Dance for Comic Relief

Posted on March 2, 2015

Strictly Come Dancing champion Caroline Flack and presenter Davina McCall are the latest celebrities to have to join the line-up for the Comic Relief Danceathon, a six hour non-stop dance frenzy, held on March 8 at the SSE Arena, Wembley to raise money for Red Nose Day 2015.

Strictly Come Dancing professionals Aljaž Skorjanec, Ian Waite, Janette Manrara, Natalie Lowe and Robin Windsor will also be hot footing it to Wembley to help keep fundraisers on track throughout their epic endurance boogie.

Property presenter Kirstie Allsopp also pledges to get in on the action along with dancing DJs Gemma Cairney, Edith Bowman and Sara Cox. Also confirmed to take part are Paralympic medallist Ade Adepitan and wildlife presenter and Strictly star Steve Backshall.

These celebs will join a jam-packed line-up that includes Arlene Phillips, Chelsee Healey, Rachel Riley, Rufus Hound, Zoe Ball, Jo Whiley and Got To Dance‘s Adam Garcia and Kimberly Wyatt.

Places for the star-studded Wembley event, which will be hosted by Strictly‘s Claudia Winkleman (pictured), are limited, but those who can’t make it can still dance along on the BBC Red Button wherever they are, in sitting rooms, village halls and local gyms across the country – all to raise money for Red Nose Day.

Caroline Flack said: “Dancing on Strictly was the best experience of my life and I think that the Comic Relief Danceathon is going to be such an amazing experience for everyone taking part. I would urge the lovely public to come and bust some moves with me at Wembley or grab a load of mates and put on their own Danceathon at home. It’s going to be so much fun, so the more people around the UK get involved, the better!”

Over 2,000 fundraisers will dance non-stop at the Wembley event with thousands expected to take part across the country on the BBC Red Button. Participants will be able to get their groove on to a range of genres including 1970s disco, 1980s power, 1990s rave, as well as pop, soul, ballroom and musical theatre.

The money raised by the Comic Relief Danceathon will be spent right here in the UK, and across Africa, helping vulnerable and disadvantaged people to turn their lives around.

For more information about the Comic Relief Danceathon head to www.rednoseday.com/danceathon

Photograph: BBC 

Nicola Rayner

Nicola Rayner was editor of Dance Today from 2010 to 2015. She has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out Buenos Aires, where she cut her teeth as a dance journalist working on the tango section. Today she continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of success. Her debut novel, The Girl Before You, was published last year in paperback, ebook and audiobook.