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Radio 1 LOL-a-thon for Comic Relief was 'best thing we've done'

BBC Chris Stark and Scott MillsBBC

"I really do think it's one of the best things we've ever done," Chris Stark tells Newsbeat as he and Scott Mills finish a 27-hour broadcast on Radio 1.

During their Lol-a-thon, the DJs told hundreds of jokes from listeners and raised £324,931 for Comic Relief.

They planned to do 24 hours but were spurred on by support from the audience.

Chris adds: "There's a big trust there, a special bond between us and the people listening."

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Ricky Gervais, David Beckham and Claudia Winkleman were among the "revolving door of guests" who appeared during the marathon show.

But for Chris the stand out moment was a moment inspired by the listeners.

"There was a knock knock joke from a little lad called Edward.

"We super-sized it by going to do a knock, knock joke on the most famous door in the country. Number 10 Downing Street."

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The presenters say that the level of listener engagement went far beyond the gags.

"Amongst the jokes and the silly stuff there were some amazing conversations happening," explains Chris.

"Obviously raising that amount is so special and we're so proud of everyone who did that.

"But there were times, amongst all the silly things we got to do, some amazing conversations were happening."

"This was about jokes but doing something for Comic Relief also provides the perfect opportunity to have more serious chat about other things."

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"I saw a text message towards the end of the broadcast where somebody had heard what Greg James said about not feeling great in the last couple of weeks," explains Scott.

"The listener said he hadn't heard anybody talk like that and that he was feeling exactly the same.

"Hearing the guy from the radio give such an important piece of honesty that he'll now take know they're not the only one going through that."

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Scott adds: "The whole thing is so odd.

"If you think about it we only started yesterday... the money we've raised did not exist at 1pm yesterday and that's the power of the Radio 1 listeners.

"This happens a lot where we ask for money. You can be sat there at 5am like we this morning and it was about £30,000.

"Then it gathers speed... everyone gets so involved and invested in the story."

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