Anton Du Beke delighted to be back at Blackpool's Tower Ballroom with Strictly Come Dancing

The affable 56-year-old is an ever-present on the hugely popular Saturday night BBC1 show, as a professional dancer from its beginning in 2004 to 2019 and since 2020 as a judge, initially as a stand-in for Motsi Mabuse and from the following year, as a permanent replacement for Bruno Tonioli.

That 2019 series which saw the curtain come down on his professional dancing appearances on Strictly coincided with the last time that the show made its annual pilgrimage to Blackpool’s legendary Tower Ballroom, and that edition of the show holds particularly fond memories for Anton.

His dancing partner was EastEnders actress Emma Barton and their American Smooth performance to Let’s Face The Music and Dance by Ella Fitzgerald brought Anton his very first maximum 10 score from the judges in 15 years dancing on the show.

The couple went on to finish the series as runners-up and Anton said: “I’ll never forget that night in Blackpool. It was wonderful to earn a 10 at last and that was a fitting way to end my time there as a Strictly dancing professional.”

There are plenty of other Blackpool memories of Strictly for Anton, including taking to the floor with partners such as Lesley Garrett and Judy Murray – but not all of them good.

Back in 2010, former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe’s Samba alongside Anton saw the pair both dressed in bright yellow and resulted in that night’s lowest score of 13 out of 40.

But Anton’s memories of dancing in Blackpool go back much further than his years on Strictly.

He recalls many happy annual trips to spring and autumn national dance festivals at the Winter Gardens, staying in a B&B and soaking up the seaside atmosphere.

“It’s always good to return to Blackpool and wonderful for the show to be back at the Tower Ballroom,” said Anton.

"With only a very small number of the contestants reaching the final, getting to the Blackpool stage has become an objective in itself over the years.

“It’s a legendary venue and a very special place to dance. When you step out on that floor, it’s a marvellous feeling. It’s bigger than the one we use for the majority of the shows in London and it’s no wonder it’s regarded as the best in the country. There really is nowhere like it.”

Anton always looks forward to a warm welcome from Blackpool folk – and is grateful for all the support for the show.

"We really appreciate it – the people really do mean as much to us as we mean to them,” he said.

After so many years as such a familiar face on the show as a professional dancer, Anton is thoroughly enjoying being a Strictly judge, alongside Motsi, Craig Revel Horwood and Shirley Ballas – and predicting an eventful remainder of the series, including this weekend at the Tower.

"It really is a very exciting year, with so many great performances and so little to choose between so many of the remaining couples,” he said.

"There are certainly some very exciting weeks to come and that will the case in Blackpool I’m sure. Somebody’s favourite will be eliminated this weekend.”