“Every single pedal hurts”: Mollie King raises over £1.1 million for Comic Relief with epic 500km London to Hull cycle – despite never riding on the road before

It’s Red Nose Day today, which means only one thing: at least one semi-recognisable celebrity has just completed an epic long-distance cycling challenge, raising a lot of money for charity in the process, a feat usually made all the more impressive by the fact they had studiously avoided that rusty old bike in the shed for years before their agent whispered in their ear ‘you know what would be a good idea?’

And this year, after former footballer Jermaine Jenas inadvertently incurred the wrath of anti-cycling social media addicts everywhere by briefly riding three-abreast during a Children in Need charity cycle in November, it was the turn of BBC Radio 1 and former Saturdays girl group star Mollie King to don the hi-vis and rack up the miles (and the pain) for a good cause.

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On Monday, as we noted on the live blog, King – co-host of the Matt and Mollie weekend show on BBC Radio 1, alongside the delightful Matt Edmondson, and a former Strictly Come Dancing semi-finalist to boot – set off from London’s Broadcasting House on a 500km (310 mile) cycle north, first to Manchester, before finishing this afternoon, five long days later in her father’s hometown of Hull, having raised over £1 million for Comic Relief in the process.

The 36-year-old was inspired to take on the epic ride after her father Stephen died of a brain tumour in 2022, just days after the birth of her first child.

However, King also noted that she’d never even cycled on the road before signing up for the Comic Relief challenge, while her mum Sue ominously noted before she set off that “I’m a little bit nervous about this, because of the time last year we hired bikes at Center Parcs and had to return them after two hours.”

 

 

 

 

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Nevertheless, King handled the opening two days – with each day covering around 100km – with aplomb, before the third day’s series of rolling, sapping hills on the way to Salford left her “literally just crying on the bike”, prompting Edmondson to convince her to keep going.

She was also supported by British team pursuit world champion Josie Knight, who told Mollie to avoid “becoming a dying cat” and to keep her morale high during her ride.

“Dying cats will take themselves off to a corner; they won’t eat, they won’t drink,” Knight said.

“When you’re deep into a challenge like you are it’s easy to forget to eat, forget to drink, because you are so tired. Even taking your hands off the bar to reach for a water bottle can take effort. So keep eating, keep drinking, keep chatting, keep people around you.”

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“Every single pedal hurts now. I struggled big time this morning with that voice in my head that’s been telling me all the worst things,” King said during Wednesday’s “extremely tough” leg.

“I kept hearing the voice notes coming in from our truly amazing listeners. They told that stupid voice to go away. I dug into that positivity so hard.”

 

 

 

 

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After crossing the finish line in Hull this afternoon, King was told that she had raised £1,155,535 so far for Comic Relief.

“I am completely overwhelmed by everyone being so generous. I can’t believe we have raised £1 million!” she said.

“This week has been time for me to think about what’s happened, to think about my dad and to process the fact that everyone’s donated so much. I wish I could thank everybody individually. It has been such a team effort. I cannot thank everybody enough.”

“Matt, these past few days have been so tough,” she told her radio co-host. “And I would not have got there today if you had not been there by my side. You talked me back onto that bike when I couldn’t do it anymore. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.”