A total of nearly £32 million for Comic Relief 2023 was raised on Friday night (March 17), it was announced at the end of the live BBC broadcast.

The official figure was £31,952,141.00 for Red Nose Day, although donations will still be coming in to help make a difference to people who are going through the toughest times of their lives.

This year, the fundraiser will support people struggling with the cost of living crisis and will tackle issues such as homelessness, mental health problems and food poverty.

It was slightly lower than last year's total, which saw £42,790,147.00 raised to support people in the UK and the rest of the world, as well as Ukraine, reports The Mirror.

What happened on Comic Relief 2023?

Sir Lenny Henry didn’t make an appearance on Comic Relief for the ‘first time in the show’s history’.

The legendary Dr Who, David Tennant, said: “For the first time in Comic Relief’s history, we are flying without our captain, Sir Lenny Henry."

However, the live three-hour show was presented by AJ Odudu, Joel Dommett, Zoe Ball, Paddy McGuinness and David Tennant, who all kept viewers entertained throughout the night.

Other famous faces also appeared in skit shows such as Love Island, Stath Lets Flats, Eurovision and The Traitors.

The Traitors episode featured Dawn French who posed as the show’s ‘half woman, half fringe’ host Claudia Winkleman and was joined alongside Danny Dyer, Stephen Merchant, Alison Hammond and actor Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi – plus many more.

The Bolton News: Dawn French channelled her best Claudia Winkleman impresson for a special episode of The TraitorsDawn French channelled her best Claudia Winkleman impresson for a special episode of The Traitors (Image: BBC/David Emery)

In Jamie Demetriou’s special Stath Lets Flats episode, the cast was joined by Dermot O'Leary.

The skit saw the bumbling estate agent give an incredulous O'Leary a special ‘sponsored flat-viewing’.

After failing to lease the property to O’Leary, Stath and cast persuaded him to use his ‘X-Factor connections’ to help them produce a charity single for Comic Relief with former X-Factor contestants Honey G, Ben Haenow, Stevi Ritchie and Andy Abraham.

There were also musical performances throughout the evening from Zara Larsson, B*Witched and Tom Grennan.

Prince William makes rare TV appearance on Comic Relief 2023

Prince William also starred in a pre-recorded clip in a rare TV appearance, as he featured in a homelessness appeal.

Speaking in the film, he said: “My mother introduced me to the cause of homelessness from quite a young age, and I'm really glad she did.

"I think she would be disappointed that we are still no further on in terms of tackling homelessness and preventing it than when she was interested and involved in it.”