Childline proves it still has The X Factor

X Factor host Dermot O’ Leary and a host of stars attended a ball to celebrate 25 years of the ChildLine help line which was founded by That’s Life! presenter Esther Rantzen to give children in crisis a telephone number they could call and seek help.

X Factor host Dermot O’ Leary and a host of stars attended a ball to celebrate 25 years of the Childline help line which was founded by That’s Life! presenter Esther Rantzen to give children in crisis a telephone number they could call and seek help.

The grand ball was held last night at London’s swanky Savoy Hotel. The event raised more than £600,000.

Esther Rantzen said: “It was a fantastic evening, a really thrilling way for ChildLine to celebrate this very important year, its 25th. Dermot O’ Leary was his usual charming self. Mary Byrne and Rebecca Ferguson were wonderful as they always are. And we raised a staggering amount of money, thanks to Johnny Gould and Peter Dickson. This means we can answer all the desperate children who ring ChildLine and contact us online, giving them hope, advice, and a lifeline.

“Today is also the publication date of my book Running Out Of Tears; telling the story of young adults who rang ChildLine when they were children, and how those phone calls transformed their lives. SO this is a landmark year in ChildLine’s life and in mine.”

ChildLine was one of many causes Esther backed during her time as host of BBC One’s consumer and quirkily lifestyle magazine series That’s Life! which ran for 21 years, ending in 1994.