SARA Cox and a team of famous faces from the BBC beat ITV stars in a boat race for Sport Relief.

The radio DJ from Bolton was part of the winning team who were victorious in the 1,200 metre race at Salford Quays.

The ‘Clash of the Channels’ race saw the teams row down Salford Quays to the finish line at MediaCityUK.

The BBC team was made up of Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox, newsreader Sophie Raworth, Countryfile’s Ellie Harrison, Radio 1 DJ Dev Griffin, BBC Breakfast’s Dan Walker and Top Gear’s Rory Reid.

Rowing for ITV was Good Morning Britain presenter Charlotte Hawkins, Coronation Street’s Nicola Thorp, Emmerdale’s Chris Bisson, TOWIE star and presenter Ferne McCann, Benidorm’s Jake Canuso and Love Island star Chris Hughes.

Tweeting after the race, Chris Hughes said he felt ‘a bit sore’ and Jake Canuso said it was ‘a tough challenge but worth it’.

Double Olympic gold-medallist James Cracknell OBE captained the BBC team to victory.

Two-time Olympic champion Helen Glover led the ITV team.

Before the event, five-time Olympic Gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave offered his expert advice to both teams.

Sir Steve said: “Training for such a synchronised team sport like rowing is going to be a huge challenge for all of them. They’ll need explosive energy, stamina and a great sense of timing, so anything could happen!”

The crew members were in training for eight weeks before the event.

The full race was due to be aired as part of Sport Relief on BBC One this evening.