roof of the studio where they had to get their balls into the mouths of giant cut outs ofBruce Forsyth andJimmy Tarbuck, the second part ofA Question of Sport Relief,Jon Culshaw's live performance asGeorge W. Bush,Catherine Tate in a new football sketch asJoanie "Nan" Taylor fromThe Catherine Tate Show andSir Steve Redgrave andColin Jackson taking part in a live power pint competition. There was also the last ever edition ofFootballer's Wives which had been transferred from ITV for the night and included a guest appearance byGraham Norton as Brendan Spunk,José González performed in the studio, several members of theSport Relief Red Socks cricket team were there to talk about their tour to India, includingHarry Judd,Nick Hancock,Nick Knowles,Jack Russell andPhil Tufnell whilstDerek Acorah starred in a new sketch based in theMatch of the Day studio. The thirdSport Relief Celebrity Boxing bout was won byJack Osbourne who defeated the formerS Club 7 singerBradley McIntosh. It was presented byMark Durden-Smith withDave Spikey as ringmaster.
British pop bandMcFly covered the hit song "Don't Stop Me Now" originally byQueen as the official single for the event. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
The final total raised duringSport Relief 2006 was £18 million.[8]
Sport Relief moved to March in 2008.BBC One's night of fundraising was held on Friday 14 March and theSport Relief Miles took place all around the UK on Sunday 16 March. It was presented on stage byRichard Hammond,Gary Lineker &Davina McCall.Bruce Forsyth &Tess Daly presentedSport Relief Does Strictly Come Dancing.Richard Hammond,Jeremy Clarkson &James May presentedTop Ground Gear Force.Jimmy Carr presentedA Question of Sport Relief with the team captainsSue Barker andGary Lineker.Sir Alan Sugar presentedSport Relief Does the Apprentice. There were occasional appearances byJonathan Ross,Jimmy Carr,Michael Parkinson,Patrick Kielty,Claudia Winkleman &Tess Daly.
The BBC presented another version ofSport Relief Does the Apprentice with 10 celebrities. Also, new for this year, a special episode ofStrictly Come Dancing was shown.
That year'sCelebrity Boxing sawBen Shephard ofGMTV beatLemar on judge's vote.
The final total raised on the television broadcast was £19,640,321. During the telethon, a mystery donor donated £5.5million to the charity.[9]
Sport Relief was broadcast on 19–21 March 2010. The appeal show was aired as usual onBBC One andBBC Two on 19 March from 19:00 to 01:30. A special ofStrictly Come Dancing (filmed onThe Live Tour on Saturday 6 February) aired as well asLet's Dance for Sport Relief.
On CBBC there were special shows dedicated toSport Relief including a special edition ofDani's House and Paddy McGuiness hosted a new series,Sport Relief doesWe Are the Champions.
The total raised on the night of broadcast was £31,633,091.
James Corden also performed various comedy sketches with British athletes like Andy Murray (tennis), David Beckham (football) and Tom Daley (diving).
Lawrence Dallaglio embarked on a gruelling cycle from Rome to Edinburgh during theRBS 6 Nations Championship to raise money forSport Relief and the Dallaglio Foundation. The Dallaglio Cycle Slam took place over the course of a month, seeing a team cycling through all of theRBS 6 Nations countries, taking in each of the international rugby stadia along the way. The aim was to raise £1million and £1.14 million was raised with 50% going toSport Relief 2010.
The 2012 event appeal ran from 23 to 25 March 2012, with the television show airing on 23 March 2012.
On the night, there were specials fromOutnumbered withFrank Lampard andChristine Bleakley, Miranda atRoyal Albert Hall Tennis Tournament with many sports stars,Twenty Twelve withZara Phillips andSir Steve Redgrave talking about how they should advertise theOlympics onSport Relief,Strictly Come Dancing Underwater withChelsee Healey andHarry Judd,Horrible Histories andStephen Fry withAmir Khan andJermain Defoe,Benidorm meetsBritain's Got Talent with the new judges,Saturday Kitchen with the English football teamQI,A Question of Sport with Sue Barker as you have never seen her before,Celebrity Juice,Mo Farah takes on the race of his life against Misery Bear,8 out of 10 Cats,Mock the Week,Kate Moss,Stella McCartney,Colin Jackson andLinford Christie are among the star names appearing withJennifer Saunders andJoanna Lumley in a special edition ofAbsolutely Fabulous andJake Humphrey presents a specialNever Mind the Buzzcocks withLouise Redknapp andMelanie C alongside the regulars.
On the night, there were performances fromLMFAO,Snow Patrol, andJLS who performed theSport Relief single withEmeli Sandé and rugby players in the chorus. JLS also did a concert forSport Relief.
The total raised on the night of broadcast was £50,447,197.
In January 2012, there was a series calledThe Great Sport Relief Bake Off, which had celebrities competing.Anita Rani won the series, which also featuredAngela Griffin,Arlene Phillips,Sarah Hadland,James Wong,Saira Khan,Pearl Lowe,Joe Swift andFi Glover amongst the other contestants who took part. Another series ofLet's Dance for Sport Relief ran up to the telethon weekend for five weeks. It was won byRowland Rivron who danced to "Weapon of Choice" byFatboy Slim. A new series ofSport Relief DoesGlee Club started on Monday 12 March running with one episode each weekday. The first eight episodes were 30 minutes long then there was a live semi-final and final, onSport Relief day, which were 45 minutes long.
Segments of this and pastSport Relief events aired as part ofSport Relief Goes Global weeks after the event, in which parts of the program could be viewed in other countries including sketches fromMiranda,Outnumbered,Smithy, and "David Walliams Swims the Thames".
Sport Relief 2014 took place from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 March 2014. The official campaign launch took place on Tuesday 21 January 2014. TheAnnual Live Telethon was broadcast live from theQueen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the first time, on Friday 21 March. It was hosted byGary Lineker,David Walliams,Davina McCall,Fearne Cotton,Jack Whitehall andClaudia Winkleman. TheClash of the Titans was hosted byGabby Logan andClare Balding.
In January 2014, theBBC announced that the 2014 edition of itsSport Relief broadcast on 21 March 2014 would feature a newOnly Fools and Horses sketch.[10]
During the three weeks before the telethon,Sport Relief's Top Dog aired onBBC Two withGaby Roslin as host.
TheSport Relief Mile was joined by three major cycling events (in London, Manchester and Glasgow) and over 600Swimathons, under the umbrella title of "The Sport Relief Games". The main public faces of the three sections of the "games" wereJessica Ennis-Hill,Ellie Simmonds andChris Hoy. Advance entry opened on 24 September 2013, nearly four months ahead of the official campaign launch.
John Bishop andSebastian Coe competed against each other for theClash of the Titans event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park along with their celebrity teams.
The total raised on the night of broadcast was £51,242,186.
Sport Relief 2016 took place from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 March 2016. TheSport Relief Mile and Swimathon both returned.John Bishop,Gary Lineker,David Walliams,Claudia Winkleman,Davina McCall,Greg James andAlesha Dixon hosted.[11]Ore Oduba andDan Walker hostedClash of the Titans taking over from Logan and Balding.
The total raised on the night of broadcast was £55,444,906.
Sport Relief 2018 took place from Saturday 17 to Friday 23 March 2018 and was broadcast live fromdock10 studios. The total raised on the night of broadcast was £38,195,278.[12]
Sport Relief 2020 was held from Monday 9 to Friday 13 March 2020. Gary Lineker and Paddy McGuinness returned as hosts for theSport Relief night of TV from thedock10 studios, which aired on BBC One on 13 March. The total raised on the night of broadcast was £40,540,355.[13]
TheSport Relief Mile was created to give the campaign a focus with an event that was open to anyone to run, walk, jog, wheel, bounce or crawl, regardless of ability or age. It was also designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary ofSir Roger Bannister's firstsub-four-minute mile. Participants could also choose to cover 3 miles or 6 miles (close to, but slightly shorter than, the5K and10K distances more commonly used in mass runs).
81,000 people took part in the firstSport Relief Mile, sponsored byFitness First, in 2004. Sainsbury's was the official sponsor of the Mile.
In 2006, more than 423,000 people took part in theSport Relief Mile, making it one of the biggest mass participation events in history. TheSport Relief Mile Show onBBC One on the morning of Saturday 15 July was presented byJohn Inverdale andColin Jackson and drew an audience of almost a million with an 18% share.
Among the 20,000 participants who took part at London's Embankment wereLord Coe,Dame Kelly Holmes,Sportacus,McFly,Michael Watson,Tessa Sanderson,G4,Jamie Oliver andSadie Frost.
Televised Miles were also held in Brighton, Southampton, Plymouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle/Gateshead, Leeds, Hull, Nottingham, Birmingham and Ipswich.
Children fromAmsterdam,Netherlands (The British School of Amsterdam) took part in 2008 and along with children fromVoorschoten, Netherlands (The British School in the Netherlands) again in 2010.
John Inverdale has hosted everySport Relief Mile Show, initially with Colin Jackson in 2004 and 2006, withJake Humphrey in 2008, withChris Hollins,Fern Britton &Helen Skelton in 2010 and from 2012 alongsideThe One Show presentersMatt Baker &Alex Jones.
TheSport Relief Mile was changed for 2014 where participants can run, swim or cycle 1 mile or indeed do all three. TheSport Relief Games were broadcast on Sunday 23 March 2014 on BBC One and were hosted from London by John Inverdale, Alex Jones and Matt Baker with reporters in Cardiff, Glasgow & Belfast. The secondSport Relief Games was shown on Sunday 20 March 2016 on BBC One.
The lastSport Relief Mile was held in 2016, with the campaign's focus moving back to individual challenges instead of mass events from 2018 onwards.
Sport Relief provides material for the BBC and is part of a UK registered charity 326568 called Charity Projects.[14]
In 2009, the charity awarded a total of £36m in grants with net assets of £120m, of which £97m is in fixed asset investments such as funds in equities and bonds. The charity reported staff costs of £6m plus agency staff costs of £6m. The charity will also be receiving a UK government grant of £5m in 2010.
In 2006,David Walliams swam theEnglish Channel to raise money forSport Relief. He trained for 9 months with Professor Greg Whyte of theEnglish Institute for Sport and was also helped by the "King of the Channel", Mike Read, chairman of the Channel Swimming Association. Walliams' feat was documented for a BBC programme calledLittle Britain's Big Swim. Walliams also swam theGibraltar Strait for the 2008 campaign.
In 2006, the BBC staged a celebrity eliminationshow jumping competition calledOnly Fools on Horses, which raised over £250,000.
On 26 July 2009,Eddie Izzard began running a series of 43 marathons over 51 days forSport Relief. On 15 September, Izzard arrived inTrafalgar Square, marking the end of his 43rd marathon in only 51 days. He ran 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi) a day, 6 days a week for 7 weeks straight, covering 1,166 miles (1,876 km) across the UK. Izzard raised over £1,152,510 forSport Relief.[15] On 23 February 2016, Izzard began a series of 27 marathons in 27 days running acrossSouth Africa forSport Relief; the number 27 refers to the number of years spent in prison byNelson Mandela. He completed the last marathon on 20 March, arriving at the statue of Mandela outside theUnion Buildings inPretoria, covering 1,134 kilometres (705 mi), in temperatures in excess of 40 °C (104 °F), and raising £1,648,087.[16] He had attempted this effort in 2012, but was forced to back out due to health concerns.[17]
In 2014,Davina McCall took on aSport Relief challenge to raise money for the appeal. This was calledDavina: Beyond Breaking Point, which saw the presenter tackle bike riding, running and swimming for seven days as she travelled from the north of the country (outsideEdinburgh Castle) to the end (inCentral London).Alex Jones also took part in aSport Relief challenge which saw her climb up a rock inUtah, United States. Extensive coverage of this event was shown onThe One Show.
