Where is Lenny Henry on Comic Relief? His replacement and sad reason for quitting

One key member of the host’s absence from Comic Relief tonight at 7 PM on BBC One is not present. Although Sir Lenny Henry has departed the live show for a sad reason, he is now learning new things!

Comic Relief kicks off tonight on BBC One and BBC iPlayer – but it won’t include its most recognisable face.

Sir Lenny Henry, who helped launch Red Nose Day’s charity in 1985, will not be returning as this year’s host of the evening’s entertainment show. Henry opened up about his decision last year, revealing the new presenters to be Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Joel Dommett, Alison Hammond, Rylan Clark and Alesha Dixon for the 7 PM show, with Tom Allen and AJ Odudu relieving them of their hosting duties on the 10 PM extension on BBC Two.

Sir Lenny was hailed as a “trailblazer” by TV personality and singer Alesha Dixon and Mo Gilligan in 2015 and later elected a fellow of the Royal Television Society. Lenny pursued other interests despite believing he was “old blood” and that the show I need “change.” He introduced a new drama called Three Little Birds on ITV1 in 2023 that honored those who immigrated to the UK from the Caribbean in the 1950s, which was close to his heart because it included his own family.

Henry received the Freedom of the City of London in February, acknowledging his “significant contribution to the entertainment industry and charitable fundraising” throughout his impressive five-decade career. The 66-year-old described his experience as “how cool to follow in the footsteps of Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Giles Terera, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, and Damian Lewis.” He expressed his pride in how far Comic Relief has come, saying that it has “raised over £1 billion and had a positive impact on so many people’s lives.”

On World Book Day (March 6th) he visited the Midlands Art Centre in Birmingham to attend the Reading for Smiles Children’s Book Festival. As an author, Lenny spoke to school children with high free school meal eligibility and low literacy rates about his love for literature and the necessity of reading. Many of the children were reported to have never experienced a literature festival. Henry also treated the group to a full dramatic reading of his latest Children’s book Tyrone’s Cool Crown.

The philanthropist claimed that the day was “about encouraging kids to read” and that he has “found that kids have been incredibly responsive to stories” since beginning to write books six years ago. They simply adore using their imaginations and putting themselves in stories, which is a really important trait given that literacy among children has decreased significantly over the past few years, and that’s why we must work together to raise that level.

In Netflix’s new series, Missing You, Henry was revealed as the actor for Clint Donovan last year. A detective mystery based on the death of her partner, Detective Kat Donavon, is the focus of the Harlen Coben thriller. Lenny can be seen on screen as the detective’s late father, along with Rosalind Eleazar, Richard Armitage, Ashley Walters, Jessica Plummer, and James Nesbitt, having aired on January 1st. Since Henry’s long and successful career was honored in the documentary Lenny Henry: One of a Kind, it appears that the comedian will pursue bigger projects and pursue more original endeavors.

After nearly 40 years of returning back to the role of host, Lenny made the decision that it was finally time to leave the show last year. He opened up about how he missed doing the show with Vicar of Dibley star, Dawn – his ex wife whom he was married to from 1984 to 2010.

He recalled being a “little gang” despite having thought there was a “new gang” out there when he spoke of his time with Dawn and the original cast. The episode serves as a baton to be distributed to a brand-new group of people organizing Comic Relief.

Lenny Henry intends to continue working for the charity from the sidelines despite the fact that he is officially leaving the live performance. Lenny first joined The Comic Strip, an alternative comedy group, as the Life President of Comic Relief. He and Dawn Saunders, Jennifer Saunders, and Adrian Edmondson, both of whom were members of the group, met.

Comic Relief was started 40 years ago by Henry and Richard Curtis, both of whom are writers and directors. Its goal was to give comedians a place to network and raise money for charities both domestically and internationally. Red Nose Day has always been the charity’s main event, which took place in 1986.

Lenny and Dawn became comedy royalty when they married and in a “fancy-schmancy chi-chi hall”. When they eventually split, fans were shocked as they had been together for 25 years. Described as an “entirely amicable” divorce, the exes intended to “maintain their close friendship”.

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Source: Mirror