Sir Lenny Henry gears up to bid farewell to Comic Relief after four decades

Sir Lenny Henry is all set to host Comic Relief once and for all when the BBC fundraising telethon makes a comeback in March.

The comedian revealed that this will be his final time as host in an interview with BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, adding: "I'm not going to be hosting any more Comic Reliefs after this.”

Noting that Henry would still be part of documentaries and will continue to make special appearances, he added, "time to hand on to the new generation".

The 65-year-old comedian, who also co-founded the charity alongside Richard Curtis in 1985, admitted that it was “time to hand over the reins” to “new faces” after 40 years at helm.

Speaking of the new generation, the American actor and comedian continued: "There's all these new, wonderful comedians with podcasts and nine million followers, and those guys or women should be hosting Comic Relief now.”

He shared: “So that the young years people and the new influx of viewers can plug into the next stage of Comic Relief, because there will be a next stage, and because we want to continue tackling issues of poverty and injustice.”

Sir Lenny is best known for co-hosting the 1988 Comic Relief Show, raising about £15m in just eight hours of TV comedy.