Paddy McGuinness has been announced as a presenter for BBC Children in Need's 2025 appeal and will co-host the telethon on Nov. 14 with returning presenter Vernon Kay, the charity and BBC said Monday.
The announcement, made on The One Show, arrives as Children in Need launches a "Challenge Yourself" campaign urging people across the UK to take on events and fundraisers to support children and young people facing overwhelming difficulties. The campaign includes a challenge for the charity's mascot Pudsey to complete 25 tasks in honour of the 2025 Appeal.
McGuinness said he could not refuse when asked to present the appeal, and that "every child deserves someone who shows up for them." Vernon Kay, who presented last year's show, returns for a second year and said he was "chuffed" to be involved again and impressed by the public's generosity and creativity. Tommy Nagra, director of content at BBC Children in Need, described the presenters' previous fundraising efforts as demonstrating how collective challenges can produce "transformational impact".
The pair have raised millions for the charity through endurance events in recent years. McGuinness completed a 300-mile charity cycle in 2024 that raised £7,556,853, and Kay's 115-mile ultramarathon the previous year raised £5,067,847. Those campaigns helped fund the charity's work supporting projects around the UK; BBC Children in Need says it currently funds only about one in six eligible projects that apply for grants.
Organisers said the appeal will encourage a wide range of fundraising activities, from sponsored sporting events to community events and individual donations. Further details about the presenting line-up and campaign activity will be released in the coming weeks on the charity's website.
In a separate development on Monday, the royal household's official social media channels did not post public birthday messages for Prince Harry on the occasion of his 41st birthday. Instead, the accounts featured a series of posts and short videos documenting preparations at the royal residences and Household for the upcoming State Visit by US President Donald Trump.
The duchess, Meghan, posted a throwback photograph of Harry on her own Instagram account and paid tribute to him, while supporters used the hashtag #HappyBirthdayPrinceHarry on X to send messages. Palace accounts, including those for the Royal Family and the Prince and Princess of Wales, published content on State Visit arrangements — showing kitchens, libraries and military staff being readied — but made no public birthday acknowledgement for the duke.
The absence of an official birthday message follows a short visit to the UK by Harry last week during which he met King Charles III for the first time in 19 months. Harry's spokesman said the duke "loved" being back in the UK, meeting friends and supporting causes that matter to him. He completed a final engagement linked to the Diana Award before returning to the United States.
During an interview published this week in The Guardian after the UK trip, Harry said the "focus really has to be on my dad" in the coming year and added that "you cannot have reconciliation before you have truth." He also commented that his memoir Spare and the accompanying Netflix series were "not about revenge," saying they were intended to correct public narratives and to hold people to account.
Spare, published in 2023, contained a series of personal revelations about the rifts within the royal family and became the fastest-selling non-fiction book in the UK when it was released. The book and subsequent public discussion prompted repeated media attention and debate about the family's private relationships.
BBC Children in Need's 2025 Appeal show will air on Friday, Nov. 14. The charity has urged anyone interested in taking part in a challenge or donating to visit bbcchildreninneed.co.uk for more information.