Every celebrity London Marathon scandal - from cheating to returned medals

Metro

25-04-2025

Sunday marks the return of the London Marathon for 2025 on the BBC as the legendary race marks its 45th anniversary.
Having started in 1981, the London Marathon receives hundreds of thousands of applications every year from elite and amateur runners all over the world.
Every year – among both the amateurs and elites – there are numerous famous faces from the world of TV and entertainment, often raising money for their chosen charities.
In 2025, the likes of Romesh Ranganathan, Harry Judd, Alexandra Burke, Joel Dommett and more will be running the 26.2 miles from Greenwich Park to St. James' Park.
Of course, they won't be the first celebs to ever take part – but they'll be hoping to avoid London Marathon scandals that have hit celebs down the years.
Here's every occasion a big name entered the Marathon but probably finished the race wishing they hadn't bothered.
Katie Price entered the 2018 London Marathon aiming to raise funds for research into idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, on behalf of her mother.
IPF causes scarring of the lungs and makes breathing increasingly difficult, but there are no known causes for the disease and still no known cures either.
Dressed in a costume that featured a giant pair of lungs, Katie set off, aiming to finish under the seven-hour finishing time she'd recorded back in 2009.
The I'm A Celeb star tragically suffered a miscarriage in the middle of the 2009 race, but soldiered on and still finished bravely with a more than respectable time.
Sadly for Katie, a knee injury that cropped up just six miles into the 2018 Marathon brought her second attempt to a premature end, leaving her unable to finish.
Although Katie didn't make it to the end, her costume did. A police officer picked it up for her and cycled over the finish line later in the afternoon.
Jade Goody was one of the biggest names in British reality TV during the 2000s, so it's no surprise that she thought about giving the London Marathon a go.
The only problem is that the London Marathon isn't something you tend to 'give a go' – it takes months of preparation and determination to get yourself fit enough to race.
Goody unfortunately found that out after just over a mile into the 26.2 mile race. She was spotted hobbling and struggling to run with 25 miles still ahead of her.
Not to be deterred, 24-year-old Goody battled on to the 18-mile mark but soon collapsed in the street, shouting to paramedics that she was 'turning blue' and that she thought she was 'going to die'.
It turned out her diet had consisted mostly of takeaways before the big race and that she'd become 'bored' of the training regime outlined for her.
Despite being one of only 700 people who failed to complete the race in 2006, Goody still raised almost £400 for the NSPCC (£670 in 2025).
Goody tragically died three years later at the age of 27, just months after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.
In the pack of elite runners, far ahead of Katie Price & co. during the 2018 London Marathon, Sir Mo Farah ran into some problems of his own.
After running for 30 minutes, Sir Mo took an opportunity to rehydrate. Only, he ended up choosing the wrong bottle to drink from and promptly threw it away.
Shortly afterwards, he was spotted having a verbal altercation with one of the race marshals and then accidentally picked up another drinks bottle meant for someone else.
He later explained that he found the drinks station 'confusing' while his agent Gary Lough claimed the bottle Sir Mo had been told to pick up wasn't where it was supposed to be.
'There were two bottles the same. There was a bit of confusion and Mo got a bit agitated. But he managed to figure it out and keep himself in the race.'
Sir Mo still recorded a solid overall time of two hours and six minutes, eventually finishing third, making him the first British man in 33 years to get on the podium.
Sister to TV personality James Argent and a big name in her own right, Towie star Natasha Argent was more than worthy of a spot in the 2016 London Marathon.
However, after the race finished, Natasha was quickly accused of 'cheating' her way to the finish line after it appeared she'd run the entire back half of the race (13.1 miles) in just 48 minutes.
That meant she would have run the last portion of the race at less than four minutes-per-mile and 10 minutes faster than the world record at the time.
After the accusations mounted up, Natasha revealed that she suffered a panic attack midway through the race and briefly left the course to recuperate.
'I kept running for probably a mile and then went over to a marshal,' she told OK! 'I told him I had gone wrong and asked him to get me back to the place I should be.'
Sadly, as much as the race organisers sympathised with her situation, Natasha was still forced to give her medal back after failing to complete the full race.
Love Island star Georgia Harrison was at the centre of controversy in 2019 after completing the London Marathon in exactly four hours.
Georgia, who was 24 at the time, claimed she hadn't done that much training, despite recording the time every amateur runner wants to achieve.
Some social media users accused her of cheating, and even claimed that another person wore her race number, but her management hit back quickly saying Georgia was just a 'strong-willed young woman'.
In a statement released afterwards, Georgia confessed to how little work she'd put in beforehand: 'Hate to break it to you guys, but I ain't the girl to ask [for running tips]. I have been drunk for the majority of this month.
'I didn't really do enough training. I've done one long run, but I literally I got in at three in the morning the night before that. Don't ask me about training programs and stuff, because I really didn't do much.'
After competing at the 2023 London Marathon, Kate Carter – commissioning editor of Runners World – was investigated by her own magazine following cheating accusations.
Kate, who holds the record for running the best marathon time while wearing an animal costume, was accused by an American blogger who claimed there was no evidence she'd run the entire race. More Trending
In the aftermath, the prominent runner said she hadn't recorded an official time during the race, only to find out she had 'run quicker than expected'.
Upon learning this information, Kate decided to draw in a route on Strava based on her time – she would later describe this decision as an 'error in judgement'.
Kate immediately denied any wrongdoing and was eventually cleared by England Athletics, who uncovered 'no intention to deceive' and 'no attempt to benefit from the results'.
Being one of the most high-profile amateur runners in the country, the possibility of Kate duping race organisers was taken very seriously.
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