On the second day of his ambitious 1,000-kilometer cycling journey for Comic Relief, Radio 1 Breakfast host Greg James was moved to tears as he reflected on his father’s recent stroke.

Embarking on this solo adventure at the age of 40, Greg set off from Weymouth, Dorset, aiming to complete his ride in Edinburgh.

Just a week prior to beginning this daunting endeavor, his father Alan suffered a stroke during a routine heart operation, adding an emotional weight to his challenge.

As Greg wrapped up the second day of his trek, he shared a poignant moment when thoughts of his father, affectionately known as ‘big Al,’ brought him to tears near the finish line.

“I feel elated,” Greg expressed. “I’m overwhelmed by all the people who just appeared out of nowhere. I broke down in tears while heading towards Blaenavon. It was just too much, especially with Sam and Danny playing Aperture in the background.”

He continued, “I couldn’t help but think about everything—my dad, my mum. It was overwhelming. It sounds silly, but maybe it was the altitude getting to me.”

Greg James broke down in tears on day two of his 1000km Comic Relief cycle as he thought about his beloved dad as he recovers from a stroke

The Radio 1 Breakfast DJ, 40, is cycling solo for Comic Relief , taking off from Weymouth in Dorset and cycling all the way to Edinburgh

He continued: ‘And then someone gave me a Wales flag and I was holding that and I thought about my old nan, and she’s Welsh. And then I just thought about everything and then everything just made me cry, and I just felt really overwhelmed by it all. 

‘But the day is done, and I actually can’t believe I’ve managed to get to Abergavenny.’

Greg was seen again getting emotional as he gave his mum a hug at the day’s finish line.  

Last Friday, Greg cancelled his show to be with his family after his father suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation.

He then returned to work on Monday, confirming his father, ‘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.

Just one week before he was due to start his mammoth challenge, Greg’s father Alan suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation 

As he completed day two of his cycle, Greg shared that he became emotional as he neared the finish line as he thought about his beloved father ‘big Al’

Greg was seen again getting emotional as he gave his mum a hug at the day’s finish line

‘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.’

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.’

‘I just burst into tears as I was going up to Blaenavon. It was all a bit much,’ Greg said of his feelings during the cycle 

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. 

‘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.