One Direction to perform from Albert Square during Children in Need night

One Direction are set to perform from a less glamorous location than they are used to - EastEnders' Albert Square.

The chart-topping boy band will sing from the set of EastEnders for this year's BBC Children In Need Appeal show.

This year's fundraiser, which also features the return to Albert Square of some of its most famous residents - Cindy Beale, Pat Butcher and Kathy Mitchell - in a TV sketch, is being screened from the home of the BBC One soap.

Now it has been confirmed that Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson will perform live from the bridge in Albert Square.

The band will sing new song Night Changes, as well as their current single Steal My Girl.

They said: "We are thrilled to be performing on BBC Children In Need again this year. It's a charity that we hold very close to our hearts and we are really excited about our special performance in the iconic Albert Square."

The show's line up also includes music from Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, The Script - who will be performing in The Queen Vic - Susan Boyle, Boyzone and S Club 7.

Gareth Malone and his All-Star Choir will perform the official BBC Children in Need single on TV for the first time.

The BBC Children In Need Appeal show takes place on Friday from 7.30pm on BBC One and BBC Two.

 

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.