Sport Relief: Stars help to raise more than £51m

More than £51m was raised for charity on Friday's live Sport Relief show - breaking the previous on-the-night record.

Kylie Minogue, David Walliams and Sebastian Coe were among the sports stars and celebrities who took part in the six-hour BBC show.

One of the highlights was the return of Only Fools and Horses after 11 years with a sketch starring David Beckham.

The grand total of £51,242,186 was announced at the end of the broadcast.

Host Fearne Cotton described the achievement, which beat the record £50.4m raised during the last Sport Relief show two years ago, as "mind blowing".

Beckham's comic turn saw him join Rodney and Del Boy, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst and Sir David Jason, in a greasy spoon cafe in Peckham.

The Trotter brothers also tried to sell pairs of David Beckham boxers in a market - with Rodney modelling the wares.

Pop stars Little Mix opened the show with the official Sport Relief single, Word Up

David Walliams dressed as Jason Donovan - but was later joined by the Australian singer himself

Little Mix had opened the TV spectacular, which came live from London's Queen Elizabeth Park, with the Sport Relief single, Word Up.

The girl band, whose visit to a hospital in Liberia was featured on the programme, urged the public to "give what you can".

Music also came from The Voice judge Kylie Minogue. She and Walliams started singing Especially for You, a 1988 hit for her and Jason Donovan, before Donovan himself joined the pair on stage.

It is thought to have been the first time Minogue and fellow Australian Donovan have performed the song live in 25 years.

The show also included Walliams grilling footballers in a special edition of Mastermind, while Lord Coe took on comedian John Bishop in a series of sporting events.

The England football team's Word Cup song, a cover of Take That's Greatest Day, was heard for the first time during the show.

Take That front man Gary Barlow and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker led the group of singers, with members including England football legends Sir Geoff Hurst, Michael Owen and David Seaman.

Disadvantaged

The Clash of the Titans saw team captains Coe and Bishop, supported by a team of celebrities, go head-to-head against each other at a variety of events including synchronised swimming and velodrome cycling.

Comedian Patrick Kielty beat BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James at synchronised swimming, while cricketer Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff fell off his bike at one stage, only to get back on the saddle and win the cycling event.

Also during the show - which saw live performances from bands Coldplay and Boyzone - there was applause for One Show presenter Alex Jones, after it was revealed she had raised a total of £1,281,476 by climbing 1,200m up Moonlight Buttress, a sheer sandstone cliff in Utah.

Lineker and Davina McCall - who herself raised more than £2m for Sport Relief - were among the hosts of the show, which aims to raise money for poor and disadvantaged people in the UK and around the world.

Footballers past and present took part in the recording of the England World Cup song for Sport Relief

Alex Jones spent two days and two nights on Moonlight Buttress in Utah

This year's Sport Relief also saw four Paralympians swapping their sports kit for sequins for a Strictly Come Dancing special.

It was won by wheelchair racing athlete Hannah Cockroft, a double Paralympic gold medallist, and her dance partner Pasha Kovalev.

Other highlights included a Mock the Week Andy Murray special which saw the Wimbledon champion showing he has a sense of humour as he was made the butt of most of the jokes.

The fundraising is set to continue over the weekend in a bid to break the 2012 overall total of £67,977,824.

Events taking place across the country on Saturday and Sunday include the Sport Relief Games, with one of the venues being the Queen Elizabeth Park.

On Saturday night, comedian Russell Brand will become a pundit on BBC One's Match of the Day.

Stars began their fundraising activities in the days and weeks leading up to the broadcast.

On Thursday, BBC Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley completed a 26-hour stint on a treadmill, which so impressed Coldplay that the band donated £260,000 to Sport Relief.

A tweet from Coldplay read: "Massive respect to the incredible, indegafatible [sic] @jowhiley £10K per hour makes £260K sponsorship from us."

Speaking afterwards, Whiley said: "I am blown away by Coldplay's generosity and it has made this challenge all the more sweeter."

At the climax of the gruelling challenge, Whiley stumbled following a final 10-second countdown.

"I can't believe I did 26 hours and then fell at the last minute," she said.

Paralympians David Clarke, Hannah Cockroft, Martine Wright and Nathan Stephens take part in Strictly

On Monday, Radio 1 host Nick Grimshaw completed a 12-hour bike ride after he, along with other celebrities, cycled more than 1,000 miles and raised more than £115,000.

Davina McCall raised more than £2m by running, cycling and swimming from Edinburgh to London in just seven days.

Elsewhere, former England football captain Alan Shearer beat ex-footballer Robbie Savage in an exhausting race to sit on all 90,000 seats in Wembley Stadium.