Star Wars' Daisy Ridley on Celebrity Bake Off

Everyone will be touched by cancer, directly or indirectly, at some time in their life.

Personally, I've lost family and friends to the insidious disease and continue to support related charities.

So, I'd be remiss in not mentioning this year's Celebrity Bake Off is back for Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) from Tuesday on Channel 4 with host Matt Lucas, best known to Doctor Who fans (myself included) as Nardole.

Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley is among the celebrity contestants and taught celebrity chef and presenter Paul Hollywood some lightsaber moves.

“The bonus for me is Daisy taught me how to use a lightsaber,” Hollywood says. “We used a rolling pin,” he admits, in place of the Jedi's iconic weapon.

The self-confessed Star Wars fan already has some experience of martial arts. “I used to work with a nunchaku, I trained with nunchuck. It’s a martial art weapon,” the 54-year-old says. “So, I was familiar with that movement, But I wanted to know how you do the spin. She showed me how it’s done. And it’s actually an optical illusion to make it look like it’s flipping around, but it was great. Everyone will see the truth!”

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer starts 9th March on Channel 4 and you can catch up on All 4.

Rebel Against Cancer

Calling all Star Wars fans - Stand Up To Cancer, Lucasfilm and Rovio have collaborated on a new line of co-branded t-shirts with one goal in mind: fighting cancer.

All SU2C Angry Birds Star Wars T-Shirts are sold exclusively at the SU2C store, and are a great way to give back this holiday season (a portion of all proceeds benefit cancer research). The shirts feature iconic characters from both Star Wars and Angry Birds, with “Let’s Smash Cancer,” “Rebel Against Cancer,” and “Totally Over Cancer” emblazoned on the shirts.

The t-shirts are available in Heather Gray or Black and vary in size from S to XXL. Prices range from $19.99 to $29.99.

Stand Up To Cancer this holiday season!

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) and Lucasfilm will continue their collaboration this holiday season when they release never-before-seen outtakes from the highly popular star-studded video clip that urges fans to Use the Force for Good. The campaign continues to raise funds for groundbreaking cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. Just in time for holiday shopping and due to popular demand, SU2C and Lucasfilm have added a fourth design incorporating the iconic image of Darth Vader to their line of co-branded tees, which feature Star Wars™ artwork alongside SU2C’s signature upward arrows and slogans such as “Blast Cancer” and “Use the Force for Good.” This new exclusive Darth Vader t-shirt bears the slogan “Do Not Underestimate the Power of SU2C,” and will be available for purchase in late November. The full line of tees is available for purchase at store.standup2cancer.org/shop with proceeds benefiting SU2C.

In addition, a new behind-the-scenes look at the Star Wars video tribute featuring celebrity Star Wars enthusiasts and SU2C Ambassadors— Aziz Ansari, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, Jaime King, Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg and Emma Stone—who were joined by Star Wars alum Samuel L. Jackson, can currently be viewed on the Star Wars YouTube channel, youtube.com/starwars, alongside the original video tribute. This new behind-the-scenes video not only captures funny outtakes from the all-star cast, but also highlights candid moments where the cast members express why they participated in the original Star Wars video tribute. With approximately 800,000 hits on YouTube so far, the original Star Wars video tribute encourages fans to Use the Force for Good and join Lucasfilm in donating to Stand Up To Cancer.

“To build a grassroots movement of people determined to end this disease, cancer and references to it have to become part of the pop culture zeitgeist,” said Sue Schwartz, SU2C co-founder and partner at Robertson Schwartz Agency. “Lucasfilm’s willingness to highlight the fight against cancer with an icon like Star Wars is a huge boon to our efforts. Everyone at Stand Up To Cancer is eternally grateful to Lucasfilm and our celebrity ambassadors for ‘Using the Force for Good.’ We look forward to continuing this campaign through the end of the year to raise funds for life-saving cancer research.”

Use the Force for Good!

This week's release of Star Wars on Blu-ray disc has witnessed memorable marketing initiatives around the globe.

From the BT Tower becoming the world's largest lightsaber to Stormtroopers from the 501st Legion protecting New Yorkers from Jawas and Stand Up To Cancer. The latter affects us all, either directly or indirectly. Personally, I've lost family and friends to cancer, which is why I'm compelled to share this...

Lucasfilm has announced that in celebration of the September launch of Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray, it is linking up with celebrities, eBay and Major League Baseball to ask fans to Use the Force for Good to support Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). SU2C funds groundbreaking cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives.

SU2C Ambassadors Aziz Ansari, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, Jaime King, Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg and Emma Stone – along with Star Wars alum Samuel L. Jackson – will each Use the Force for Good as they recreate classic Star Wars scenes to raise awareness for cancer research.  The all-star video tribute appears on the Star Wars YouTube channel youtube.com/starwars.



“Lucasfilm joining with eBay, Major League Baseball and a wonderful group of actors is an amazing force for good being brought to bear in Stand Up To Cancer’s fight against this disease, and we are profoundly grateful,” said SU2C Co-Founder Sue Schwartz. “With one in two men and one in three women diagnosed in their lifetimes, cancer affects us all.  SU2C’s mission is to persuade each and every person to support the scientists working to end cancer, and this initiative gives legions of Star Wars fans fun and easy ways to do that.”

“We are thrilled to be using the launch of Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray as a call to action for our fans to Use the Force for Good,” said Kayleen Walters, Senior Director of Marketing at Lucasfilm. “We are happy to use the power of Star Wars to support this noble cause.”