9 of the best celebrity Comic and Sport Relief challenges

Everybody loves to cut some rug now and again. But dancing for 24 hours straight? That takes serious stamina, as Dermot discovered two years ago in his mammoth danceathon outside Broadcasting House. Along the way he was joined for a boogie by Sam Smith and Rastamouse, while attempting styles ranging from disco to conga to riverdance to whatever it is Tony Blackburn is doing in the clip below. He even got to live out a boyhood fantasy by ripping off Bucks Fizz’s skirts. It was quite an achievement, even if to this day Dermot curls into a foetal ball every time he hears Stayin’ Alive.

Most of us might spend half-an-hour on the treadmill at the gym. But 26 hours? There’s a reason that the phrase ‘on the treadmill’ is shorthand for a monotonous, exhausting routine. Luckily, Jo Whiley wasn’t alone on her gruelling road to nowhere, being joined along the way by Will Young, Paloma Faith, Nigella Lawson, Sally Gunnell, Gok Wan, Christopher Biggins, the cast of Spamalot and, most randomly, a mariachi band playing The Final Countdown. As John Lennon almost sang, whatever gets you through a night on the treadmill, it’s alright.

For the 25th anniversary of Red Nose Day in 2013, Radio 2 invited legendary comics French and Saunders to come and cause havoc in their studios. Having interrupted Ken Bruce’s show by doing some hoovering - “your studio is filthy!” - they proceeded to enliven a game of PopMaster with a caterwauling rendition of I Know Him So Well, before hijacking the travel news. The Vicar of Dibley even shared her Pause for Thought: “I quite fancy that Chris Evans - despite his horrible varicose veins.”

In 2013, Miranda proved that her calamitous TV alter-ego was just an invention by successfully completing five Apprentice-style tasks in five days, as issued by Chris Evans on his Radio 2 Breakfast Show. Her final challenge was the most daunting: to organise a real wedding for a real couple in a matter of hours, as well as singing in the gospel choir at the ceremony. After some initial panic, the couple’s big day went off with a bang (and French and Saunders as guest bridesmaids). Proof that if you can wax a strange man’s chest, as Miranda did when learning to be a beauty therapist on her first task, then you can do anything.

27 marathons in 27 days - in the heat of South Africa, no less - sounds like a ridiculous feat for a professional athlete, let alone a stand-up comedian. But, inspired by Nelson Mandela (who spent 27 years in prison under apartheid), it’s a challenge that Eddie Izzard approached with an iron will and seemingly limitless reserves of good cheer. As he explained to BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans, after a while the brain syncs up with the body and instead of asking “what on earth are you going to do today?” it asks “what kind of marathon shall we do today?” We’ll have to take Eddie’s word on that...

Prancing around pretending to be a pop star for Let’s Dance is one thing. But as anyone who’s ever tried to dance underwater will tell you (after spitting out a mouthful of chlorinated water), synchronised swimming is really, really difficult. So hats off to singer Will Young and comedian Russell Kane, who both performed very creditable routines for 2016’s Clash of the Titans contest at the London Aquatic Centre. Ultimately, it was Kane who charmed the judges with a winning combination of steely determination and silly costume.

Having successfully swum the Channel in 2006, comedian David Walliams squeezed back into his wetsuit for an even more formidable aquatic challenge six years later: swimming 140 miles down the Thames from its source in Gloucestershire to County Hall in London over eight consecutive days. Along the way he overcame a bout of debilitating ‘Thames tummy’ and even found time to rescue a labrador called Vinnie. But there was one challenge at which he drew the line: eating Miranda Hart’s porridge…

In terms of pushing personal limits, few Sport Relief challengers have been as courageous as Davina McCall as she ran, swam and cycled her way from Edinburgh to London - often in the pouring rain and biting cold. She had to be helped from the water after a strength-sapping 1.5 mile swim across Lake Windermere but still got back in the saddle to cycle a further 65 miles that day in order to stay on track. “I've gone to very dark places,” she admitted afterwards, but remained adamant that the ordeal was worth it to help women living hard lives elsewhere in the world.

Of the many weird and wonderful sights that Comic Relief has provided over the years, few have made us question reality more than the spectacle of BBC Radio 2’s Vanessa Feltz, in ripped fishnets and leathers, straddling a cannon as Basil Brush jived maniacally in the background. If that kind of thing doesn’t persuade you to instantly text in and donate, nothing will. Here’s to another year of daft stunts, daring feats and - most importantly - big totals.