Strictly star Debbie McGee has compared the show’s landmark Blackpool week to attending a “teenage prom”.
The former magician’s assistant – among the favourites to take this year’s glitterball trophy – will perform a samba to a Spice Girls medley with partner Giovanni Pernice on Saturday night’s show.
Ahead of taking to the dancefloor at Blackpool’s Tower Ballroom, McGee said: “I don’t know what to expect from Blackpool … I’ve got butterflies like I’m going to a teenage prom.
“For all the pros, it’s incredibly special to them and they’ve worked so hard for us that it’s our way of paying them back.”
“It’s a milestone,” she added.
Fellow favourite Alexandra Burke – who topped the leaderboard last week – said her professional partner, Gorka Marquez, had drummed into her the importance of Blackpool.
She said: “He said ‘How would it feel to headline your own concert at the Royal Albert Hall?’ I said it would be a dream come true and he went ‘That’s how we feel about Blackpool’.
“It’s the biggest thing for them as dancers to grace that floor and dance on that floor.
“That is the level of respect (they) have for Blackpool and how much love we have.
“When he said it like that it took me back and I was like ‘Whoa, I really want to do this for you now’.”
Other Strictly celebrities also spoke of the importance of Saturday night’s show, with Paralympian Jonnie Peacock calling it a “big deal”.
Casualty star Joe McFadden said: “I know how much it means to the pros, I know how much it means to Katya (Jones).
“She’s won eight national titles and a world title there. It’s really important for them and they say it’s such a beautiful room.”
Photos of the stars arriving in Blackpool earlier this week showed them in high spirits.
Gemma Atkinson and Aljaz Skorjanec were in a fun mood as they arrived at Blackpool Tower wearing brightly-coloured novelty sunglasses.
Skorjanec took to Twitter to share a video of Atkinson as she made her way into the world-famous venue for the first time.
McGee revealed her affection for the northern city with a printed “I (heart) BPL” bag as she arrived for rehearsals.
Also left in the competition are EastEnders actor Davood Ghadami, The Saturdays star Mollie King and Scottish comedian Susan Calman.
:: Strictly Come Dancing’s Blackpool Week special airs on BBC One at 6.45pm on Saturday November 18.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here