Paddy McGuinness expressed frustration live on BBC Radio 2 after being overlooked by listeners who continued to send messages for absent host Vernon Kay. Standing in for Kay on the morning show, McGuinness read out a listener's support for Sara Cox's Children in Need challenge, but noted that most messages were for his colleague. 'It's a disgrace, this,' he said.
The former Top Gear presenter was filling in while Kay attended his wife Tess Daly's MBE ceremony. McGuinness shared a message from listener Janette, who donated £20 to Cox's 135-mile Great Northern Marathon Challenge. He thanked her for acknowledging him, adding he'd been receiving messages for Vernon all morning.
Cox is undertaking the five-day challenge across four counties, ending in Pudsey, Leeds, on Friday. She revealed she had taken advice from both McGuinness and Kay, who completed their own Children in Need challenges last year. Kay advised hill running, while McGuinness told her to block out the noise.
McGuinness will co-host the BBC Children in Need telethon on Friday evening alongside Mel Giedroyc, Rochelle Humes, Lenny Rush, Big Zuu and Vernon Kay. He raised £10.5 million for the charity last year through his cycling challenge. He told the BBC that being a father made him aware of how precious children are, and that the event unites everyone with one common goal: making a child's life better.
