Sara Cox speaks to Scott after his first day in the desert
Sara Cox continued in for Scott as the Red Nose Desert Trek got under way in northern Kenya. With Scott away from the studio, Sara and Beccy found themselves having to remember the show’s Comic Relief contribution, including a crisp-flavour idea suggested by Jimmy Carr and the more realistic plan of donating the money saved by taking a packed lunch to work.
Their ordinary studio chat sat alongside the extraordinary sight of the trek on its first day. A newspaper photograph of Dermot O’Leary and Kara Tointon at camp looked rather more comfortable than the reality, prompting Sara to stress that the walk was serious fundraising work, not glamorous camping. Scott and the others had five hard days ahead of them.
When Scott came on the line from Kenya, he had just finished an eleven-hour day of walking, from 7.30 in the morning until dark. He was in the middle of nowhere, exhausted by the heat and still waiting for dinner, with a thin mattress and one hard pillow waiting in his tent. The trek had already made the promise of a normal bed sound like a luxury.
Scott was joined by Olly Murs, who gave a cheerful update from the camp and helped underline the atmosphere among the group. Their calls made the scale of the challenge more immediate than any official briefing, while Sara kept the conversation warm and funny without losing sight of why they were there.
The fundraising total provided the day’s most important moment. Radio 1 listeners had pushed the amount past £100,000, and Scott sounded genuinely overwhelmed. He thanked everyone who had donated and promised that the group would keep going through the remaining four days.
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