BIG NIGHT IN TO STAR IN BIG NIGHT IN TV 3 TELETHON

Big Night In looks set to become the best known greyhound in New Zealand after this weekend. That's because the Phil Green trained sprinter is all set to star during TV 3's Big Night In Telethon during the weekend. Pictured: Big Night In wearing the dress rug he will parade in during the TV 3 Big Night In Telethon.

The canine Big Night In will make a cameo appearance at the Auckland based Telethon studios on Saturday night with Auckland president Phil Green and then he will strut

 Big Night In is all set for his weekend of ‘stardom' with Craig Rendle and Phil Green

Benefiting from the Big Night In telethon is the Kidscan Standtall Charitable Trust, which is dedicated to ensuring all Kiwi kids affected by poverty can look forward to a bright future.

Throughout the duration of the Telethon which runs for 23 hours starting Saturday night, numerous celebrities will compete in a series of dares, designed to generate donations. The Telethon producers have advised that this portion is considered as one of the premier events on the Telethon.

Then at 3.10pm on Sunday afternoon Big Night In, the greyhound will match his paws against some of the Telethon celebrities over the Auckland 318 metre sprint distance as Auckland Club board member and syndicate manager for Big Night In, Craig Rendle explains.

"We will estimate the time the celebs will require over the sprint and handicap them accordingly. Hopefully the result will be as close to a dead-heat as possible.

"The celebrities will stay on course for 30 or so minutes following the Race Of Champions to interact with the public. The Auckland club will be dedicating various aspects of Sunday's race meeting to the Telethon and will be undertaking fund raising activities during the meeting."

There are some pretty slick looking celebrities set down to undertake this race. Included is the Kiwi born, super Aussie V8 race car driver Greg Murphy, who has won the prestigious marathon Bathurst V8 race on four occasions.

Stunt woman Zoe Bell will be lining up. She is best known for her work doubling for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess and Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, among other movies.

Mark Mitchell is best know as the famous character Con The Fruiterer, whom he played on The Comedy Company. He also plays Con's wife, Marika. Both characters have outlived the original show and continue to make appearances on and off television.

Bill and Ben from Pulp Sport require little introduction. They mix sport with various styles of comedy. The hosts Jamie Linehan and Ben Boyce act under their respective pseudonyms Bill and Ben, performing a half hour of various sports based on skits. They are usually accompanied by an anthropomorphic canine Mascot.

Bill, Ben & Mascot

There's also a possibility that some other celebrities will join this elite crew.

Big Night In, the greyhound is raced by the Knee Tremblers syndicate, comprising of Craig and Morag Rendle, Desiree Hocquard and Peter Sweetman. He warmed up his Sunday sprint by trailing over 318 metres in 18.71 seconds on Tuesday afternoon.

Big Night In with handler Cynthia Earley and part owner Desiree Hocquard after winning at Manukau in January