Joe McElderry raises £10,000 for cancer charity with latest cycling challenge

The 25-year-old singing star has just cycled 250 miles to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

After setting off from the Customs House, in South Shields, on Thursday, Joe arrived back on Sunday to a cheering crowd of fans.

The X Factor and Popstar to Opera Star champ completed the charity cycle – his third – alongside a team of his family and friends.

On arriving back in his hometown, Joe, from Westoe, said: “It was very tough but it was great fun. The ride was quite gruelling, so I can’t even string a sentence together right now, but it was amazing.

“It was fabulous and the support along the way has been amazing. People turned up and there were loads of people here when we got back to wish us well.

“We’ve raised nearly £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust so I think it’s a job well done, it’s been fab.”

He added: “The ride was actually longer than we expected because a couple of the routes we did, we didn’t account for how steep the hills would be, which kind of extended some of the mileage.

“On Saturday we ended up doing about 72 miles across 13 hours, so yesterday was kind of the big day for everyone, where everyone really felt it and struggled and then we were up at 7am ready to start the day.”

Joe’s fans were at the Customs House to welcome him back and bid for the bike he rode, shirts he wore, and even the water bottle he drank from in an auction.

Joe, who is a regional ambassador for the Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “We all feel so lucky that we’re healthy enough to do something like this. The people that we’re doing it for would give anything to even be able to do half of what we’ve done. Yes it was hard but it was a great experience and we’ve raised lots of money.”