Broadcaster Greg James cycled into York today (Tuesday) to be greeted with a rapturous reception – and Long Boi himself!
The legendary tall duck, whose memorial statue Greg unveiled at the University of York in 2024, was back in mascot form to greet his return to the campus.
And many of the crowd of well wishers wore Long Boi masks.
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Greg arrived in York at the end of day five of his epic 630-mile tandem bike ride challenge for Comic Relief.
A group of cheerleaders welcomed him with their pom-poms. He was then treated to a rendition by a university choir – and was told he had so far raised more than £1.1 million for the charity.
The Radio 1 breakfast presenter said: “There were cheerleaders and ducks and people dressed as Pitbull – unless it was just some bald people.
“What a great university. You know when we did that funeral for Long Boi, when you said do you want to do it, it was an immediate ‘yeah’!
“This is my kind of place.”
Earlier on Day 5 he had met and ridden with Prince William.
William joined him just north of Doncaster and they cycled together up to Snaith as Greg makes his way from Weymouth to Edinburgh over eight days.
Joining the broadcaster on the fifth day of his challenge, William said: “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.”
Greg told William as he finished his time on the bike: “I didn’t kill the future king, William, thank you so much, that was a real, real treat.”
