Nick Grimshaw was left "really upset" when he had to pull out of the second day of the ‘Sport Relief’ desert challenge after being struck down with "bad heat exhaustion".
The BBC Radio 1 DJ was feeling "really good" when he set off on his bike across the Namib Desert on day two of the ‘Heat is On’ challenge, but an eagle-eyed medic noticed he didn’t look himself, and after the star stopped riding he suffered a "really scary" experience just 2km from the finish line.
Speaking in a video on the ‘Sport Relief’ Twitter account, he said: "We set off and I felt great, felt really good, was drinking loads of water and was eating.
"Myself and Louise Minchin just headed off and we got to a point where I passed a medic and the medic pulled me and said, ‘I want to check your temperature.’
"I was like 40 degrees. So I had heat exhaustion and the second I stopped it was bad. It was really, really scary. It was horrible.
"I’ve never really experienced that before. It was annoying because it was 2km from the finish line, so I couldn’t finish yesterday because the medic wouldn’t let me.
"I got back, had some treatment and saw the doctors again last night.
"Today, they told me I that I can’t compete, which is really annoying and really upsetting and frustrating because this is what we’re here to do."
But Nick is hoping to be able to ride again.
He said: "Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be on top form and ready to continue."
A tweet on the ‘Sport Relief’ account read: "The day didn’t quite go to plan for some… @grimmers was assessed by a medic and it quickly became clear that he had to take some time out due to bad heat exhaustion
"Hopefully with plenty of rest , and water, he will be joining the team for Day 3! (sic)"
Louise has also been struggling due to the intense heat, and revealed she fell over and "screamed" because the hot sand burnt her.
She said: "I fell over on the sand and screamed, because it burnt me. That’s how hot it is.
"It’s been incredibly tough going across this plain, it just seems absolutely never ending."
A ‘Sport Relief’ tweet read: "Falling over into baking hot sand… Ye-ouch!! People, bikes, cameras, and @louiseminchin are all starting to fall to pieces in the extreme heat of the desert. This really is shaping up to be one of our most arduous challenges ever (sic)"
And Frankie Bridge has been suffering from bad blisters.
Speaking on ‘BBC Breakfast’, she said: "The medic had to burst them all this morning and then wrap my toes up and that was before we started out."
The 100-mile desert crossing was hit by a rare rainstorm on Monday (24.02.20), and Nick – who is taking part in the challenge alongside the likes of Rob Rinder and Samantha Womack – was shocked when it started raining, because he didn’t take a waterproof on the trip, and he was feeling "proper exhausted".
The group were originally due to take part in ‘On Thin Ice in Mongolia’ for the challenge, but things had to be moved around because of concerns over the coronavirus in neighbouring China.
A BBC One documentary following the fundraiser will be shown in the run up to ‘Sport Relief’ on March 13.
Nick Grimshaw ‘upset’ after pulling out of Day 2 of Sport Relief challenge
