Paddy McGuinness was in floods as tears as he reached the finish line of his epic 300-mile charity cycle from Wales to Scotland in aid of BBC Children in Need.
The emotional former Top Gear host, 51, travelled from Wrexham in Wales to Glasgow on his beloved dream childhood bike – the Raleigh Chopper, which he has nicknamed Patch.
This morning at 6.45am Paddy set off for the final 18.5 miles of his incredible cycling challenge from Strathaven to Scotland’s biggest city after “pushing himself to the limit” with a gruelling training programme which was overseen by Sir Chris Hoy.
On Friday morning, Paddy made it to the finishing line of his epic Ultra Endurance Cycle Challenge with Scots entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter at his side. Sir Tom has pledged to double Paddy’s £8 million in total raised for Children in Need.
He said that Glasgow was “lit up in sunshine” as he approached the city on Friday morning, arriving at around 10.30am.
Paddy cycled through Glasgow as crowds of people lined the streets and cheered him on, arriving at the BBC’s Pacific Quay, where he was welcomed by Zoe Ball who was presenting a live outside broadcast of The Radio 2 Breakfast Show in the foyer with a small audience of the public who’d received tickets to be there via a ballot.
Among those waiting to see Paddy achieve his goal was singer Chesney Hawkes who performed his latest single, Get A Hold of Yourself in front of a live studio audience on Zoe’s show which aired as a special outside broadcast from Glasgow’s BBC headquarters foyer.
Chesney said: “Paddy is amazing. He is such an emotional guy. I’ve been watching him cry and be so emotional with it all.”
Upon finishing the challenge, Paddy said: “Every morning when I woke up everything was aching and it was always dark and cold but I’ve been saying it for the last few days, when you get on the bike, and you get on the road and everyone comes out it just spurs you on.
“Even though we’re filming stuff and putting things on social media; until you’re actually in that moment, I will never be able to get it across fully what it felt like.
“All the different sounds, all the cities, all the communities. Everyone came out and everyone were together for something. And all those faces, all the kids, all the nurseries, all the primary schools, all drawing pictures of Patch – none of them had a clue who I were – but it was just so beautiful to see and the streets were lined with people.
“Honestly it’s a moment in time I’ll take with me to my grave. I’ll never ever forget it. It’s been amazing.”
The total at 6.50am this morning was £6,577,494. Paddy spoke to Zoe Ball at 6.45am on BBC Radio 2 and said: “As usual at this time of the morning, everything is sore, everything is aching but again I’ve just rocked up here where I’m going to set off, it’s dark, it’s a little bit drizzly, and people are already here to wish me well so you can’t be in a positive mind about that.
“I came into Strathaven last night, it took me back to the 80s when Liverpool used to do an open top bus parade when they won the FA Cup, it’s like that. Honestly, it was unbelievable, it was mind-blowing. I try and go round and high five everyone. They’re like – you’ve done it, we’re all behind you. It just pushes you for that last little bit.”
On his emotions, he said: “I don’t know how i will feel, how i will react. I know one thing – I’ve done some crying this last few days – flipping heck Zoe! I’ve been crying my eyes out.”
It’s been an emotional ride throughout for Paddy. On Zoe Ball’s BBC Radio 2 breakfast show on Thursday (November 13), he was visibly touched when he found out he had surpassed the £1m mark in donations, pausing amidst the tough Cumbrian landscape on his way to Scotland.
As Zoe revealed the staggering total of £1,000,277 raised so far, an emotional Paddy expressed his gratitude: “Thank you so much, thank you so much everyone,” he managed to say through tears.
Overwhelmed by the achievement, he added: “Oh god, I can’t believe we’ve got to a million, I can’t believe it,” before sharing the incredible news with those around him: “We’re over a million pounds everyone!”
Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2, said: “The welcome we’ve received in Scotland has been phenomenal. People have been lining the streets. Sir Chris has been there every step, every pedal of the way. They are proper genuine mates. To have him pop up as a surprise meant so much to Paddy and gave him a much needed energy boost.”
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