Greg James shares emotional call with his mum where he tells her ‘to tell dad Prince William was on the back of the bike and I didn’t kill the future King’ after he admitted he’s been ‘masking his emotions’ over his father’s stroke
Greg James has shared the touching moment he told his mum that he was joined by Prince William on his Comic Relief bike trek, as his dad remains in hospital recovering from a stroke.
The Radio 1 Breakfast DJ, 40, is cycling 1000km in eight days on a tandem bicycle, and was surprised by the Prince Of Wales on Tuesday, who revealed he’d already raised £1 million during the challenge.
Now, a sweet clip has shown the moment Greg rang his mum Rosemary to share that Prince William rode with him on the bicycle, joking that she should tell his dad Alan he ‘didn’t kill the future King.’
The radio star had revealed earlier in the day he’s been ‘masking his emotions’ over his father’s health battle while completing the trek, having shared on Friday Alan suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation.
Having completed the fifth day of his challenge, Greg told his Mum: ‘Prince William turned up and he came on the tandem with me.’
His stunned mum then replied: ‘S**t I haven’t been watching,’ before Greg said the moment hadn’t been shared yet.
Greg James has shared the touching moment he told his mum that he was joined by Prince William on his Comic Relief bike trek, as his dad remains in hospital recovering from a stroke
The Radio 1 Breakfast DJ is cycling 1000km in eight days on a tandem bicycle, and was surprised by the Prince Of Wales on Tuesday
As Rosemary shared she was on her way to visit his father in hospital, the DJ said: ‘Right tell him… tell him that Prince William was on the back of the bike, and I didn’t fall off and I haven’t killed the future King. Tell him that from me.’
‘I will, oh you amazing boy,’ Rosemary proudly replied.
As he prepared to start day five of his epic bike challenge, Greg said there have been moments where he’s ‘wanted to sit in a room and cry for a bit,’ as he’s ‘really missed’ his parents and wanted them to be there to support him.
Speaking on Radio 1 he said: ‘Someone said to me, ”just be honest with how you’re feeling?” and I went ”I have been” and I will continue to be, but how I’ve been feeling is also, you can sort of mask that a little bit, with lots of the joy that I’m seeing.
‘And that is overriding, at the moment all of that is overriding how horrible I actually feel, about not only my body, but also how sad I’ve been the last few weeks.
‘But everyone being so wonderful about everything is overriding that sadness, and that’s brilliant, so that’s how I’m feeling.
‘I’m feeling like, I actually want to just sit in a room, and cry for a bit, but because of how magnificent everyone’s being, and how brilliant the support has been and how amazing the donations have been, I’m not sitting in a room and crying.
‘And I, I really miss my Dad, and I really miss my Mum, and I really wanted to be with them this week. But I wanted to be here even more.’
A sweet clip showed the moment Greg rang his mum Rosemary to share that Prince William rode with him on the bike, joking that she should tell his dad Alan he ‘didn’t kill the future King’
The radio star had revealed earlier in the day he’s been ‘masking his emotions’ over his father’s health battle while completing the trek
After surprising Greg during his challenge on Tuesday, the quick-witted Prince of Wales joked that the DJ was ‘hallucinating’ as he joined him on the back of his tandem bike.
William, 43, surprised Greg and hopped on the rear saddle for a 30-minute ride through the South Yorkshire countryside before informing the presenter that he had raised more than £1million for Comic Relief.
The radio presenter is currently five days into an extraordinary 1000km eight-day trek from Weymouth to Edinburgh to raise funds for the charity.
At one stage during their ride in the glorious sun, Greg and William were captured cycling past a group of children, prompting Greg to excitedly shout out: ‘Hi guys! It’s Prince William‘.
When he realised the crowd may not have noticed or comprehended that Britain’s future King could be on the back of his bike, Greg joked: ‘They don’t believe it’.
‘It’s a lookalike!,’ quipped William, ‘They just think you’ve lost it. He’s hallucinating!’
Turning his head slightly to face the prince, the presenter was also captured asking: ‘Are you having a nice time so far?,’ to which William responded: ‘I’m having a great time’.
‘Okay, do you feel safe?,’ Greg queried. ‘I do,’ said William. ‘I think you’re in control’.
The hilarious moment between the prince and presenter delighted royal fans, who took to Instagram to praise the ‘amazing’ moment between the unlikely pair.
‘No pressure riding with the future King onboard!,’ quipped one royal fan, while another fondly described William as a ‘classy prince’.
‘Absolutely love this! Go Greg and Wills,’ shared another.
Alongside providing Greg with some humour along the way, the prince also sought to provide him with some encouraging pedal power during such a gruelling part of the challenge.
Seeking to encourage Greg, William told him: ‘What you’ve done is set an example about helping out. That’s the thing.’
He added: ‘What you’ve done is set an example about helping out. That’s the thing. It’s volunteering some of your time, putting yourself through a bit of pain at the same time, and supporting others.
‘It’s something we do very well in this country, but we don’t really shout about it enough.
‘This challenge helps everyone see that. And it’s an amazing team effort. Huge well done, Greg.’
The radio presenter later described finding the future King on the back of his tandem as an ‘incredible surprise’.
‘I’d joked when I recorded a recent radio show with him that he was very welcome to turn up and do a stint on the tandem but I didn’t think he’d actually call my bluff,’ he said.
‘Completely bizarre but so kind of him to spend some time amplifying our message of making sure we look after the most vulnerable people in society.
‘He didn’t have to jump on and stare at my back for 40 mins but I’m so grateful that he did. Unforgettable. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back on my bike.’
Earlier this week, William sent Greg a letter to wish him luck with his challenge ahead of Red Nose Day on March 20.
After surprising Greg during his challenge on Tuesday, the quick-witted Prince of Wales joked that the DJ was ‘hallucinating’ as he joined him on the back of his tandem bike.
The pair have previously worked together on a special episode of Radio 1’s Life Hacks to discuss the issues of male mental health and suicide, in collaboration with the National Suicide Prevention Network from The Royal Foundation.
In 2023, William shared a cheeky message with Greg on Instagram – insisting that he loves the Radio 1 DJ ‘really’, despite previously joking that he is ‘average’.
Throughout Greg James’s challenge, he has been cheered on by the likes of Vernon Kay, Sara Cox, Jo Whiley and Scott Mills, yet the future King of England was certainly unexpected.
Just one week before he was due to start his mammoth challenge, Greg’s father Alan suffered a stroke during a planned heart operation.
And 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’.
He said: ‘I feel elated. I feel a bit overwhelmed by all these people who just turned up out of nowhere. I just burst into tears as I was going up to Blaenavon. It was all a bit much. And then I think Sam and Danny were playing Aperture, and it just got a bit much for me.
‘Just thought about… I just thought about everything. Just thought about my dad, thought about my mum. It got way too much. It’s so silly. It must have been the altitude.’
