Gethin Jones sobbed on BBC Morning Live after learning that his 24-hour dancing marathon had earned £900,000 for Comic Relief.
He began his career on Welsh television and went on to co-host the CBBC show Blue Peter with Helen Skelton, Matt Baker, and Konnie Huq in 2005.
Gethin, 45, accepted the challenge to generate funds by dancing for 24 hours straight like the Pixar character Mr. Incredible.
Throughout the morning, he was given regular updates on how much money he had earned and was joined by a number of additional guest dancers.
By the conclusion, he had been joined by colleagues and friends and had completed the danceathon while still standing, wearing a pair of golden glittery trousers.
Gethin then had to fight back emotions as he described how grateful he was to have participated in the challenge and raised so much money.
He told the BBC: ‘This celebrations sums it up. All the messages overnight have been phenomenal. I can’t quite believe what we’ve raised for Comic Relief.’
It was at this point that Gethin began to cry as he said: ‘It’s going to change lives. It’s going to save lives. I’ve said it all along, I’m so proud.’
A member of the studio audience noticed Gethin jumping from one foot to the other, unable to stop dancing long after the challenge was over.
Speaking before the challenge, Gethin said: ‘As a kid I’d busk on the street for Comic Relief and raise money, so being asked to do one of their big challenges is a real privilege.’
He added: ‘Dancing is fun but being awake for 24 hours is a challenge. Moving for 24 hours… back, ankle injuries, all of those things might come back into it.’
Gethin competed in Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, reaching the semi-finals and finished third with partner Camilla Dallerup.
He has been a reporter for Strictly Come Dancing extra show It Takes Two since 2016, and he thinks his time on the dancing show helped him prepare for the 24-hour danceathon.
‘I remember training for that would be eight, nine hours a day on your feet and it was really tough. I lost like a stone-and-half doing Strictly in three months.’
Source My Celebrity Life.