Fearne Cotton admits she was left 'incapable' of reading Children in Need figures after a drunken night with Terry Wogan during their time on the show

Daily Mail​

17-06-2025

Fearne Cotton has revealed how she was left 'incapable' of reading out the Children in Need figures after a drunken night with Terry Wogan.
The presenter, 43, hosted the show alongside the late broadcaster from 2005 until 2015, and told of how he always kept the wine and Baileys flowing.
Joining Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett OBE on Dish from Waitrose, she discussed her time working with Terry.
She began: 'Oh my God, Sir Terry was so full of all the gems. Oh, all the gems. I loved working with him so much.
'If we did Children in Need which goes on for hours and hours, definitely by about ten, the red wine had come out. And then by midnight the Baileys would come out. The Baileys.
'And you- there'd be like a little cornered off curtained area. And there'd be a little tray with the Bailey's and the wine, and I was like, okay, we're cooking.'
Fearne continued: 'And by the end of it, when you're doing the big totalise, when you've gotta read a number that is so long, you're incapable.
'I don't know how to read that number. 'It's 32 million ish.' 'Four hundred and sixty thousand… and one hundred pounds?' It doesn't make any sense. Yeah, four pence. There's a decimal somewhere, yeah.'
Veteran broadcaster Terry passed away aged 77 in January 2016 after being secretly diagnosed with cancer.
After disappearing from the airwaves suddenly in 2015, Sir Terry's illness was kept so private that executives and colleagues at the BBC were convinced he would return to the radio within weeks.
Instead of revealing the diagnosis, he told friends he had a back problem.
Fearne's new interview comes after her estranged husband Jesse Wood proved things are getting serious in his new relationship with Gemma Gregory.
The musician, 48, went public with his romance with the former Made in Chelsea star, 39, two months ago and they are going from strength to strength.
Fearne continued: 'And by the end of it, when you're doing the big totalise, when you've gotta read a number that is so long, you're incapable'
Fearne issued a shock statement to announce her split from Jesse after 10 years of marriage back in December, saying their priority was their children.
Last week, Gemma posted several loved-up pictures to Instagram, showing her and Jesse looking cosy as they cuddled and joked around during various days out.
The London-born actress and former model captioned the post: 'Love is the frequency of magic', followed by star and red heart emojis.
Insiders say the relationship is progressing quickly - and it looks to be far more than a casual rebound following the shock collapse of Jesse's decade-long marriage to TV presenter Fearne last December.
'It's getting serious now. Jesse and Gemma are spending loads of time together and things are clearly going well,' a source close to the pair told MailOnline.
'He's been through a rough patch emotionally, but Gemma's really lifted him. They've got chemistry and a lot in common - she makes him laugh, and he feels relaxed around her. It's definitely more than a fling.'
It came just weeks after photos of Fearne kissing her new boyfriend, TV director Elliot Hegarty, emerged.
Fearne addressed her split from Jesse for the first time on Lorraine earlier this year, calling the situation 'very amicable' and saying the children - son Rex, 11, and daughter Honey, 8 - were 'doing great'.
Jesse, meanwhile, has remained tight-lipped publicly, though his stepmother Jo Wood - ex-wife of his father Ronnie Wood - has spoken about the split.
'I was shocked, actually. I didn't expect Fearne to have a new boyfriend. And Jesse was devastated,' she told the Mail earlier this year.
'But sometimes in life, you have to go through these things… I'm sure Jesse's going to be very happy. These things work out. Their time was up - they had to move on.'
She also said she looked forward to meeting Gemma, describing the relationship at the time as 'all very new'.
Gemma, who has a son, Benji, from a previous relationship, is no stranger to the spotlight. She played young Estella in the 1999 adaptation of Great Expectations, and briefly appeared in
Made in Chelsea in 2012 thanks to her long-time friendship with Hugo Taylor.
She's also previously been romantically linked to aristocrat Nicholas Knatchbull - the godson of Prince Charles - and England polo captain Henry Brett.dy for life.'