Pudsey Bear and pals are back to bring Autumn cheer, heart and sparkle to living rooms across the nation next week, broadcasting live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 7pm Friday 14 November.
Hosts, Mel Giedroyc, Rochelle Humes, Vernon Kay, Paddy McGuinness, Lenny Rush and Big Zuu will lead the much cherished Appeal Night, presenting a packed evening of sketches, performances, and special moments with the sole aim of raising life-changing funds for children and young people across the UK. Viewers will also get the opportunity to meet some of the young people who are helped by BBC Children in Need.
Money raised will help the charity ensure there’s someone able to give food, clothes and beds to a child living without; someone qualified to talk to a child who is anxious, isolated or grieving; someone trained to mentor teenagers in communities facing inequality, violence or lack of opportunity; someone to be there for children living with serious illness, disability or carrying a load that’s just too heavy to manage alone.
The need for donations has never been greater as right now the charity is only able to help 1 in 6 projects that ask for money.
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The three-hour extravaganza, broadcast live from MediaCity UK in Salford will treat viewers to special Children in Need collaborations with much loved BBC titles including Strictly Come Dancing, Gladiators and The Apprentice.
Viewers can expect to see an Apprentice rarity, when the tables are turned on Lord Sugar as he faces a boardroom grilling from a tough new set of junior apprentices, and viewers will also get an exclusive taster of the highly anticipated festive episodes of The Celebrity Apprentice: Christmas Specials – where 12 celebrity candidates have been challenged with creating festive biscuits for BBC Children in Need.
Contenders will be getting ready for a new class of Gladiators when the family favourite is turned on it’s head by a set of mini (but powerful) Gladiators entering the arena for an epic showdown, and The One Show returns with The Challenge Squad ready to take centre stage.
The One Show Challenge Squad are a group of inspirational young people, who have been supported by BBC Children in Need and championed by The One Show as they take on personal fundraising challenges. This year two members of The Challenge Squad will fulfil their personal challenges in front of a studio audience on Appeal Night, with Kat performing a special duet with Sam Ryder, and Eloise throwing herself in to a musical theatre challenge, on skates with the cast of Starlight Express.
Musically, there will be an extra special music performance from BBC Children in Need supporter, Lewis Capaldi and the BBC Children in Need Choir will perform an arrangement of Coldplay’s Yellow – Pudsey’s favourite colour. The choir will feature 16 children from across the 15 BBC nations and regions, all of whom have been supported by BBC Children in Need funded projects.
Throughout the night, appeal films will feature some of the children and young people whose lives have been changed through the support of BBC Children in Need.
Assuming all goes well, Radio 2’s Sara Cox will arrive at the Salford studio having completed her gruelling 135-mile challenge, ready to find out how much she’s raised after taking on the distance of five marathons across five days. Starting on the Monday of Children in Need week, Sara’s Great Northern Marathon Challenge will see her run, jog, and walk through sweeping moorland, steep ridges, and the rolling hills of Northumberland, Durham, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, all while carrying a very special Pudsey Bear backpack. This marks Radio 2’s longest-ever BBC Children in Need challenge in terms of duration.
Ahead of the evening show, there will be a party atmosphere at MediaCityUK, Salford, on the big day with social media star DJ AG serving up the tunes and live streaming a four hour set from the Piazza outside the Children in Need studio, where he will endeavour to complete his BBC Children in Need challenge of an epic live stream which will see him bring on board 25 guests.
The viral DJ is famed for his community-focused livestreams from London’s Kings Cross, Brixton and care homes with previous performances from music lovers young and old, emerging artists, and more established names including Skepta, and JME, Jessie J and Rita Ora, to name but a few.
Finally, through the night official backstage hosts, social media stars Ash Holme, Charley Marlowe and Jack Remmington will be capturing all the behind scenes fun and action presenting from the celebrity ‘Yellow Room’ – live streaming guest interviews, and interviews with fundraisers on the official BBC Children in Need digital channels.
