Red Nose Day 2022: Scarlett Moffatt breaks down as Comic Relief viewers blown away by her singing

Facts about Red Nose Day you may not have known

• Comic Relief has raised over £1 billion since it was founded in 1985.
• The highest Red Nose Day total was recorded in 2011, raising £108,436, 277.
• There’s been over 25 official Comic Relief singles released over the years.
• 1987 marked the first Red Nose Day in Victoria, Australia. A year later it went national.
• New Zealand celebrated their first Red Nose Day in 1989.
• It wasn’t until 2015 that America hosted it’s first Red Nose Day. It featured a telethon with special skits performed by celebrities like David Duchovny and Seth Myers.

Explained: When was Comic Relief founded?

Comic Relief was founded in 1985 by screenwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry.

The charity was initially set up in response to a huge famine in Ethiopia. It has since evolved to raise money for vulnerable and disadvantaged people in both the UK and Africa.

The first Comic Relief single was also released in 1986. Singer Cliff Richard was joined by the cast of The Young Ones to re-record his hit Living Doll.

When did Red Nose Day start?

The very first Red Nose Day was televised on BBC One on Friday 5th February 1988. 

The event featured over 150 celebrities and comedians and raised £15 million in total.

Red Nose Day 1988 also featured the original red nose. It was a simple plain red ball that founders Sir Lenny Henry and Richard Curtis wanted to symbolise for their charity. 

Designs for the iconic Red Noses change every year. And in 2021, Comic Relief released their first line of plastic free red noses, which also included the packaging.

Explained: Why Zoe Ball didn't host Red Nose Day 2022

The TV and radio presenter has been involved with the charity since it started back in 1988.

However, she missed the show last night.

In a major blow for fans, she pulled out after she confirmed she had tested positive for covid.

Instead, Alesha Dixon replaced her by hosting a both parts of the show.

Viewers spot Red Nose Day blunder

Eagle-eyed viewers have noticed an error during Friday's broadcast.

The live stream show experienced a technical fault which meant part of a segment with a magician had to be skipped.

Presenters Alesha Dixon and Paddy McGuinness attempted to reintroduce the act before announcing it was a technical fault.

Paddy then joked "it's not very magic" before swiftly moving along by adding that "it doesn't matter".

Viewers took to social media to joke about the technical blunder.

One viewer said: "Genuinely thought that technical glitch was part of the magic goes wrong act."

Another wrote: "Wow, the irony that magic goes wrong……. Goes literally Wrong [crying with laughter emoji's]".

And a third added: "So the Mind Manglers magic went wrong before he even started!"

Can I still donate money to Comic Relief?

For those who are able, donating money is a crucial part of celebrating Red Nose Day.

 more than 750,000 Brits access poverty support, while also aiding more than 8 million children worldwide.

If you haven't done so yet, do not worry because you are still in a chance to make your donation through .

Recap: Who was in the Comic Relief 2022 line-up?

The event was hosted by regular Sir Lenny Henry along with Alesha Dixon and David Tennant.

Dixon replaced Zoe Ball who tested positive for Covid-19 and so had to go into self-isolation.

Olympic gold medal-winner in diving Tom Daley raised £1,027,111 during a four-day marathon which saw him row, swim, cycle and run 290 miles from London to Plymouth in February.

Some of the live acts included:

• Comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders performing The Repair Shop sketch
• Jake Whitehall impersonated West Ham fan Danny Dyer while playing golf with Chelsea's Mason Mount and the Irons' own, Declan Rice
• Strictly Come Dancing winners Rose Ayling Ellis and Giovanni Price performed to How Long Will I Love You
• Lucas and Walliams revived their Rock Profile comedy sketch impersonating celebrities such as Adele, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga.

There were other star appearances made by Tom Holland, Courteney Cox, Chris Kamara, Jamie Dornan, Gordon Ramsay, Lulu, Paul Rudd, Vic Reeves, Jeff Goldblum and Clive Myrie.

Red Nose Day raises £42m

More than £42.7m has been raised in Comic Relief's latest Red Nose Day broadcast.

The charity show was broadcast from BBC studios in Salford for the first time.

Shortly after midnight, Red Nose Day announced it had raised £42,790,147 for good causes in the UK and around the world.

Some of the money will benefit organisations providing aid in Ukraine.

EastEnders star looks unrecognisable in red nose day costume

A MUCH-LOVED EastEnders star has proved a loyal fan of Comic Relief since the tender age of nine.

The actress, now 20, revealed a throwback snap showing them donning the charity event's signature red nose and a corkscrew-curl red wig.

They had certainly pulled out all the stops for the annual Red Nose Day fundraiser, even painting their face red, wearing a red top and accessorising with a polka dot bow tie.

In their caption, they added the words: "Happy Red Nose Day peeple."

The BBC One star, who has also gone on to find Strictly Come Dancing fame, can now be revealed as Maisie Smith.

Scarlett Moffatt wows fans

SCARLETT Moffatt broke down in tears last night ahead of attempting to sing live opera for Comic Relief.

Comic Relief viewers were blown away by Scarlett as she joined fellow celebrities to sing in a opera performance on live television.

She became overwhelmed, sobbing, "I haven't even sang yet and I'm crying already".

While the celebrities had just 24 hours of rehearsals, Scarlett ended up performing alongside celebs including Tamzin Outhwaite and Rosie Jones.

And they wowed fans watching the show at home. Viewers took to Twitter to share their admiration for the group, with one person saying: "They all did amazingly well singing opera And what an inspirational woman Rosie Jones is. I love her so much!"

Another said: "Well, those girls had some balls to sing opera! Helen George was particularly great."

One fan wrote: "That was incredible...24 hours to learn that!! They smashed it."

Explained: Is Red Nose Day on every year?

Comic Relief is a biennial event - which means it only takes place every other year.

It used to be held annually until 2002 when Sport Relief was introduced.

Now, Comic Relief falls on odd years, while Sport Relief happens in even years.

Red Nose Day took place YESTERDAY, Friday, March 18, 2022.

What's the difference between Red Nose Day and Comic Relief?

Comic Relief is the charity which was started by Richard Curtis.

Red Nose Day is the actual event that takes place.

People and celebrities are encouraged to take part in fundraising events on Red Nose Day to raise money for Comic Relief.

These include cake bakes, sporting challenges and wearing red clothes to school.

Or you can just purchase a Red Nose or other merchandise from the .

Good morning! logging in this morning. I'll be bringing you all the latest news and updates until 10pm tonight.

Red Nose Day raises more than £42m

Comic Relief's Red Nose Day has raised more than £42 million after appearances from Tom Holland, Courteney Cox and Lulu.

It was announced after mighnightthat the show had so far raised £42,790,147.

It takes the charity's sum contributions since it was formed to more than £1.5 billion.

During Friday's programme, it was announced that the endurance challenges undertaken by Olympian Tom Daley and BBC Radio 1 presenter Jordan North in the lead up to the show had raised nearly £2 million of that total.

The event also featured sketches from Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

When was the first Red Nose Day?

The first Red Nose Day was on February 8, 1988.

The event and aimed to raise money for famine victims in Ethiopia, and was successful in raising £15 million.

Sir Lenny Henry hosted the first Red Nose Day along with 150 other celebrities in 1988 and he returns to hosting duties in 2022.

What’s the difference between Red Nose Day and Comic Relief?

Comic Relief is a charity that was started by Richard Curtis.

Red Nose Day is the actual event that takes place.

People and celebrities are encouraged to take part in fundraising events on Red Nose Day to raise money for Comic Relief.

These include cake bakes, sporting challenges and wearing red clothes to school.

Or you can just purchase a Red Nose or other merchandise from the .

Where does your money go?

Comic Relief spends the money that is raised through Red Nose Day and Sport Relief on disadvantaged people living in the UK and around the world.

Over the last 30 years over £1billion has been raised for the charity.

The Comic Relief charity is UK-based and aims to free the world from poverty.

It has also backed campaigns to help disabled people get back into work and to highlight abuse of the elderly.

French & Saunders on poking fun at The Repair Shop

Jennifer Saunders said of yesterday's sketch: “Well, the weird thing is, I watch The Repair Shop constantly.

“I watch it and always think it’s very rare that programmes nowadays become universal, because there’s so much streaming and people don’t always watch the same thing at the same time, but a bit like Bake Off did, The Repair Shop has become a universally watched show that people love and love it so passionately.

“And so I watch it, my whole family watches it, I know Dawn watches it, everyone I know knows about The Repair Shop. We’d literally in our heads already written it without even knowing we were going to do it.”

French added: “I think it’s a little bit of kismet, because we were talking about The Repair Shop and in the most politest and respectful of tones we would always say ‘begging for it’.

“Which means we belong in that somehow, we belong in a parody of that.”

Emotional perofrmance from Rose & Giovanni

Strictly Come Dancing champions Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice gave an emotional performance on the Red Nose Day show.

The EastEnders actress and the professional dancer performed to a rendition of How Long Will I Love You.

Ayling-Ellis made Strictly history last season after becoming the BBC One show's first deaf champion.

French and Saunders destroy Judi Dench's doll

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders smashed the head of a doll owned by Dame Judi Dench in a Repair Shop comedy sketch for Red Nose Day.

The duo reprised their roles as The Extras - two perpetually overacting film extras - from their BBC sketch show in a bid to get a free fix from host Jay Blades and his team of skilled craftspeople.

At the beginning of the scene, the pair can be seen struggling to hold back their laughter as they profess their love for the programme and ask Blades to sort a repair.

However, things begin to go wrong after they present their special item of a toaster, which the furniture restorer and TV presenter refuses to repair.

The comedy duo become visibly upset as French's character says: "That's fine, it's a family heirloom, who cares about it. We were going to cry but that's fine.

"I'm very disappointed. This is not what I thought it was going to be."

Matt Lucas and David Walliams impersonate stars for sketch

Matt Lucas and David Walliams dressed up dramatically as they impersonated global stars including Adele, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga in a Red Nose Day sketch.

The Little Britain stars brought back their comedy sketch show Rock Profile for a one-off special during the charity broadcast.

In the sketch, presenter Vernon Kay interviewed some familiar faces, played by Lucas and Walliams.

The original show, which was written by and starred Lucas, 48, and Walliams, 50, first aired in 1999 on UK Play before moving to BBC Two in 2002.

The comedy consisted of a series of spoof interviews where presenter Jamie Theakston - playing himself - interviewed Lucas and Walliams as they played caricatures of well-known musicians.

For the Red Nose Day sketch, the "stars" were this time being interviewed by Kay as they came together to record a Comic Relief single, a version of Whitney Houston's The Greatest Love Of All.

Jordan North raises more than £826k for Comic Relief

Red Nose Day announced that Jordan North has raised £826,307 for Comic Relief.

The BBC Radio 1 presenter raised the funds through his 100-mile row, which he completed earlier this month.

Red Nose Day raises more than £42m

Comic Relief's Red Nose Day has raised more than £42 million after appearances from Tom Holland, Courteney Cox and Lulu.

It was announced after mighnightthat the show had so far raised £42,790,147.

It takes the charity's sum contributions since it was formed to more than £1.5 billion.

During Friday's programme, it was announced that the endurance challenges undertaken by Olympian Tom Daley and BBC Radio 1 presenter Jordan North in the lead up to the show had raised nearly £2 million of that total.

The event also featured sketches from Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

French and Saunders 'very disappointed' with Jay Blades

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders told The Repair Shop host Jay Blades they were ";very disappointed" after he refused to repair their toaster in a comedy sketch for Red Nose Day.

The duo reprised their roles as The Extras - two perpetually overacting film extras - from their BBC sketch show in a bid to get a free fix from Blades and his team of skilled craftspeople.

At the beginning of the scene, the pair can be seen struggling to hold back their laughter as they profess their love for the programme and ask Blades to sort a repair.

However, it all goes wrong after they present a toaster as their item to repair and Blades swiftly turns them down.

Dame Judi Dench also starred in the skit.

Red Nose Day raises more than £19m in first total of the night

Red Nose Day announced its first total of the night as £19,466,967.

The broadcast has so far seen many sketches, including one by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.