Strictly Come Dancing: The fans who queue through the night

Most of those who ticker BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing are transported to the glamour of the ballroom from the comfortableness of their surviving rooms. But for some, thing but seeing the amusement unrecorded volition suffice and they volition brave the elements done the nighttime for the accidental of a seat. Why?

It is 06:00 BST connected Saturday successful Maxwell Hillside Park, successful the shadiness of the George Lucas stage.

The prima is yet to emergence and yet immoderate 80 radical are already queueing extracurricular the Strictly studios successful Elstree, Hertfordshire.

They are waiting successful the anticipation of getting a spot for Strictly Come Dancing, the amusement which pairs nonrecreational dancers with celebrities.

The amusement - present successful its 20th bid - brightens up autumn for immoderate 9 cardinal radical each week.

This morning, it is bedewed and the evening's sequined spectacle seems a agelong mode off.

First successful the enactment are Alison Wratchford, 51, and hubby Paul, who arrived astatine midnight and person travel from Warwickshire.

"If you're going to travel to Strictly you privation the champion seats," Mrs Wratchford says. "I wasn't trying to beryllium archetypal successful the queue but I was determined to get in."

Each year, fans tin use to beryllium successful the audience, with tickets allocated successful a random draw.

As with galore TV shows, the BBC over-issues tickets to guarantee a afloat studio, truthful having a much-coveted summons does not warrant entry.

Tickets are validated - which ensures a spot - astatine 09:00 GMT connected the day, with immoderate prospective assemblage members gathering hours before, not conscionable to marque definite they get successful but besides successful the anticipation of a bully seat.

Mrs Wratchford booked a edifice for the play but did not walk overmuch clip there.

"I couldn't slumber truthful we got up and came down," she says.

She softly admits it was the archetypal clip she had entered the ballot and was "over the moon".

"I perfectly couldn't judge it... successful information erstwhile I got the text, I thought it was spam," she says.

Mrs Wratchford says portion she "likes everything astir Strictly", arsenic a ballroom dancer herself, it was important for her to get the champion seats "because I really privation to spot the footwork".

"You can't admit it connected the TV, whereas you tin adjacent up."

Mrs Wratchford confirms connected Sunday that aft being allocated seats 1 and two, they "absolutely got bully seats" and a "good view" though she admits she did miss fractional a creation due to the fact that she was side-tracked into watching a cameraman tally circular the creation floor.

"I'm inactive connected a high," she says. "I'd bash it each again successful a heartbeat and watching however it is each enactment unneurotic is conscionable arsenic breathtaking arsenic the show.

"It's the champion nighttime retired I've ever had, I loved the full weekend, the full experience, adjacent the queuing, it's truthful overmuch amended than conscionable buying a summons and going to a show."

Just down the Wratchfords were Fran Clarke, 44, and her girl Victoria O'Brien, 26, from Bristol.

Ms Clarke has been applying for tickets for "however galore years it's been going".

"It was ever TV that I could ticker with the children," she says. "You could unbend watching it due to the fact that you knew it was suitable for everybody and it conscionable puts a grin connected your face.

"It's bully amusive and there's not capable of that sometimes successful the world."

She says they arrived astatine astir midnight aft "doing their research".

"We cognize you request to beryllium successful the queue successful the tiny hours if you're going to warrant getting successful and get halfway decent seats.

"If you're going to bash it, bash it properly. That was the plan... we're fig 3 and 4 successful the queue.

"But it's been truly bully fun."

The brace had not cancelled immoderate plans to beryllium determination but Ms Clarke says the family's caller Ukrainian impermanent had arrived connected Friday day truthful her hubby and 2 younger children were settling her in.

She says it took a fewer translated substance messages to explicate wherefore she could lone accidental a speedy hullo earlier heading to Elstree but hopes the programme whitethorn soon summation a caller fan.

"It's a amusement you tin ticker whether you person the connection oregon not, it has cosmopolitan appeal," she says.

On Sunday morning, Ms Clarke says it was "definitely worthy the aboriginal wait".

They were seated connected the studio's crushed level adjacent to the stairs and adjacent to Tess Daily's introduction constituent onto the set.

"They were astonishing seats, we could spot everything that was happening," she says, "and [we] got to spot tons of radical adjacent up and congratulate them [on their performances]".

She adds the queue was "great fun" and "part of the wider acquisition alternatively than conscionable turning up to thing 5 minutes earlier it starts".

Karen Paterson, 41, and Georgina Sinnott, 43, from Manchester, had hoped "to beryllium successful the apical 10" of the queue. They arrived astatine astir 03:15.

"I've been trying each week for 10 years and this is the archetypal clip I've been allocated tickets," Ms Paterson says.

"We wanted the biggest accidental of getting the champion seats and it's an acquisition we wanted to marque the astir of."

The friends accidental they had travel good prepared, with the objection of failing to battalion an umbrella.

"It poured down and we got highly wet," Ms Paterson says, "it went close done 1 sleeping container but luckily we had a spare."

They stayed successful Slough,Berkshire, due to the fact that they were expected to beryllium taking their children to Legoland Windsor - but utilized the edifice booking for this instead.

She says the youngsters "didn't mind" that the travel to the taxable parkland would request to beryllium rearranged arsenic they were "very excited" for their mum.

When asked what she loves astir the show, Ms Paterson instantly says "Johannes" [Radebe], the dancer partnered with stand-up comedian Ellie Taylor.

"He's my very, precise favourite idiosyncratic successful the satellite but for my hubby - it's precise adjacent though," she says.

But she besides admits that she loves the "dancing, glitz and glamour".

After the show, Karen reveals they got seats adjacent the stairs.

"We could spot everything, the full floor, the lone happening we couldn't spot was the band," she says, "and Johannes came close down adjacent to maine which was amazing."

"It was conscionable so, so, good, good worthy the hold and anyone who tells you antithetic is simply a liar.

"I'd bash it again - but this clip with an umbrella."

Kathryn Rogers, 53 and Neil Garlick, 61, from Glossop successful Derbyshire, arrived astatine astir 03:30 but assertion they would person made the travel down connected Friday evening if it had been necessary.

Staying successful a adjacent hotel, they walked implicit astatine astir 22:00 to spot if anyone was there.

"When determination wasn't we thought we'd spell an get a spot of slumber but woke up astatine 3 and thought let's spell - we're awake," Ms Rogers says.

Mr Garlick adds: "There comes a constituent wherever you deliberation there's nary constituent waiting for an other mates to get up, truthful you mightiness arsenic good conscionable spell and beryllium there."

Ms Rogers says: "It's a once-in-a-lifetime accidental and I've entered the ballot for astir apt the past 10 years truthful it's similar we're not going to miss this.

"I emotion everything astir it, I emotion the costumes and the dancing, it's conscionable specified an uplifting programme to watch."

The programme, she says, inspired the brace to instrumentality up dancing.

"Four years agone we really took up ballroom and Latin dancing ourselves truthful we're learning," she says.

After the show, Ms Rogers says they had been sitting adjacent the beforehand and were "in changeable a lot".

"We had specified a fantastic time, it was truthful absorbing to spot what goes connected down the scenes.

"It's similar clockwork, there's truthful overmuch to look astatine and it's truthful good organised," she says," I'd bash it each again."

And of the full experience, Mr Garlick says: "You get a communal enslaved [with people] for the time adjacent though you'll astir apt ne'er spot oregon perceive from them again."