Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Strictly Come Dreaming
Series returns to Blackpool where pro careers began
With their bodies entwined, the Strictly Come Dancing professionals have held each other’s hands hundreds of times to retrace their steps on the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
And when they finally return to dancing’s spiritual home for the first time in three years tonight, emotions will run high as they reach out to hold each other close once again.
The first steps they took on that celebrated floor will be running through the minds of at least three of the pros because for many – including head judge Shirley Ballas – their dance journey began here.
Speaking about her “home”, Shirley says: “It’s where my first event was when I was seven. The only year I ever missed is when I gave birth to my son.
“I love everything about Blackpool… the lights, the walks on the beach, the people and the nightlife.”
Being back in Blackpool for the first time since Covid will send Strictly pros Kai Widdrington, Neil Jones and Amy Dowden back to their early dancing days, when they clutched their parents’ and grandparents’ hands on the dance floor.
Kai, 27, says: “I remember holding my grandma’s hand and walking down the steps to get into the ballroom.
“Hearing the iconic orchestra, seeing the wooden floor and watching these beautiful silhouettes of ballroom dancers glide, it didn’t seem real.”
Neil, 40, says Blackpool “was our little Paris”, adding: “We used to play the game as kids, who can spot the tower first. I used to love that.”
Amy, 32, recalls how the town’s power was immediate and convinced her a career in dance lay ahead.
“I said, ‘Mam, this is better than Disneyland’,” she laughs.
Kai was just seven when he first visited the seaside town for his debut
beginners’ competition. It was just a year after he watched the first series of Strictly, which inspired him to swap football for the dance floor.
He feared his dad Tommy, then a footballer for Southampton, would not be supportive but he was wrong, joking it was a Billy Elliot moment.
Kai says: “He always drove me to Blackpool. My family would always come… it is a fond memory.
“We would stay in a little B&B and do the amusement arcades.
“Travelling up from Southampton was a bit of a trek, a good five or six hours, but always fun.
“I’m so glad it’s still going on and
Strictly is going back there.” Tonight will be Kai’s first chance to dance in Blackpool with the show after joining Strictly last year.
While his Loose Women partner Kaye Adams is no longer in the competition, Kai will be taking to the floor in an “extra special” group dance.
He laughs when recalling the moment his young career almost crumbled as he tucked in to one of his grandmother’s homemade sandwiches.
Kai says: “The music starts and I have this tuna sandwich and I’m doing the samba with cheeks puffed out.”
For Amy, from Caerphilly, South Wales, it’s her mother’s hand she recalls holding as she first entered the ballroom aged eight. Her passion for the ballroom evolved from a love of disco dancing.
Amy recalls: “I remember it now, opening the double doors into the ballroom, holding my mum’s hand, walking down the long corridor and being, like, ‘Wow’.
“I sat in the front row and had to be bribed to leave.
It made me realise this is where I belong.” Amy, who was partnered with Eastenders actor James Bye this season, also remembers meeting then under-16 dancers Kevin and Joanne Clifton, who would go on to become Strictly stars.
She says: “I was absolutely besotted with them… they became my heroes.” That day, Amy danced Latin numbers with her formation team and won.
The next day, when other kids went to the beach, Amy asked for another ticket to re-enter the ballroom.
She says: “It didn’t bother me, going to see the sights. I wanted to dance.” Neil was also eight when he was bewitched by Blackpool. But he was also thrilled by the mini roller coaster and play area in the Tower.
Neil, who has no partner this year but was paired with football ace Alex Scott at Blackpool in 2019, says: “We would dance and then we would be thinking more about going on the rides in between the competitions.
“We would still be wearing our outfits with our numbers on. I remember my mum calling, ‘You’re meant to be on the floor. Get back!’”
After a few years though, the rides became less of an attraction for Neil.
He says: “My first good result, I was about 11. That was at Blackpool. I was, like, ‘OK, now I’m going to do it’, and focused.” Neil also found he had a talent for sewing in the town.
He recalls: “I made my partner’s dress. Everything was so expensive, she couldn’t afford the dress and she couldn’t sew, so I taught myself how.”
For all the dancers and judges returning to their “home” tonight, a lifetime of memories will flood back.
After all, Blackpool is sewn into the fabric of their lives…