Who is BBC Children in Need presenter Lenny Rush?

Actor Lenny Rush will be hosting BBC’s Children in Need telethon on Friday night alongside the likes of Vernon Kay, Chris Ramsay and Rochelle Humes.

Ade Adepitan MBE and Mel Giedroyc will also present the annual fundraiser which is being broadcast live from Salford.

It is the second year running that 15-year-old Lenny has hosted the three-hour show, after appearing on the BBC event last year.

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Lenny's acting career took off with his role in CBeebies’ Our Family in 2017. He went on to win the BAFTA for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme this year for his role in Daisy May Cooper’s comedy drama Am I Being Unreasonable?.

Lenny also won two awards at the 2023 Royal Society Programme Awards - Breakthrough Award, and best Comedy Performance.

The teenager has spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDC), which is a rare disorder that affects his growth and is triggered by a genetic mutation.

The condition is very rare. Only around one in every 100,000 babies are born with the condition, with girls and boys equally affected.

Lenny has had operations on his legs and to close a cleft palate, a split in the upper lip that is present from birth. He has also undergone surgery to insert two rods in his back to stabilise his spine.

He hopes to inspire children with dwarfism through performing.

In 2019, Lenny shared an inspiring message that “anyone can play a role” regardless of whether they have a disability or not. He said that he's “very proud” of what he's accomplished and explained that disability should not be a factor when considering somebody for a part.

Lenny feels that all actors should have “the same opportunities” before revealing he'd love to eventually play a “crime boss”.

He said: “Yeah I am very proud, but I think disability or not, I think anybody can play a role. I think it’s good for people with disabilities to have the same opportunities as other people - because why not? I’d love to play some sort of crime boss.”

BBC has put together a wide-range of comedy sketches and performances to help raise money for Children in Need including a Dr Who special, a choir singing a classic Take That song, a Strictly Come Dancing performance special among much more.

The three-hour BBC fundraising show will kick off at 7 pm tonight on BBC One and iPlayer.