TV CELBRITIES boarded luxury liner Aurora in Southampton yesterday for a star-studded cruise to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Society.

Along with buyers and customers linked with supermarket chain Somerfield, the stars, such as Footballers' Wives' John Forgeham, Big Brother winner Craig Phillips and This Morning weatherman Fred Talbot sipped champagne around the pool on the liner's deck. Last night saw a massive ball for 1,500 people held on board, with Bargain Hunt's David Dickenson leading bidders in a big money charity auction.

Up for grabs was a BMW Z4 convertible and rare tickets to the women's Wimbledon semi-final.

Mr Dickenson said: "I shall be extracting hopefully from people's pockets the best bid, and calling on them to dig very deep for the charity."

It is hoped the event will raise a staggering £1m for the society, which heads up research and treatment for muscular dystrophy.

Founder and president Lord Richard Attenborough said: "We only raise £4m or £5m in a year, so to raise this much in just a weekend transforms the whole thing.

"At the moment we don't have a cure, we have enormous research going on but it's a mammoth operation."

Aurora was due to leave Southampton's Mayflower Terminal late last night to take the celebrities and more than 1,000 guests on a two-day trip to Guernsey.