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Red Nose Day loses a million viewers in a year according to overnight figures
An average audience of 2.6 million viewers watched the BBC programme as Comic Relief celebrated its 40th anniversary.
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Comic Relief’s charity fundraiser Red Nose Day has lost a million TV viewers compared to the previous year.
An average audience of 2.6 million viewers watched the BBC programme, according to overnight figures, as Comic Relief celebrated its 40th anniversary with comedy sketches on Oasis reforming, Strictly Come Dancing, Gladiators and Beyond Paradise.
Last year, Sir Lenny Henry’s final time co-hosting the star-studded annual appeal programme saw an average of 3.6 million viewers, up from 2023 when 2.9 million tuned in.
2025’s edition also garnered a peak audience of 3.4 million, down from last year’s 4.3 million, the BBC has said. The 2023 show saw a peak audience of 3.4 million.
This year, £34,022,590 was announced as the amount raised for Comic Relief, which helps support communities by providing food, healthcare and shelter to those who need it most.
Last year the charity revealed a total of £38,631,548 had been raised shortly after the night concluded.
More donations are expected to flood in as the fundraiser total rises following the airing of Red Nose Day.
At the helm of this year’s event were TV presenters Joel Dommett, Rylan Clark, Alison Hammond, Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Tom Allen, Alesha Dixon and AJ Odudu.
It featured a sketch where The Inbetweeners stars James Buckley and Joe Thomas reunited to play Oasis bandmates Liam and Noel Gallagher, who are advised to call each other after their managers told them they were broke.
The Inbetweeners stars James Buckley and Joe Thomas reunited to play Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher in a parody comedy sketch (Jordan Mansfield/Comic Relief/PA)
PA Media
The actors also recreated “that ticket fiasco”, with former Good Morning Britain star Piers Morgan playing “Ticket Master”, after the use of dynamic pricing hit headlines following fans complaining of inflated costs on the day Oasis tour tickets went on sale last year.
Former One Direction star Liam Payne and drag queen The Vivienne were among the celebrities remembered in a memoriam-style segment.
The night also saw McCall become emotional as she reflected on what was “quite possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever been through”.
“I had a pretty mad year this year. Doctors found a benign brain tumour, by chance, and after a lot of deliberating, I had it removed,” she said.
The 57-year-old then began to cry and took a moment to pause as she reflected on the support she had received from her family and partner Michael Douglas.
Comic Relief co-founder Sir Lenny also reflected on the charity’s 40th anniversary in a pre-recorded video.
He spoke about how the charity had started following “a devastating famine in East Africa” in the 1980s and said the noughties brought Sport Relief while the 2010s saw money funnelled towards helping those with malaria.
After reviewing the highlights, Sir Lenny added: “Please keep doing what you can to help, because doing good never gets old.”
Communities, workplaces, schools and families have helped raise more than £1.6 billion over the last 40 years, which has supported more than 100 million people, according to Comic Relief.
Sir Lenny co-founded the charity with Love Actually screenwriter Richard Curtis in 1985.
