Paddy McGuinness says Children In Need bike ride showed 'who I am off telly'

Paddy McGuinness says his gruelling charity bike ride showed fans 'who I am off telly' after raising more than £9 million for BBC Children In Need. The Farnworth-born star travelled 300 miles from Wales to Scotland on his dream childhood bike, a Raleigh Chopper, which was painted in the colours of the charity’s mascot, Pudsey.

The BBC Radio 2 presenter admits he was 'absolutely physically broken' following the challenge. But the 51-year-old insists he was the 'happiest person around' once he completed the journey - adding that the experience was 'absolutely' life-changing.

He said: “I’m pretty much like anyone else at the moment in the world, we know there’s a lot of horrific things happening, and I’m a kind of person, I wake up in the morning, sort the kids out, and once they’ve gone to school, have a look at the news, see what’s going on, social media, and pretty much we always see negative stuff, which feels like that’s all that’s out there.

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“But on day one, when I saw the streets lined and it got bigger and bigger and bigger, it really brought it home that actually everyone still gets on, and everyone still mucks in together as as human beings, and it just really spurred me on. And honestly, you say about life-changing, it really was. I wish I could give everybody that feeling that I had when I was out and about on those roads, being absolutely physically broken but being the happiest person around at the same time.”

The former Phoenix Nights and Take Me Out star had raised £9,254,482 at the time of the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on Monday morning (November 18). Donations are still being accepted following last week's bike ride.