Strictly Come Dancing: Blackpool Special

It may usually be filmed at Elstree Studios, but there’s no doubt that Strictly Come Dancing’s spiritual home is in the Tower Ballroom at Blackpool.

The Blackpool episode has become a Strictly tradition – and an important milestone for the contestants. The celebrities often say they want to make it to Halloween, then Blackpool, and then after that, they can truly start thinking about the glitterball trophy.

But in 2020 the annual jaunt had to be abandoned. Although that was sad, most viewers were just glad that the Strictly was on at all amid what seemed at the time like ever-changing guidelines around lockdowns.

It was a similar story in 2021, but now the good news is that this year Strictly will once again be beside the seaside.

The last time they made the trip was in 2019, when Karim Zeroual and Kelvin Fletcher tied at the top of the leader board with a Charleston and a jive respectively, while Michelle Visage left the competition after her Couples Choice to Vogue failed to win over the viewers.

But who will be strutting their stuff on the famous sprung dancefloor this week? Well, that might be difficult to predict as we’ve seen some surprising bottom twos so far this series.

The first shock came in week three, when the hotly tipped Fleur East found herself in the dance-off against Richie Anderson, who just a week before had scored an impressive 32 for his quickstep, seemingly marking him out as a contender.

The following week, it was Kym Marsh’s time to make an unexpected appearance in the bottom two, despite a very respectable samba, which is often acknowledged to be one of the most difficult dances.

Fleur and Kym were both saved, as was Molly Rainford, whose Couples Choice to Grange Hill failed to impress the TV voters during an episode dedicated to celebrating the BBC. That routine also got a lukewarm reception from the judges, but her foxtrot earned her rave reviews and 35 points – and she still ended up in the bottom two again.

So, why has the leader board been turned around so many times this year? Some seasoned Strictly fans have questioned whether the show’s enthusiasm for a gimmick has been working against the couples – sambaing while dressed as Timon from the Lion King probably didn’t do Richie any favours.

However, there have still been plenty of incredible moments this series, whether it’s Hamza Yassin, who was arguably one of the lower-profile signing this year, pulling off a jaw-dropping salsa, or Tony Adams performing a Full Monty-inspired samba that was memorable for very different reasons.

The remaining couples will hope to come up with more show-stopping routines tonight that will impress judges Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke and, more importantly, the voting public.

Then tomorrow, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman reveal who’s made it through and who has to perform again, while there’s also a musical interlude courtesy of Eurovision hero Sam Ryder.