More than £24 million has been donated in aid of cancer research following the Stand Up To Cancer television fundraiser.
Celebrities including Liam Gallagher, Danny Dyer and Michael Buble took part in Channel 4’s annual charity telethon on Friday night.
Presenters Alan Carr, Maya Jama and Adam Hills announced a total of £24.6 million had been raised on the night, with more donations still coming in.
The programme, which featured celebrity sketches and comedy skits, also paid tribute to soul singer Aretha Franklin, who died from cancer in August, as Emeli Sande performed a version of Don’t Play That Song.
Buble took part in a special Stand Up To Cancer Carpool Karaoke, and broke down in tears as he spoke to James Corden of his own experiences of cancer following his son Noah’s diagnosis in 2016.
“It’s so hard to have to acknowledge it, because it’s so painful to talk about,” he said. “But obviously we got the diagnosis, and that was it, man, my whole life ended. It’s too hard to talk about.
“We say to him Spiderman is great, Superman is great. But they’re fake. You’re a real superhero.”
EastEnders actor Dyer and his daughter Dani starred in a Celebrity Gogglebox Special, alongside Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne, footballers Dele Alli and Eric Dier, and Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch.
The famous names watched shows such as University Challenge and Naked Attraction, and were left visibly emotional by a short film telling the story of a young boy, Hamish, who died from cancer.
Football pundit Gary Lineker also appeared on the fundraiser and spoke about his eldest son’s cancer diagnosis.
He said: “I used to have recurring nightmares of carrying a small white coffin. I used to wake up in cold sweats.”
Musicians such as Rick Astley, John Legend and Tom Odell were on hand to provide entertainment, while the line-up for next year’s Great Celebrity Bake Off was also revealed.
Ed Havard, head of entertainment at Channel 4, said: “This has been the most successful Stand Up To Cancer campaign to date and we continue to be blown away by the public’s generosity.
“We’re incredibly grateful to every single person who donated and to the huge array of famous faces who gave up their time to be a part of the campaign.”
Clare Moore, director of Stand Up To Cancer at Cancer Research UK, added: “There’s been amazing progress in research. Thanks to new treatments, screening and prevention, more people are now surviving cancer.
“But one in two people will be diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives, that’s one person every two minutes, so we still have a lot more work to do. And funding research is key.”