Strictly storms into Blackpool

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 21:46

STRICTLY Come Dancing contestants got into the seaside spirit yesterday as they donned "kiss me quick" hats to prepare for an edition from Blackpool.

The remaining stars hotfooted it to the Lancashire coastal town – a traditional home of ballroom dancing – for tonight's programme, which will be broadcast from the Tower Ballroom.

They will also be dropping in at a BBC event aimed at encouraging hundreds of people to take part in a mass dance on the final weekend of the famous Blackpool illuminations. Contestants – including Laila Rouass, Craig Kelly and Ali Bastian – got the holiday vibe with T-shirts, feather boas and buckets and spades as they arrived.

The Tower Ballroom, where the floor is made up of more than 30,000 separate wooden blocks and the roof can be opened, was for many years the traditional home to long-running BBC series Come Dancing, which was axed before the resurgence of interest in fancy footwork. Strictly last visited Blackpool for the final of series two in 2004, when actress Jill Halfpenny and her dancing partner, Darren Bennett, were champions.

Today's mass dance events take place at Blackpool's Winter Gardens.