‘Lazy’ TV star to run London Marathon for second time along with other huge celebs

There’s plenty of celebs training for the 2025 London Marathon (Picture: REX / PA)

The 2025 London Marathon will be filled to the brim with famous faces getting their running shoes on for the second-largest annual road race in the UK.

Returning runners from last year, such as Harry Judd and Romesh Ranganathan, join the likes of Adam Woodyatt and Alexandra Burke.

The celebs will be running with 50,000 others, fundraising and chasing personal goals on Sunday, April 27.

The London Marathon is no small feat, of course, as participants run a 26.2-mile (42.2km) footrace through the capital.

Undoubtedly, the training has been intense — unless you’re Spencer Matthews, who we imagine now sees this as a stroll around the park after his ultra-marathons.

With less than a week left to get those final practice runs in, here are all the celebs to keep an eye out for on Sunday.

Lisa McGrillis Rivals’ Lisa McGrillis is running for the British Heart Foundation (Picture: Ollie Holder/British Heart Foundation/PA Wire)

While we sit on the sofa and binge-watch Rivals for the umpteenth time, actress Lisa McGrillis has been pounding the pavement in preparation for the marathon.

The Inspector George Gently star, 42, revealed she would be running to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation with her best friend Mary Cann after the death of Mary’s husband Nigel.

‘We are weeks away from the London Marathon and our training is ramping up,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘I know Nige’s spirit will be there with us every step of the way.

‘Beyond proud of my bestest friend @mazco29 whose strength inspires me everyday.’

Weeks after the marathon, Lisa will be filming series two of Disney Plus’ Rivals in which she stars as Valerie Jones.

Lisa revealed to PA: ”Before any job, especially with a character like Valerie in Rivals – she’s meant to be like a little mouse and I don’t think I am really like a little mouse –  you always think “I need to lose a bit of weight to get into those costumes”. All my costumes are quite snatched at the waist.

‘I was thinking “I’m going to be so slim for starting Rivals, I’ll be ready to go, ready for those lovely high-waisted 80s snatched-in trousers” but actually quite the opposite, I’m eating like a horse.

‘It’s not quite having the effect on my body I wanted it to, it’s just making it feel sore.’

Harry Judd Harry Judd will run again for The Children’s Trust (Picture: John Walton/PA Wire)

Hardly surprising that McFly drummer, Harry Judd, is planning to run again this year, having completed it twice before.

He’s become quite the athlete, taking on a second life as a running influencer (runfluencer?) on his Instagram.

Last year he completed the London Marathon in under three and a half hours — although his competitive spirit might kick in as this was 15 minutes up from the time before.

Marathons aren’t his only sporting achievements, though, as in 2011, he showed off his dancing prowess on Strictly Come Dancing and lifted the Glitterball Trophy with his professional dance partner Aliona Vilani.

In 2023, Harry, 39, competed on Celebrity Race Across the World with his mother, Emma, and finished in second place.

As with last year, the musician is raising money for The Children’s Trust, who support children with brain injuries and neurodiversity.

Romesh Ranganathan Romesh Ranganathan used to hate running (Picture: Julian Benjamin/Runner’s World)

Returning for his second year in a row, despite once claiming to be ‘lazy’ when it comes to running, is Romesh Ranganathan, 47.

Once again, he’ll be taking on the 26.2 mile route in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust but this year the comedian is more optimistic.

He’s done a ‘complete 180 on running’ after not being a sporty kid and ‘dreading’ when it was time to run in PE.

‘I used to find running, and exercise in general, very inaccessible,’ Romesh told Runners World. ‘I didn’t think that it was for me, and I didn’t think that it was for anyone I’d want to hang out with.

‘It felt elite and like you needed to be built a certain way.’

Speaking about the London Marathon, he added: ‘I did it in six and a half hours [last year], which is pretty much walking pace. But in my defence, I was doing lots of selfies and didn’t realise how long the cues for the toilets were.

He’s running for The Teenage Cancer Trust (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)

‘This year, I’m aiming for sub-five, which feels within the realms of possibility.’

On Instagram, Romesh shared: ‘So turns out when you sign up to run a marathon, you actually have to run it… and I’m doing it to raise money for the amazing @teenage_cancer.

‘In order to show my commitment, if we reach the target I will get a tattoo designed by a young person TCT has helped. It can’t be Spurs based though. Thank you.’

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Burke is completing the marathon in memory of her mother (Picture: Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

X Factor legend Alexandra Burke will be taking on the London Marathon this year, although we reckon she could do it even better in broken heels.

Alexandra, 36, is a keen runner and completed the London Half Marathon just weeks ago.

She’s raising money for Diabetes UK and the Melissa Bell Foundation, which she created in honour of her mother and soul singer who died in 2017.

On Instagram, the Bad Boys hitmaker shared: Eight years ago, we lost Melissa Bell, but her legacy lives on. She was a dedicated @diabetesuk Ambassador, advocating for education, research & support.

‘In her memory, we founded @melissabellfoundation, which helps young people pursue their dreams through a summer scholarship at the @sytslondon. We are continuing her work in a way we hope she would be proud of by running this marathon to raise funds for both Diabetes UK and The Melissa Bell Foundation. ????’

She told New! Magazine, via Yahoo!, that she was hoping to expand her family but wanted to run the marathon for her mum first.

Joel Dommett Joel Dommett wants to run sub-three hour (Picture: Cancer Research UK)

Comedian Joel Dommett, 39, will be returning to take on the London Marathon, possibly without his aerodynamic piranha suit this time.

The Masked Singer host infamously ran last year dressed up in Danny Jones’ piranha costume, completing the track in a very sweaty 5:19:19.

He told TCS London Marathon after the race: ‘It was definitely the hardest marathon I’ve done. Really had to dig deep. Lots of shouting to myself.

‘It probably weighs, I reckon, probably about 8kg, something like that. The hard thing was it was just banging against my head the entire time. I think I’m about three inches shorter now.’

No word on if he’ll be donning a costume this year, but series six winner Samantha Bark’s Pufferfish might be a little easier to run in (only a little).

For 2025, Joel is raising money for Brain Tumour Support UK and said in an Instagram video: ‘They are an incredible charity that helped me and my wife personally when my mother-in-law had a brain tumour three or four years ago.

‘I would love you to donate if possible. What I’m trying to do is run the marathon in a sub-three-hour run along with Harry Judd.’

He added: ‘Your words of encouragement on the day mean so so much, and it’s been real tough, so please donate as much as you can. We’ll see you there on the 27th of April.’

Craig Parkinson Craig Parkinson finally broke through the 18 mile mark (Picture: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

Line of Duty star Craig Parkinson is set to run for The Samaritans, and he has called the training ‘extraordinary’.

The 49-year-old actor confessed that in the last year, he had gone from running one 5k a week to running ‘incredibly tough’ marathons.

On Instagram, Craig wrote: ‘The brick wall that I couldn’t seem to smash through was going above 18.5 miles. I tried but on two separate occasions but I ran out of puff. Nothing left in the tank.

‘It was beginning to worry me. Would I ever get beyond that mark? Would I have to pull out?’

About seven days ago, just weeks before the London Marathon, he broke 21 miles and felt ‘mentally stronger’.

‘I never thought I’d be able to run a distance like that,’ Craig said. ‘That 26.2 doesn’t seem as unachievable as it did a few weeks ago. Don’t get me wrong, it still feels a bloody long way….that’s because it is!’

In an update days later, he shared a snap after a seafront run with friend Rob Deering, who is also a keen runner.

He said: ‘Having trained solo for the past few months, it was a real joy to run with Rob and also pick his brains about what I can look forward to on 27th…..lots of Vasoline apparently.’

Kelly Brook Kelly Brook is running with her husband Jeremy Parisi (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Model Kelly Brook is running in the 2025 marathon with her husband Jeremy Parisi, sponsored by Radox rather than on behalf of a charity.

The couple have been training together and Kelly, 45, said she had ‘been really enjoying’ running with Jeremy.

‘It’s just been really great to do something together,’ she said on social media. ‘It’s been raining, it’s been frosty, it’s been snowing.

‘Sometimes I feel I just can’t do anymore. Jeremy is really good at encouraging me. Somehow I pull it out of somewhere and I just keep going.’

The SlimFast ambassador told the DailyMail: ‘In terms of training and doing things together on a physical level, that is a bit more challenging because he’s super competitive and he’s very fit and sometimes when he comes out on a run with me, it’s like he’s my carer! 

‘I feel like I’ve let my fitness go a bit. This is why I’m a bit more of an advocate now and getting out and going for a run because I hadn’t done it for years.’

She added: ”I feel like the exercise has really helped with my mental health actually. More so than I thought.’

Adam Woodyatt Adam Woodyatt hasn’t let his three week holiday deter him (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Adam Woodyatt isn’t holding out hope for a speedy run time on Sunday as he confessed he hadn’t done any practice runs ‘at all’ in the last three weeks.

Taking to Instagram, he revealed his ‘top tips’ for running the London Marathon, poking fun at himself.

‘Don’t go on holiday to America for three weeks prior to the marathon,’ the EastEnders icon said. ‘Do no training runs at all and eat your body weight in Gideon’s cookies.

‘Basically put on as much weight as a Trump tariff, yes that’s exactly what I’ve done.’

He did head out for a training run on Easter Sunday but said he ‘struggled’, however, ‘not as much as those living with Alzheimer’s’.

Adam, 56, still plans to run the marathon for his charity — Alzheimer’s Research UK — and has been back in training mode since getting home.

‘Jet Lag is still playing havoc with my sleep so #Maranonia is starting to creep in but I’ll do a couple of little runs next week just to keep my legs ticking over,’ he added.

Kitty Scott-Claus Kitty Scott-Claus will run in honour of The Vivienne (Picture: jeremy_joseph)

Drag Race UK star Kitty Scott-Claus will run in memory of The Vivienne, real name was James Lee Williams, who died on January 5 at the age of 32.

The LGBTQ+ community was left reeling from the tragedy, with heartbroken tributes pouring in from fans and friends.

Kitty and G-A-Y owner Jeremy Joseph are raising money for Liverpudlian charity Sahir House, which The Viv advocated for.

They are also raising money for London Friend: Antidote, Pancreatic Cancer UK and the national LGTBQIA+ support line Switchboard.

The drag icon told Metro: ‘It came to January when we started doing the long-distance, actual marathon training, when we were deciding who we were going to run for, that’s when we had the untimely passing of The Vivienne, and it felt like it was just such a natural thing to choose the charity that Viv has supported and championed, Sahir House, and to do this in Viv’s honour to run for a charity that she believed in is incredible. It felt like a no-brainer.’

The Vivienne suddenly died in January (Picture: Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Jeremy shared: ‘You feel so useless when you lose someone, but it just felt like I want to do something, I want to make something right.

‘There’s no sense in losing someone so early on in their lives, nothing made sense at the time and this made sense.

‘It felt completely right… it was about keeping The Vivienne’s memory alive. It was about running for her.’

The London Marathon takes place on Sunday, April 27, and all donation links are on the celebrities’ social media pages.

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