Strictly Come Dancing: Why is the Blackpool ballroom such a big deal?

The opulent ballroom features a sprung floor and regularly hosts dance competitions, opening in its current form in 1899

Strictly Come Dancing will be back in Blackpool on Saturday night, but why is the competition held there and why is it a big deal?

The show is usually held in the Elstree studios in Hertfordshire, but for one week each year the show moves up north to the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool.

Blackpool is a seaside town famous for being the go-to place for ballroom dancing.

For the celebs and professionals on Strictly, making it to through to dance in Blackpool, is seen as an exciting milestone on the show.

Some of Strictly's professional dancers have a particularly special history with the Tower Ballroom.

"The first time I performed at Blackpool was when I was 13 or 14," said dance pro Katya Jones.

"It was magical and quite surreal. I remember going on a dinosaur ride, I don't think it exists anymore. We would go on the ride between rounds and eat chocolate from a vending machine."

Lauren Oakley also danced at Blackpool as a child.

"I was seven. I just got my first dance partner and I remember being taken aback by how amazing it was and how dancers from all over the world were there performing and competing."

Katya Jones, who is partnered with Nigel Harman this year, first performed at Blackpool as a teen

For others, joining the Strictly family gave them their first opportunity to grace Blackpool's famous stage.

"The first time I performed in Blackpool was with Strictly. I never performed in Blackpool when I was a kid," said Giovanni Pernice.

"So, for me, the first time entering the ballroom was sensational. I saw this incredible place, the chandeliers are huge! The whole concept of the place and having never been before, plus the people, who were very friendly, it was great."

Gorka Marquez also has fond Strictly memories performing at Blackpool.

"The first time I performed at Blackpool was my first year on Strictly, when I did the group numbers. Then in 2017, I did a Quickstep with Alexandra Burke and that was incredible. The Quickstep, Jive and Paso Doble are some of the best dances you can do there because the floor is so big and so springy," he said.

Getting to Blackpool week is a big goal for many Strictly celebs and professionals

This year, the judges and professionals will open the night with a dance celebrating all things Blackpool, before the remaining couples perform their routines.

Angela Rippon and Kai will be first up, dancing the American Smooth to Tea for Two by Ella Fitzgerald.

And Nigel and Katya will be rounding off the night with a Quickstep to It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing by Duke Ellington.

What's so cool about the Tower Ballroom?

The famous ballroom dates back to 1894 and is made from a whopping 30,602 pieces of oak, mahogany and walnut wood - the present version of the ballroom opened in 1899.

The dancefloor is also sprung - which means it is supported underneath by springy wooden strips or foam, making the floor slightly bouncy to dance on.

Sprung floors are thought to be the best kind of floor for dancing and indoor sports, as it can enhance performance and reduce strain and injuries.

The Blackpool dancefloor is also enormous.

It's around nine times bigger than the Elstree one, measuring 37m by 31m - So the nine remaining celebs will have plenty of room to strut their stuff.

The ballroom regularly hosts World and all-England dance championships, and the Blackpool Junior Dance Festival has been held each year in the ballroom since 1964.

The Tower Ballroom is on the beachfront in Blackpool

Strictly first came to Blackpool in 2004, for the third episode of the series.

A year later in 2005 the final was held at the Tower Ballroom.

Blackpool Week became a regular thing on the show from 2009, when Children In Need temporarily took over the Strictly studio at the old BBC Television Centre every November.