Dermot O'Leary has been prepping both body and soles for his epic 24 hour Day of Dance for Comic Relief.
Caught by the cameras at Pineapple Dance Studios in London while preparing for his marathon endeavour, Dermot O’Leary was spending the day limbering up, shaking it off, and getting to grips with those all-important moves.
The prancing presenter will kick off his Day of Dance for Comic Relief live on The One Show on Thursday 12th March. He’ll then spend the next 24 hours dancing both in the studio and in the BBC’s New Broadcasting House Piazza before heading down to the Red Nose Day Night of TV at The London Palladium on Friday 13th March – he’ll even dance his way there!
The BBC Radio 2 star will be checking in with his DJing colleagues throughout the 24 hours and every minute of the gruelling dance will be streamed live on the BBC Red Button. Celebrity friends will pop along throughout the night and day to wish him luck too!
Speaking from Pineapple Dance Studios, Dermot said: “When I came up with the idea for this event I was in the middle of the dancefloor on holiday, where you never want the dancing to end. Now I’m back in the freezing cold UK with a few less disco lights and a lot more bruises – and it doesn’t seem quite as appealing! I’m going to need all the support I can get from the public to keep me going!”
Dermot was later spotted at the Harley Street clinic of Comic Relief endurance expert and renowned sports scientist Professor Greg Whyte. Greg was checking up on the star before he puts his body quite literally through its paces.
Speaking at the clinic, Greg said: “Although it sounds fun, there are lots of risks with taking on this dance. Putting your body through any sort of endurance test will always take its toll, but for such a huge amount of time and with such sustained physical movement there is a lot that could go wrong. Knee, hip and ankle injuries, muscle strains and blisters are just the start – as sleep deprivation kicks in combined with exhaustion and dehydration the possibility of falls and impact injuries are a real risk. If Dermot thinks he’ll be sailing through his sidestepping, he’s got another thing coming.”
To sponsor Dermot as he takes part in his 24-hour Day of Dance for Comic Relief, visit rednoseday.com/Dermot and follow his every move on BBC Radio 2 and the BBC Red Button from 19:00 on 12th March to 19:00 on 13th March.
Money raised through Dermot’s Day of Dance for Comic Relief will help give street children in Uganda a brighter future and also help people living incredibly tough lives in the UK and across Africa.
