i was lucky to get tickets for saturdays show and i wish i could go every week

i arrived all excited at tv centre at 11.40 and joined the queue

it was full of excited women and i was 15th in line

at 12.30 a car pulled up to the centre and the window rolled down and it was chris waving. At this one woman run all way to his car and hugged him lol

at ten to three chris took the time and trouble to walk all the way down the line and had his pic taken and gave autographs he waswearing his red team cola top

he was the only one to do this and he is so lovely in real life

we finally got in at 3.45 and we went into the bar where i had a budweiser

then a woman announced that they needed people who had been from 1 to 40 in the line to go into the studio and sit behind the judges as they were to do some link to be shown in the week

ricky and erin were there and they did a little dance and bruce came out and he was very good with the audience

we then go moved to the balcony for the main show i was above the judges and near to where the stairs are they come down

well chris and ola stole the show what a dance the crowd went mad and they were the only ones to get a standing ovation after they finished their dance

i loved the charleston ali was great and leilas routine so fun

ricky left me cold and natalie sadly looked the worst

i was so nervous hoping chris would go through and i think i sort of squeaked when they did

vincent was so upset at end but he thanked the crowd for the support

chris asked us in the balcony whether we were warm now as the line outside was pretty cold

if anyone has tickets you will have a great time i loved every second of it

bruce sang a song for us before the main show started he comes on ten minutes before and talks to us

the reason the crowd is sometimes laughing as they go back to bruce when tess finishes in her room is that he does things like moves his legs in a funny fashion. bruce seemed a lot better live and he and tess did great

i want to go again

thank you if you managed to get through my inane ramblings i have been drinking lager tonight

It sounds like great fun. I would love to go.

Thanks for that insider info

I'd love to go one day and experience it and see what the dancers, judges, band and presenters are like in the flesh.

Thank you for describing the "real" experience.

Thanks for a great summary I love reading these reports, and I'm glad you had so much fun.

Thanks for sharing. It sounds fantastic.

Now I know that the audience have been in the bar since 3pm, I understand why they are always rolling around laughing at Bruce's lame jokes!

Thanks for the insight , it sounds like a lovely fun day out .

Did you get to go onto the dancefloor at the end? I heard they don't allow this anymore. This used to be the best bit, when you could just mingle with them all, having pictures taken, autographs signed and chatting.

Agree Shappy!

Glad you had a lovely time chrisdebag.

Does anyone know if Chris has gone this "going to meet the audience" thing each week?

x x x x x

Thanks for sharing your time with us - sounds like you've got lots of great memories now!

No idea as I havent been however there was another post about something else that all the pros and celebs were at (I cant for the life of me remember where it was now) and someone posted that Chris took time to talk to people waiting outside and have photos taken and what a lovely guy he was.......I expect the occasion will come to me, I am having a 'senior' day.

Brilliant post, chrisdebag, thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks for writing about your SCD experience.

I'd love to go one day, too!

no they dont allow you onto the floor they say it is a security issue i think they just want rid of us

Thanks for telling us about this. I'm most envious I can just imagine how it must be a completely different experience live than on TV, although it looks most glitzy in HD.

It sounds like a real whole day out though. The last time I went to the BBC was for Jim'll Fix It's Christmas special 1986 and we waited ages for that.

Thanks Chrisdebag - from all of us who didn't get tickets (again...) we can imagine what it's like now

LOL at your "sort of squeaked" when Chris got through

You definitely went on the best Saturday so far IMO - would have LOVED to see the Charlestons live.

Well I'm naturally very nosey so thoroughly enjoyed reading about your night out to Strictly!

Chris does seem to make a huge effort to give something back to his fans.

What a nice chap

When my friend went (week 3 i think) it was Ricky G that came out and talked to everyone waiting. Really nice of each of them to do it

OP, glad you had a good time

Thank you very much for sharing your Strictly Day last Saturday. I am so glad you had a great time - it sounded like you had great fun. Chris Hollins comes over as such a nice person and I would have loved to see him and Ola do The Charleston in the flesh. A wonderful experience.

Thanks chrisdebag for a wonderfull account of your experience. I remember you because you asked us about your dilemma of whether to go to a football match or SCD. I'm delighted you made the best choice as I'm sure its an experience you'll never forget.
Is the canteen there open and can you get a hot meal and cup of tea?

Yes, he does. We went the CIN weekend in the small studio, and he came out and chatted to us all. He mentioned the people the week before that got very wet. Lovely guy!

Yes, you can get a cup of tea and a sandwich in the canteen area they deposit you in. For some reason, hot meals stop being served just before they let us lot in!

also if you are near front of the queue there is some cover so if it is raining you will remain dry

yes i am so happy i didnt go to the football strictly was the highlight of my trip to London

good luck to anyone who tries in the future for tickets

Thanks for this.

So glad to know Chris is so nice!

Thanks so much for posting your experience of seeing Strictly LIVE. Chris sounds such a nice guy!! I could not believe it when his charlston did not get a 10!! He was the hit of Sat night in my opinion. Hopefully the celebs and pro dancers will NEVER forget that without the viewers and fans Strictly would be taken off the air!! It is nice when they can spend a few minutes talking and allowing people to take the odd snap.

Yes, there used to be security people around the dancefloor when I went as well, but if you just walk on looking like you belong, then they don't stop you, as I think friends and family go on and they don't know who's who. But I did hear the security is a lot more these days, and it helps if you are sitting on the ground floor as otherwise they herd you from the balcony right to the exit.

Still, it sounds like you had a fabulous time. I have rubbish luck with ballots and lotteries so I doubt I will ever get a ticket again. I only managed in the days when you could ring up for them (I rang continuously for about 2 hours before I got through!).