Children In Need brings three hours of entertainment to BBC One

It’s not quite a telethon anymore, but BBC Children in Need 2023 still aims to bring three hours of fun and fundraising to TV screens via its live outing from MediaCity, Salford.

Ade Adepitan MBE, Mel Giedroyc, Jason Manford, Chris Ramsey, Lenny Rush and Alex Scott MBE will host an evening of exclusive sketches and performances featuring well-known faces as you’ve never seen them before.

Tonight the programme will feature special one-off sketches from some hit TV series including MasterChef and a very special parody of Race Across The World. There will be live performances from singer-songwriter Jerub, the UK’s Junior Eurovision act STAND UNIQU3 singing their anthemic entry ‘Back to Life’, and Leigh-Anne who – having performed on Children in Need with Little Mix many times – performs her track ‘My Love’ for the first time on TV.

The Children in Need choir will come together from across the Nations and Regions of the UK to sing a heartfelt rendition of ‘You Raise Me Up’.

For the past few weeks viewers of The One Show have been watching The Challenge Squad featuring four young people who’ve been supported by the Beeb charity’s projects. Tonight, two of them will be challenged to perform live on Children in Need, with two very special collaborations with guest performers.

BBC Children In Need:

“Money raised through the 2023 appeal will help children and young people overcome the additional challenges they currently face, including supporting children and young people living in poverty, providing emergency support to families in crisis, providing comfort to children feeling sad, lost and alone, helping children overcome social injustice and supporting children to feel safe and secure.”

Throughout, appeal films feature some of those whose lives have been changed through the support of BBC Children in Need, and the project workers who work tirelessly to help them.

Children in Need airs from 7 pm on BBC One