Comic Relief 2013: Generous viewers dig deep for Comic Relief as charity raises a record £75MILLION Celebrities and presenters took part in fundraising broadcast 2013 total pips 2011's £74.3million for on the night donations The British public took part in thousands of fundraising stunts and generously donated money to help raise a record £75million for Comic Relief. Some of the UK's biggest celebrities and presenters took part in fundraising extravaganza on Red Nose Day yesterday, with singer Jessie J shaving off her long hair, One Direction performing live, and comedian Peter Kay travelling the length of the country on a sofa. By the end of the live broadcast, viewers had donated £75,107,851 - a record total for on-the-night donations, which pipped 2011's £74.3million. Jessie J shaved her head during the Comic Relief broadcast as the charity fundraiser raised a record £75million Singer Jessie J raised £500,000 by shaving her head for Comic Relief, with help from comedian Lenny Henry Comedian Peter Kay travelled the country on a sofa for a Comic Relief endurance challenge Simon Cowell married himself in a sketch shown during last night's live telethon Cowell turned down the advances of, from left, Louis Walsh, Olly Murs, Sharon Osbourne, Dermot O'Leary and David Walliams at the altar in favour of wedded bliss with himself A host of stars featured in sketches on the BBC broadcast to persuade the public to donate to good causes that help thousands of people in the UK and Africa. Music mogul Simon Cowell walked down the aisle and rejected advances from David Walliams, Louis Walsh, Dermot O'Leary and Olly Murs, only to marry himself, while Ricky Gervais resurrected the character of David Brent from The Office. Pop stars One Direction performed the official Comic Relief single, a cover version of Blondie's One Way or Another which also samples The Undertones' Teenage Kicks, while band member Louis Tomlinson dyed his hair red for the occasion. There were also outings for TV shows the Vicar Of Dibley and Call The Midwife, while comedians Jack Whitehall and Micky Flanagan attempted their best dishes for Comic Relief does MasterChef, in a head-to-head cook-off for Dame Edna Everage. But there were also reminders of what Red Nose Day and Comic Relief are about, with moving films on the effects of malaria, pneumonia and starvation in Africa and domestic abuse in the UK. The night of entertainment was hosted by celebrities including Davina McCall, Claudia Winkleman, John Bishop, Jonathan Ross and Comic Relief co-founder Lenny Henry. Singer Jessie J raised more than £500,000 when she had her head shaved. She told host Dermot O'Leary, who seemed to be enjoying stroking her newly-bald head, that: 'It's the weirdest feeling.' One Direction performed the official charity single, a cover of Blondie's One Way or Another, which samples Teenage Kicks by The Undertones The band's Louis Tomlinson sported red hair dye in his quiff for One Direction's live performance on Red Nose Day last night A series of moving films, including Harry Style's visit to Ghana, throughout the evening reminded viewers where their money would go The cast of Call the Midwife took part in a sketch last night She had admitted being nervous beforehand, but told viewers: 'It feels so liberating. But this isn't about this (gesturing to her head), it's about donating.' The singer said it was 'amazing' to have raised so much money, and added: 'Everyone's crying. My mum's back there, crying with happiness.' Jessie, who has visited Comic Relief-funded project Body & Soul which helps young people living with HIV, said: 'I feel exhilarated to be able to have the opportunity to raise money for people that aren't fortunate enough to say something and be heard.' The BT Red Nose challenge - a five-day trip down the Zambezi River in Africa by comedians Dara O'Briain and Jack Dee, singer Melanie C, actress Chelsee Healey, triple jumper Phillips Idowu and Radio 1 DJ Greg James - also raised almost £1.2million. A week of madcap challenges by comedian Miranda Hart, including organising a real life wedding in a matter of hours, raised £1.1million. David Walliams shared an intimate secret with celebrities he had become close to over the year, including Kate Moss, Alan Carr and Hugh Grant, while Rowan Atkinson addressed the nation on the importance of fundraising - in the guise of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Thousands of people across the UK did their bit for the cause, dressing up for work yesterday, taking cakes into work and holding wacky fundraising events. Dermot O'Leary and Claudia Winkleman were joined by Miss Piggy for their stint hosting the live show Micky Flanagan and Jack Whitehall took each other on in the Masterchef kitchen to try to impress Dame Edna Everage Dame Edna didn't seem too impressed with Whitehall and Flanagan's cooking efforts Slough MP Fiona Mactaggart pledged £14,268 to Comic Relief after writing on Twitter: 'I will give £1.00 to Comic relief for every retweet of this message before 9pm.' She admitted being 'Twitter naive' before sending the message but told followers she could afford it. Sainsbury's also donated more than £10million through sales of Red Nose Day merchandise, TK Maxx raised £3.7million through sales of the Red Nose Day T-shirts, designed by Stella McCartney, and homeware, and British Airways donated more than £2million. The Government also promised to back the public's support with a donation of £16million to the overall total, specifically for Comic Relief's work to improve the lives of women and girls in Africa. BT's 10,000 volunteers handled 458,000 calls to the donation line during the live TV show, peaking at 200 calls per second. Comic Relief co-founder Richard Curtis said: 'Once again the extraordinary generosity of the British public has put Comic Relief in a position to be able to serve thousands upon thousands of people with very hard lives in Africa and the UK. 'It's almost impossible to thank enough all those who took part in the event, all the members of the public who fund-raised and all those who gave so generously on the night.'