Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman promised to never dance again as they completed the longest danceathon in Red Nose Day history.
The pair clocked 24 hours and five minutes and raised £782,686 for Comic Relief as they were joined by guests including Jon Snow, Jeremy Vine and Mary Berry.
Congratulations to @TessDaly and @ClaudiaWinkle on dancing for 24 hours and raising a phenomenal amount of £782,686 for @comicrelief. @ZoeTheBall #RNDdanceathon pic.twitter.com/zEgdkSwoBs
— Strictly Come Dancing (@SCD__UK) March 12, 2019
The Strictly presenters hit the dancefloor at 7.15pm on Monday to Beyonce’s Crazy In Love and finished at 8.20pm on Tuesday to the sound of Survivor by Destiny’s Child, Beyonce’s former girl group.
The One Show host Alex Jones cheered on the exhausted pair as they entered the final minute, breaking the news that they could now stop dancing.
Winkleman, apparently delirious, praised the viewers and guests who had motivated them before promising never to dance again, as feathers and confetti fell from the ceiling.
Smashed it! The longest @comicrelief #rnddanceathon @ClaudiaWinkle @TessDaly An amazing £782,000 Thank you to everyone who donated, supported, watched pic.twitter.com/GCDYVmyapq
— Greg Whyte OBE (@gpwhyte) March 12, 2019
She said: “The listeners have been amazing and all the presenters have looked after us amazingly.
“We never want to dance again. Oh, I’m not doing Strictly, that’s a ridiculous idea. I don’t like movement.”
Daly could only utter the words, “ah, my feet” as she sat down on the studio floor.
The duo were also joined by former Strictly Come Dancing star Ed Balls and his professional partner Katya Jones, who recreated their famous dance routine to Psy’s Gangnam Style.
They were also joined by Vine for another performance to the catchy song.
Danceathon has gone weird. It would be so brilliant if you could support this ridiculous marathon y texting DANCE to 70210 to give £10 to @comicrelief pic.twitter.com/TafCZGfYoc
— emma freud 🔴 (@emmafreud) March 12, 2019
The duo received support from family, such as Daly’s husband Vernon Kay, and celebrity friends.
Former Bake Off star Berry treated the pair to chocolate cake in the studio, and comedian Susan Calman joined them on the dancefloor and showed off some of her best Strictly moves.
Angela Rippon passed on some words of wisdom from her own dancing days with Morecambe and Wise, while Jake Quickenden and the cast of Hair The Musical stopped by to dance Gangnam Style.
Choreographer Arlene Phillips also dropped by to give Daly and Winkleman some advice on keeping moving.
The stars pledged to dance for more than 24 hours to raise cash for Comic Relief to support vulnerable people and communities both in the UK and around the world.
Fans wishing to show support can still donate. Text DANCE to 70210 to donate £10 or DANCE to 70220 to donate £20.