Tess Daly
Children in Need 2016
Published: 16 November 2016
I absolutely love working on Children in Need. It’s a huge honour to take part.
You are very much one of the faces of Children in Need and you play such a special role on the night. Is it lovely to be back this year?
I absolutely love working on Children in Need. It’s a huge honour to take part. The sole aim is to raise money for disadvantaged children and young people here in the UK. If you look at the legacy left behind by Sir Terry, more than £600 million has been raised over 35 years since he pioneered Children in Need. It is an incredible legacy.
Do you find the stories heart-wrenching?
For me, a lot of the appeal films are incredibly moving to watch. For example, when terminally ill children are being filmed with their families in hospices; talking to these children, their parents and the people who love them the most is often inspiring but can of course be so heart-breaking, I can hardly stand it for them. Often their resilience and positive spirit is what is so moving. Of course times aren't easy for many, and you never take giving for granted, but so many people do dig deep and it never ceases to amaze me year-on-year how incredibly generous we are as a nation.
There is a lot of light-hearted entertainment too…
It’s fantastic fun on the night, we have some great live music acts lined up in the studio, there’s the choir of 1500 school children singing simultaneously across the nation, there are sketches, specials such as Strictly and Would I Lie To You, plus celebrity cameos aplenty.
Are you looking forward to working with Greg James?
Greg is great fun-he's an all-round good lad and definitely up for a laugh…He proved his mettle on Comic Relief and I love his work. I listen to him on the radio and I’m a big fan. My husband, Vernon, has worked with him at Radio 1 and is always singing his praises. He has a lovely, warm, witty nature and I think the Children in Need audience will take to him.
Is it going to be strange without Sir Terry by your side?
I had the huge privilege of working with Terry for a number of years. It will be so strange. I know that we will all feel his absence keenly on the night. I will miss looking at his lovely face with that ever present cheeky glint in his eye, him constantly cracking jokes, never taking proceedings too seriously.
Can you share your favourite anecdotes of working with Sir Terry?
We had a great time together when we both danced on the Strictly Special for BBC Children in Need. A few years back we were competing against each other. He, dancing the Waltz with Flavia and I, dancing the Viennese Waltz with Anton. He kept telling me how much he had been training and kept saying “Watch your heels Daly, I have got this sewn up, I am going to win!” He was the host of the original Come Dancing back in the day and a bit of a ballroom fan himself. Of course it transpired that he was teasing me.
On the night, we went head to head and I won. I don’t know how it happened! Maybe the judges were just feeling generous (or pity)! He told me afterwards that he had only rehearsed for an hour and a half! Ah, we had so much fun and banter doing that.
There are some incredible stories on the night.
Definitely. I heard such a lovely story about one of our youngest fundraisers last year. He was only seven and his mum told us that he asked if he could give his pocket money to Children in Need. He also didn’t want any after school treats and for the money, instead, to go to Children in Need. It was just so adorable and things like that make me cry because it is children helping children.
Would you ever do a crazy physical challenge if you were asked?
If I was asked, I couldn’t say no. I would be terrified though!
Finally are you looking forward to the evening itself?
It should be a brilliant night. We’ve got Little Mix live in the studio and I am really looking forward to the Eddie Redmayne sketch, which was filmed on the set of his new film. It’s so great that he got involved and he told us he had grown up watching Children in Need and he was thrilled to help out. He remembers watching the show, he still does and it means a lot to him. I am also looking forward to seeing the West End performance of Aladdin and filming the Strictly special hosted by Claudia and myself. We have got the stars of Team GB taking part this year which will be great as they are all fit and incredibly competitive. They will all want to win!
