First Look: Strictly Come Dancing comes to Blackpool.
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00:00So, how excited are you guys to be here in Blackpool for this episode of Strictly Come
00:27Dancing?
00:29Oh my gosh, come on. I mean, it's Blackpool. Blackpool, the empress, everything. Blackpool
00:35is about everything and everything at the same time. We love to be here. It's the best
00:40place to be and, I mean, just this iconic floor, the lights, the atmosphere and the
00:46loveliest people. Love it, love it, love it.
00:49I love your accent, Nikita. I love Blackpool. It's lovely memories coming back. It's a full
00:55circle. We used to compete here. Did you compete here?
00:58I did, I did. Actually, exactly right here and I panicked for the first time in my first
01:04competition right here on this floor. I entered the wrong heat and I got eliminated straight
01:09away.
01:10No, you didn't.
01:11There you go. There's a scoop for you.
01:12Wow. I was 10 years old when I competed here for the first time, so it's lovely to be back
01:1625 years later. Goodness me.
01:21So, you've talked about, you both have memories of Blackpool. Do you have a specific favourite
01:25part of Blackpool? Is it somewhere you always visit apart from Blackpool?
01:29Blackpool Tower.
01:30Apart from Blackpool.
01:31Do you know what? When I used to be a kid, I used to love the arcades. Love the arcades.
01:39I love, you know what? The jungle right there in the back. When I was a kid, I was just
01:43going around there and the Italian place at the corner. I mean, to be honest, I know the
01:47whole town. I've been on every street. I've been on the roofs of Blackpool as well. I've
01:52been everywhere. I love every single part of it. Best town.
01:56Goodness me. Nikita, I think I need a little tour.
01:59A little tour. Yes, a round of Blackpool.
02:02Charge me any time. Write me on Instagram. Tours of Blackpool. £5.99 per person.
02:08I'll DM you.
02:10How does your strictly competitive experience differ now that you're not competing in it?
02:17How does it feel that you can just relax a bit more and just enjoy the spectacle here in Blackpool?
02:21Well, very different from being competing on the dance floor away from Strictly. Of course,
02:28everyone wants to be with a Strictly on the dance floor, still with your partners, but
02:33unfortunately this year didn't happen for us.
02:36For neither of us, yeah.
02:37Yeah, so there is always a next year, but it's amazing to be here to do the incredible
02:42group dances. We got to do a music act as well.
02:46Oh yeah.
02:47Which is always really special. Just to dance on that, not Strictly, but even better, a
02:53ballroom Blackpool tower floor is really special. So always an honour, always a pleasure.
03:00And yeah, really looking forward to that.
03:02Do you have a message for the people of Blackpool who are looking forward to the show and massive
03:08fans of Strictly come dancing?
03:10Sorry, can you say it again at the beginning?
03:13Do you have a message for the people of Blackpool who are excited to watch the show and are
03:17waiting for everything to come out?
03:19Make sure you tune in, you don't go out, but stay at home and watch the incredible Blackpool
03:26Saturday Strictly night.
03:28It's a special show.
03:29If not, come around the tower and say hi after the live show.
03:32That is true. Come to say hi, Nadia wants to say hi to everyone.
03:35Yes, I want to say hi to all Blackpool people after the live show.
03:40I'll be off in Primark, so I'll be a bit busy.
03:43Well, I'll still say hi if I'll be in Primark, so it's lovely to be here. Thank you.
03:53I am beyond excited to be back in Blackpool with Strictly come dancing. I've been coming
03:57here since I was a youngster. I remember stepping onto this very floor near those pillars at
04:02the back there when I was about eight years old. So it's always nice to come back. There's
04:07a lot of history here, but to be coming back with Strictly is obviously extra special.
04:11So you talked about how many memories of Blackpool. Do you have a specific favourite place in
04:15Blackpool to go to?
04:17It's got to be the tower, hasn't it? The tower, I mean, it's just iconic. However, I've never
04:22been to the top. I don't know if I'm going to go any time soon.
04:26That might be something for...
04:27Wednesday.
04:28Yeah, maybe not today. But yeah, just this room in general just brings back so many memories
04:33and it's just such a beautiful place to come and dance.
04:37For the dancers that are going to be competing, how much do you think... do you think it's
04:40added to a lot of pressure? Do you think it's different to the regular place that they would
04:44be competing?
04:45I think it's just because there's so much kind of history here and the greats that have
04:48graced that floor, you know, Angela Rippon, one of them. No, but obviously, you know,
04:52I was with Angela Rippon here last year and we bowed out gracefully here and we said it
04:57was one of the, you know, what better place to leave Strictly come dancing than Blackpool.
05:01So if anyone, whoever gets eliminated, it's going to be a pretty memorable place. But
05:05wishing them all the best. No, they're all really excited to be here.
05:07Yeah. So obviously you're opening the Christmas markets. How excited are you for that?
05:13What was your reaction when you got the initial call to do this?
05:16I was very privileged, very honoured. And I can't wait to open the Christmas market
05:21here in Blackpool. It's going to be fabulous. I've never done it before anywhere. So I feel
05:25very honoured, very privileged. And I'm going to bring a scarf and a hat.
05:29Given the weather today, that's probably a good idea.
05:33Do you have a message for the people of Blackpool, for the Christmas markets and Strictly?
05:39Thank you for looking after your beautiful town. I mean, it's a place that we always
05:42love to come each year. And even us coming from the ballroom dancing world that come
05:46up every year in May and November, it's just an amazing place to come. So yeah, don't change.
05:53You said that you competed here last year. How do you think your experience is going
06:00to differ now that you're not competing at Strictly?
06:03Well, I get to watch as a bit of a punter now, which is nice. I get to enjoy it. I get
06:06to enjoy watching all the amazing couples dance. We've got a few amazing pro numbers
06:10that we're going to be doing here. So there's still a lot to look forward to. We get to
06:14grace that iconic sprung floor, which is absolutely the best floor in the world to dance on. There
06:20really is nothing quite like it. So yeah, I'm very, very lucky to be here and Strictly's
06:26in Blackpool. What more can I say? It's an amazing time.
06:28Are you excited to be back in Blackpool?
06:30I love being back here. This place holds so many amazing memories for me, especially during
06:35my Strictly journey, because this is where I did my couples choice and we got the first
06:40perfect score of the series. So this place is very, very special for me, outside of all
06:46the other amazing reasons.
06:49You've told us about that amazing performance in Blackpool. How has it changed as you're
06:58not performing this year and you're just watching it? How does that change your experience?
07:02It's so weird watching the other couples rehearsing and just not stepping onto the
07:07ballroom floor. I feel like someone should just let me go in there and do a little cameo
07:11or something, you know? Yeah, I'm jealous. I'm jealous that they get to dance and perform.
07:16That's the bit that I loved so much about doing Strictly.
07:20Do you have a particular favourite place in Blackpool together?
07:26A favourite place to go in Blackpool? I mean, that's a tough, tough, tough question. It's
07:32got to be the Tower Ballroom, isn't it? Because I've been here, I've performed here, you know?
07:37Part of my memories are here, so I would say the Tower Ballroom.
07:42Have you got a message to all the Strictly Come Dancing fans in Blackpool today?
07:47All the Strictly Come Dancing fans, you're in for a treat.
07:50This is Strictly Come Dancing.
07:52It's going to be amazing.