Chris Moyles breaks radio show record for Comic Relief

Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles has broken the Guinness world record for the longest marathon radio DJ (team) show.

The mark was broken at 8.30 this morning (18 March) as Moyles and on-air partner Dave Vitty, aka 'Comedy Dave', passed the 51.5-hour mark.

The pair started their show early on Wednesday morning and also broke Simon Mayo's record for longest Radio 1 show on Thursday evening.

Listeners have donated £2.4m to their Comic Relief effort.

A host of celebrities dropped in to lend their support, including Katy Perry, Ricky Gervais, Gary Barlow from Take That, Richard Madeley, X Factor runner-up Olly Murs, Davina McCall, rapper Chipmunk, Lily Allen and Jimmy Carr.

After breaking the record, Chris Moyles told Newsbeat it was an amazing feat.

"It's brilliant," he told Newsbeat. "It's great that we've broken the record. They've even given us a certificate.

"It's great that we've done it and, more importantly, that we've raised so much money."

The longest ever radio show record is held by an Italian DJ who lasted a total of 183 hours, or just over a week, in May 2009.

Buttock 'massage'

The duo, who broadcast alongside Radio 1's regular DJs, have been allowed five minutes break each hour and took the occasional shower to stay refreshed.

Celebrities like Katy Perry and Ricky Gervais supported Chris Moyles

Highlights on Thursday included Chris and Dave getting a rather painful buttock massage from a physio and DJ Greg James stripping off to encourage more donations.

Chris Moyles also pretended to nod off and accidentally turn the CD player off while Arctic Monkeys song Brianstorm was playing.

He said he thought he might not be able to break the record at the beginning of the challenge.

"When we were on hour seven, hour 52 seemed like a mountain away. That was difficult.

"The next hour after that was hour eight and it still seemed far away. Getting into double figures wasn't really a big help when you get to 10 hours and you've still got to get to 52.

"The high points were having a proper laugh with Greg James, Scott Mills, Fearne Cotton and all the other Radio 1 DJs.

"I wouldn't recommend it but it was good fun."

The previous record for longest Radio 1 show of 37 hours was set by Simon Mayo, again for Comic Relief, in 1999.

The record-breaking show was also filmed and broadcast live on the Radio 1 website and via the red button on digital TV.

Radio 1's website crashed briefly after Fearne Cotton presented 10 minutes of her show in a bikini after donations went above £2m.