Entertainment
Gethin Jones says dancing for 24 hours for Red Nose Day will be a ‘real privilege’-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro
‘I was told: “As soon as you dance on your own, it’s embarrassing. Don’t ever do it,” and now I’m doing it for 24 hours.’
![Gethin Jones says dancing for 24 hours for Red Nose Day will be a ‘real privilege’-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/SEI_148398444-3286.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024)
Gethin Jones donned dancing shoes for BBC’s Strictly in 2007 (Picture: REX/Getty/Metro.co.uk)
Gethin Jones, 45, best-known for presenting shows including Blue Peter and Morning Live, is taking on a huge challenge for Red Nose Day, dancing for 24 hours straight to raise money for people in need.
We discussed his gruelling training, if he’s going to use any of his Strictly Come Dancing experience, how this has felt like an extremely long winter and his thoughts on the Happy Valley finale…
What made you want to take on this challenge in the first place?
I think the whole thing with Red Nose Day these days is these challenges are epic but also fun and a big team effort. And the donations will probably be the thing that keeps you going, because you know where the money is going.
As a kid I’d busk on the street for Children In Need and raise money for Comic Relief in school, so being asked to do one of their big challenges is a real privilege.
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. So it’ll become a bit of a mental challenge. It’s such a big deal for us on Morning Live, for the BBC, and more importantly, for the people it might help.
Gethin sporting Comic Relief’s newly-designed honeycomb paper red nose (Picture: PA)
What goes into your training for a challenge like this?
I train quite hard, I do a variety of things. I’m actually training for a bit of a physical challenge at the end of April, which is lots of basic strength. There’s a lot of sled-pulling and burpees, and pushing and pulling things and running, and stuff like that. So fitness-wise, I’m pretty good!
It’s funny – we do Strictly fitness at the end of every Morning Live for a minute and a few viewers have noticed that I’m out of breath after that minute. When you think about it, it’s not good going into a 24-hour challenge. The Strictly pros that are joining in every hour and the Morning Live family, I hope they’re aware that this is very much a marathon, not a sprint. Pacing I think will be the key to it.
Are you taking any of your past Strictly knowledge with you for the dance?
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.
I think Camilla [Dallerup], my partner on the show back in the day in 2007, would be absolutely mortified. She used to say, ‘Geth, just don’t get out of hold, stay in hold. You’ll do all right. As soon as you dance on your own, it’s embarrassing. Don’t ever do it,’ and now I’m doing it for 24 hours.
Do you think you might reach out to Camilla and tell her that you’re doing this challenge?
What’s really interesting at the moment is that I’ll mention a few people like Camilla to the team, and they all sort of smile at me. I know there’s a whole lot of surprises that I’m not aware of, and I’m wondering whether Camilla might be involved with it at some point. I’ve got a sneaky feeling she might pop up at 1am while she’s having breakfast overlooking the sea in LA, which could either be motivating or demoralising. I haven’t decided yet.
With March here and spring on its way, what’s your favourite season of the year?
Summer. It’s all about the sun. I’m absolutely obsessed with the sun and the sea. I don’t know why but I feel like this winter for me has been the worst one out of the last few. It’s just felt long and hard and sad. The sun came out in Manchester a couple of days ago, it was the first time I noticed the sun, and it just brought so much joy. Just that moment of, ‘Oh, it’s not dark. I can see my car in the morning.’
Summer is the season that Gethin likes best (Picture: PA)
Are you one of those people that as soon as it’s sunny, you throw on flip-flops and shorts?
One hundred per cent. I lived in LA for three years and I think I wore a pair of shorts and flip-flops and had a coffee in my hand for most of those three years. I’m actually a very simple bloke. I’m just really happy in the sun drinking coffee, chatting to my mates and that’s it really. I hate the winter because there’s a lot of choices to make. Summer just feels easy, doesn’t it?
You and Kym Marsh have such a great dynamic on Morning Live. What’s it like when the cameras aren’t rolling?
It’s everything you probably imagine it to be. There’s a lot of pranking. Kym is unoffendable. We sort of have the same sense of humour in that regard. We have to be really careful, because obviously, not all of it is daytime-friendly in rehearsal! The lovely thing about Morning Live is that when you become part of the family, you’re part of the family – that’s it. I suppose our show is a bit of a coffee shop. I describe Morning Live as a massive WhatsApp group that everyone’s involved with.
Gethin and Kym Marsh love to play practical jokes during rehearsals (Picture: BBC)
So, going back to your Comic Relief challenge – should we be looking out for any signature dance moves?
Absolutely not. I tend to go full-on joy but people think I’m still Strictly standard. I’m not – I just know about eight beats of a jive and pretend. I could do a whole dance if I needed to but by then they’re convinced, they’re impressed and I move away.
Gethin Jones is taking part in the 24-hour dance for Red Nose Day from today. comicrelief.com/dance
More: Sixty Seconds
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