Lenny Rush will be the host of tonight’s Children in Need on BBC One, but who is the teenage actor? And how did he make it from TV show Dodger to being a BAFTA-winning star?
At just 14 years old, Lenny is the first child to be part of the presenting line-up for a live Children in Need Show since the charity telethon began in 1980.
The teen, from Burnham-On-Crouch in Essex, will join regular hosts Ade Adepitan, Mel Giedroyc, Chris Ramsey, Alex Scott and Jason Manford to host tonight’s TV spectacular.
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The night’s appeal will be broadcast live from Media City UK and include TV sketches and performances from some of the country’s most loved shows and celebrities including DIY SOS, Race Across the World and Doctor Who.
Lenny’s career in acting began at The Pauline Quirke Academy in Essex and he secured his first role playing school boy in the film Old Boys in 2018. In the same year, he went on to star in four episodes of Apple Tree House as the character, Eli.
He is best known for his roles in the CBeebies docu-soap Our Family, CBBC’s The Dumping Ground and as The Sweeper in comedy drama The Dodger, alongside Christopher Eccleston. The initially small role was expanded especially for Rush and given the character name Morgan.
Audiences went on to fall in love with Rush’s performance as Ollie, the son of Daisy May Cooper’s character, in BBC One comedy Am I Being Unreasonable? in which he was given the opportunity to improvise, as well as perform lines.
(Image: BBC / Neil Sherwood)
As the result of an incredible start to his career, it came as no surprise when in December last year, Rush was voted Best Breakthrough at the I Talk Telly Awards. It was announced in January 2023 that Lenny would be receiving a breakthrough award at the 2023 National Comedy Awards, and in March won two awards at the Royal Television Society Programme Awards, winning the Breakthrough Award, and Best Male Comedy Performance.
But the awards didn’t stop there – in May 2023, Rush won the BAFTA for Male Performance in a Comedy Programme for his work on Am I Being Unreasonable? And that wasn’t the end of the surprises. “A dream came true” for the young actor when it was announced in June 2023 that he would play Morris in the 14th series of Doctor Who.
Lenny is set to star alongside Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa, who is taking over from David Tenant as the new timelord. The actor also has a condition called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, which affects his growth, resulting in dwarfism. He is reportedly three feet three inches in height.
Appearing on GMB in 2019, Rush insisted that “anybody can play a role”, regardless of whether they have a disability or not and he feels that all actors should be given “the same opportunities”. Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenitas is a rare genetic disorder of bone growth that results in dwarfism, characteristic skeletal abnormalities, and occasionally problems with vision and hearing.
Children in Need will be live on BBC One from 7pm-10pm tonight, November 17.
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