One final fundraising push
The final day of Radio 1’s Hell and High Water challenge began with an extra incentive. Greg James and the celebrity team were completing their 111km journey down the Zambezi for Comic Relief, and Nick Grimshaw had challenged listeners to add another £50,000 to the total before 4pm. If the appeal reached £196,078, Greg had promised to remove his clothes and jump into the river.
Chris decided that one embarrassing sight deserved another. If the target was reached, he would travel from the Radio 1 floor to the bottom of Broadcasting House and back in nothing but his boxer shorts. These were not ordinary enclosed lifts: the glass cars moved through the centre of the building’s atrium and could be watched from every floor. Scott warned that thousands of people worked there, including colleagues from BBC News and departments considerably less accustomed to Radio 1’s ideas.
The prospect became more alarming as word spread through the building. Chris imagined bosses, journalists and unsuspecting passengers seeing him on the way down, while Scott realised the studio cameras had a clear view of almost the entire route. Although Chris was given repeated opportunities to withdraw, he insisted that he would do it if listeners produced the money.
Greg completes the Zambezi challenge
Greg called from the water during a frightening final day. The team had moved from canoes into rafts for a succession of powerful rapids, with walls of water falling over them and the guide repeatedly ordering everybody to paddle forward. Greg described the strange rhythm of panic during each rapid, followed by a few quiet minutes drifting towards the next one.
By the time he next spoke to Scott, the team had reached the end. People were collapsing on the bank after five exhausting days involving hippos, crocodiles, capsizes, heat, blisters and long stretches of relentless paddling. One rapid was known as Oblivion, another section as the Washing Machine, and Phillips Idowu had grabbed Greg in mid-air when he was bounced from his seat.
Greg said Tuesday’s separation from Dara Ó Briain had been the most genuinely dangerous incident, while Thursday’s eight-hour journey was the hardest collective test because of its monotonous physical strain. The week’s purpose had become particularly clear when a seven-year-old listener called Lola donated her pocket money because she wanted children in Africa to attend school. For Greg, her understanding of why they were there meant the challenge had already achieved something important.
£218,461 and a naked jump
Scott finally revealed that listeners had not merely reached £196,078. The total stood at £218,461, well over the target which had appeared unlikely little more than an hour earlier. Greg thanked the audience for supporting projects in Africa and the UK, then prepared to honour his promise beside a remote stretch of the river.
There was one last warning: somebody had spotted a small crocodile in the water. Dara provided a commentary as Greg removed the clothes he had worn through the challenge, apologised in advance for the state of his insect-bitten back and ran naked into the Zambezi. The group’s laughter echoed around the gorge as he completed an unusual final act for an already extraordinary week.
Chris brings the BBC to a standstill
Back in London, Chris changed into a pair of cheap purple boxer shorts and walked towards the lifts. The controller of Radio 1, Ben Cooper, joined Scott in the studio as staff gathered with camera phones on every visible floor. Chris was instructed to stand with his feet apart, place his hands on his hips and maintain a proud, slightly smug expression as though nothing unusual was happening.
The plan became more awkward when people entered the lift normally. Chris held the doors and politely welcomed passengers while colleagues lined the balconies above and below him. At each stop another crowd appeared, and BBC News staff could be seen pointing as he descended towards the lower floors and then began the long journey back.
Chris returned to Radio 1 to applause and reported that he was receiving “a standing ovation in my pants”. Scott immediately noticed the unfortunate wording, but the moment provided an appropriate finish. The audience had exceeded the target, Greg had completed the Zambezi challenge and Chris had brought much of Broadcasting House to a halt in support of Comic Relief.
—
COMMENTS