Sir Lenny Henry quit 'Comic Relief' because he missed working with his ex-wife Dawn French.

Sir Lenny Henry used to work on Comic Relief with his ex-wife Dawn French

Sir Lenny Henry used to work on Comic Relief with his ex-wife Dawn French

The 65-year-old comedian was married to 'Vicar of Dibley' star Dawn, 66, from 1984 until 2010, and the pair were part of "a little gang" who were all involved in the biennial charity telethon.

But in recent years things have changed, and Lenny has decided to "hand the baton" to someone else after this year.

He told the Radio Times magazine: "We were like a little gang. But for a few years I’ve felt, 'Where’s the new gang?' [Comic Relief] is a baton to be handed on to a new group of people who are going to take on Comic Relief."

The 'Three Little Birds' writer has backed former 'Doctor Who' star David Tennant to take over his role as host in the coming years, and thinks the new crop of talent currently involved in the campaign are "absolutely" qualified to take the show into the future.

He said: "I thought, well, actually, [David was] brilliant. And I think there’s other people, newer people, who are coming up like Romesh Ranganathan, Alesha Dixon, AJ Odudu.

"There are new people coming up now who can absolutely take the reins."

The TV star will front a Red Nose Day appeal for the final time on March 15, but Lenny will continue to support the charity and projects relating to it throughout the year.

He told the BBC: "I love Comic Relief and I've been doing it for 39 years. I'm a Life President of the charity and I'm still going to be supporting other Comic Relief and Red Nose Day projects throughout the year, like recruiting new talent, doing voiceovers etc. so I'll be around just not onscreen.

"I think it's time to hand over the reins because there is an extraordinary new generation of talent and we need to give these people and their audiences access to what Comic Relief can do and how we can raise money together."

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