Comic Relief: Sir Lenny Henry announces he’s stepping down from hosting the show

Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day is one of the biggest events to take place in the UK every year. The charity Comic Relief was created in 1985 by comedy writer Richard Curtis (Love Actually) and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the famine in Ethiopia.

The live comedy broadcast and telethon first started in 1988 and its concept was simple: comedians were to make the public laugh which would encourage them to call in and make donations.

That year, the telethon collected over £15 million and throughout the years, Red Nose Day has helped the charity collect over £1 billion in donations with 2011 being a record year with donations reaching £108,436,277.

Since the beginning, Sir Lenny Henry has been hosting the show but now he has announced that the time has come for him to say goodbye.

Real reason why Sir Lenny Henry is stepping down

Talking to BBC Breakfast on Wednesday 31 January the comedian said:

I'm not going to be hosting any more Comic Reliefs after this

However, he explained that he would definitely stay involved as he is one of the founding members. He also said that he would also be making appearances in 'documentaries' and 'announcements'.

When explaining why he made the decision, the comedian stated that it was ‘time to hand on to the new generation’. He added:

There's all these new, wonderful comedians with podcasts and nine million followers, and those guys or women should be hosting Comic Relief now so that the young people and the new influx of viewers can plug into the next stage of Comic Relief, because there will be a next stage, and because we want to continue tackling issues of poverty and injustice.

The 2024 Comic Relief broadcast will air on BBC One on 15 March.

Who could replace Sir Lenny Henry?

In his statement, Lenny Henry referred to younger comedians who could be fit for the role. In an interview with Evening Standard, Henry mentioned some names.

He listed:

Dave Chapelle, David Tennant, Ncuti Gatwa.

There are so many people coming up that deserve our attention. There are a lot of people who could easily present Comic Relief.

Of course, so far, none of the people mentioned have commented. Who would you want to see host the show?

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Sources:

Metro: Sir Lenny Henry, 65, stepping down as Red Nose Day host after 39 years

Evening Standard: Sir Lenny Henry to step down from presenting Comic Relief after 39 years to 'give someone else a go'

BBC News: Comic Relief 2024: Sir Lenny Henry to host for final time