BBC Red Nose Day's surprise Lenny Henry tribute leaves viewers 'floored'

Red Nose Day fans became emotional after a 'beautiful' tribute to Lenny Henry was aired on Friday night (March 15). The Comic Relief telethon was the last to be hosted by Sir Lenny, who confirmed he'd be stepping back from presenting the show after almost 40 years.

The 65-year-old co-founded the charity in 1985 alongside Richard Curtis, the writer-director best known for Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually. Since then, more than £1.5 billion has been raised for Comic Relief, which supports thousands of charities in the UK and around the world.

Sir Lenny was joined by comedian Joel Dommett, presenter Davina McCall, comics Paddy McGuiness and Romesh Ranganathan, actor David Tennant, presenter Maya Jama and podcast host Rosie Ramsey at Salford's Media City for a night of music, comedy and sketches.

READ MORE: BBC Comic Relief Lenny Henry's fight against racism, famous ex-wife and body transformation

Davina and David surprised Sir Lenny when they got him to stand in the middle of the audience as he thought he'd present a segment about fundraising. Instead, members of the audience whose projects or personal lives had been helped by Comic Relief stood up around him instead.

Taking it all in, Sir Lenny said: "That's fantastic - it's lovely to see you all... Look at all these people who Comic Relief have helped". Another surprise came next - which really tugged on viewers' heartstrings.

A video was played which showed the people Sir Lenny had helped abroad, including a woman who was seriously unwell in Ethiopia, as well as health workers and families in Uganda and Kenya. During one visit, a nurse named Martha had given birth to twins.

She had named them Lenny and Henry after the Comic Relief legend - and now we