Sport Relief forced to scrap Mongolia trek for new challenge over coronavirus fears for Nick Grimshaw and co-stars www.metro.co.uk
Sport Relief has been forced to scrap its initial plans of sending the likes of Nick Grimshaw, Frankie Bridge and Karim Zeroual out to Mongolia amid fears of the Coronavirus. The celebrities were scheduled to embark on a 100 mile expedition across Mongolia, which has sparked health concerns due to neighbouring China. Instead, the team, which also includes Rob Rinder, Louise Minchin, and Samantha Womack, will trek across the Namib Desert in Namibia. The stars will now begin their journey at the source of the Kuiseb Rover and travel on foot and bike towards the Skeleton Coast in blazing heat soaring past 30 degrees Celsius, scaling some of the largest recorded sand dunes in the world.
And it will all be filmed for a BBC One documentary. Ruth Davison, Chief Executive of Comic Relief (interim), confirmed: ‘After closely monitoring travel advice, we have decided to relocate our international fundraising challenge, which starts this weekend. Nick will be swapping the British countryside…
‘We had previously been looking at a range of locations and challenges and we think that the Namib Desert expedition is a fitting alternative. She continued: ‘We are extremely grateful for our team of celebrities who have not wavered in their passion and determination to want to take on a challenge for us, which is extraordinary in itself. ‘We hope the public will join us in giving them our full support as they push themselves to the limits to raise money for Sport Relief.
Published Date:2020-02-19