On Friday, Greg James embarked on a monumental eight-day, 1000-kilometer cycling journey for charity, just a week after his father experienced a stroke, leaving him in a critical state.

The 40-year-old Radio One DJ had to suspend his show the previous Friday to be by his family’s side when his father suffered a stroke amid a scheduled heart procedure.

By Monday, Greg was back on air, reassuring listeners that his father is determinedly battling through and taking initial steps on the path to recovery.

Inspired by his father’s resilience, Greg launched his ambitious eight-day 1000-kilometer charity cycle this morning.

The popular breakfast show host is embarking on Radio 1’s Longest Ride for Comic Relief, pedaling a tandem bike affectionately named Tando Norris by fans, from Weymouth in Dorset all the way to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Friday morning saw his fellow presenters, Matt Edmondson and Molly King, sending him off from the Weymouth seafront, where a crowd of supporters gathered to cheer him on his way.

Greg James began his epic eight-day 1000km charity cycling challenge on Friday, a week after his father suffered a stroke, leaving his health in ‘bleak condition’ 

Last Friday, the Radio One DJ, 40, cancelled his show to be with his family after his father suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation 

Greg appeared in high spirits as he lined up his bike at the starting line, sporting a Comic Relief red nose, before heading on his way. 

Greg’s bike challenge comes after he confirmed on Monday that his dad, ‘big Al’, is doing okay and is ‘still with us.’

He said: ‘Thank you to Sam and Danni for Friday, as there was a slight mishap with my dad. My dad’s not very well at the minute’.

‘I know that he would want me to get back on the show. And he’s still with us, which is good!’ 

And Greg said his father is ‘fighting hard’ and would be taking ‘small steps’ on the road back to recovery.  

Previously talking about the challenge on his show, Greg said: ‘Here’s a video which is more serious than I like to be on here, but I just wanted to update you on what’s [been] going on the last few days of my life.

‘I’ve had a terrible time. My dad’s not very well. Not very well at all. And it’s horrible.

‘You might have heard Sam and Danni talk about this on the Breakfast Show on Friday, because I wasn’t there. They were very lovely about it; they told lots of you, and thank you for sending me a message if you did. It’s massively appreciated.’

Now, in honour of his father, Greg has this morning set off on an epic eight-day 1000km charity cycling challenge

The breakfast show host is taking on Radio 1’s Longest Ride for Comic Relief, cycling from Weymouth in Dorset to Edinburgh in Scotland on a tandem bicycle listeners have dubbed Tando Norris

On Friday morning, his fellow presenters Matt Edmondson and Molly King (seen) set him off on Weymouth seafront with hundreds of people turning up to cheer and wave him off

He said: ‘In times like these, it’s so nice to feel the love from people.’  

Greg added: ‘And for those that don’t know what’s happened to my dad, I’m sorry that you’re finding out on my wildly popular social media channels.

‘He was supposed to go, well, he did go in for heart surgery on Thursday, and I was on the Breakfast Show on Thursday because I thought, “That’s a good distraction.”

‘I’m always banging on about how great radio is at distracting you from your life and things going to s**t. It’s good for listeners, and it’s good for the people doing it as well. So, I was happy on Thursday. I thought, “That’s the best place for me.” I love doing that.

‘And then on Thursday night, we found out that, sadly, the operation didn’t go to plan, and he had a stroke. Which is really s**t.’

Greg said he went to visit his father in the ICU over the weekend. 

He thanked the NHS for looking after his father and said: ‘ 

‘Particularly the handsome doctor that he’s having by his bedside. 

Greg appeared in high spirits as he lined up his bike at the starting line, sporting a Comic Relief red nose, before heading on his way

Prior to his challenge, Greg joined several fans at the starting line for photos 

Town mayor Caroline Nickinson also turned up to show her support for the star 

‘That’s one of the mad things, isn’t it, about your brain and about humans and about life, is that sometimes the best thing is to be in a WhatsApp group where you’re just talking about how fit the doctor is. And that’s really helped.’

He joked: ‘Hope he doesn’t see this, because then it’s gonna be awkward when I next go in.’

At the time, Greg said that despite everything that’s going on, he was still pressing ahead with his Red Nose Day challenge. 

He said: ‘He really wanted me to do this challenge, which is coming on Friday, so I’ve been training my t**s off for it, and he knows that, and he knows how much it means to me, so this Comic Relief challenge, 1,000km on a tandem, from Weymouth to Edinburgh, I’m up for it.

‘He’s steady at the minute, and I guess slowly but surely improving a bit, but it’s pretty f***ing bleak.

‘So, have Big Al in your thoughts. And I’m gonna really need some support on this challenge. I know I was anyway, but it’s gonna be extra emotional now, so hopefully I can count on you to be there.’ 

Alan and Greg are very close and regularly go to the cricket together. Alan has even co-hosted his Radio 1 show with him.

The duo took part in a GQ interview in 2019, and Alan talked about how proud he is of his son. 

He said: ‘He used to wake up at about 4am, and I spent many, many, many early hours with him resting across my chest trying to get him to sleep.

‘But clearly it didn’t work because his first slot on Radio 1 was at 4am.’