STRICTLY Come Dancing is in full swing and very much giving us the ultimate countdown to Christmas.
As always, mid-way through the competition the dancers will perform at the iconic Tower Ballroom in Blackpool, so when is it this year? Find out all you need to know here…
When is Strictly Blackpool week?
Strictly’s Blackpool week is usually week nine of the BBC series – and it’s the same this year.
On Saturday November 9, hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly confirmed the Strictly Blackpool live special will air on Saturday, November 16.
The results show will air as normal the day after.
Where is the Tower Ballroom and can I visit it?
The ballroom is located inside the Blackpool Tower and really is an institution.
Standing proudly on the Blackpool seafront, the tower is an imposing 158 m tall and welcomes over 650,000 visitors per year – so yes you can visit it yourself!
The Tower was built in 1894 and the magical ballroom with its spectacular architecture and unique sprung floor is world-famous.
There is dancing on the celebrated floor every day and visitors can take a whirl themselves or watch others during one of the daily tea dances.
It forms the centrepiece to any series of Strictly Come Dancing and is the week that the celebrities strive for when they shimmy their first tentative steps on the show.
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Why do the contestants get so excited about dancing there?
Before the celebrities even think about winning the competition, their sole aim is to get to Blackpool.
The trip is around mid-way through the competition and all the contestants covet the opportunity to perform in the iconic ballroom to show off what they’ve learned so far.
The venue is where the original Come Dancing series was filmed in the 1970s and the block wooden floor is famously springy underfoot (to reduce the impact on the dancers’ joints).
The ballroom is far larger than the BBC Strictly studio at 11 sq m, and the celebrities feel a real excitement and honour to dance there.
For the professional dancers, it’s a return to where many of them will have competed during their careers, with numerous national and international competitions being held there.
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What are the best Strictly Come Dancing performances at Blackpool?
Who can forget Jill Halfpenny’s winning Jive from series two in 2004?
Not necessarily the best performance, but certainly one of the most memorable was Ann Widdecombe’s 2010 Samba.
Paired with Anton Du Beke the ex-MP wore one of her most famous outfits of her run on Strictly. She didn’t quite score the perfect 10s she was looking for, but she certainly entertained the fans.
