I didn't sadly

Watching Strictly live was AMAZING!!

I got to the queue at 3am. They were about 10 or so people ahead of me. The first group of people got to the queue at 23:30 on Friday night. The time goes quickly when you are queuing. Everyone is really friendly. Most people started to arrive after 4am. They started validating tickets just after 9am so I quickly went back home. I got ticket numbers 15 and 16. We were told to come back at 14:45.

I ended up going with my mum instead of my sister. We got back to the studios at about 14:10 which meant that we got a decent place in the queue. Although this doesn't matter because once you are in the holding area, later on you will be called into the studio in ticket order. We were allowed into the holding area around 15:00. Before you get into the holding area, you have to go through security and give in your phones. In the holding area, there is a warm up guy, you can buy drinks and there was a cloakroom and somewhere you can take pictures. The warm up guy did a quiz. People with the correct answers got a treat.

People with ticket numbers 1-28 were called into the studios at 16:15. We got seated on the left hand side facing the band. The seats were amazing. At first, me and my mum thought the seats might be rubbish because during some parts, the camera men were in the way. Later we realised that the seats were the best in the studio. We were right next to stairs leading up to Claudia's bit.

They filmed the opening dance twice. It was such a brilliant experience watching how they filmed the dance. I absolutely loved watching it. When they finished the second recording of the group dance, Anton randomly came and gave me and my mum a kiss on the cheek. That was lovely. Brendan went round and gave the little kids a high 5.

The second warm up guy really encouraged us to be as enthusiastic as possible. We pre-recorded the clapping along to the theme time. We also did a test run of our reactions to when the celebrities finished their performances, getting their feedback and going up to Claudia's bit. The warm up guy got four members of the audience to pretend to give their feedback as if they were the judges.

After the second recording of the group dance, the show soon got underway. It was interesting seeing the production team getting the studio ready for each performance. The good vibes between everyone one working on the show is very real. I saw that Tameka and Will were messing around before he went on to perform on the show.

Tess and Claudia did a brilliant job. I saw Tess talking to some of the audience. Tess had to a lot of running on and off the stage.

All in all, it was SO worth queuing up for 6 hours. After years of watching Strictly, it was so special to actually get to watch the show in the studio. It's something that I never thought would happen. If I am ever blessed enough to get tickets again, I would not hesitate to queue up again at a ridiculous time. I loved every moment of my Structly experience.


Finally, hello to the fellow Digital Spy poster who realised that I was londongirlGRE. I'm sure that you had a brilliant day and I hope that you got home safely.

P.S. The portable loos had the smallest cubicles ever!


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Pleased to see you had a good time and got brilliant seats.

What a lovely summary of your experience. Chuffed that you had such a great time, xx

Thanks.

Thanks.

Very pleased that you enjoyed the show. I am not a fan of Anton's, but lucky you two.

Thanks for this account of your Strictly experience - glad you had a great time!

Thanks . I'm indifferent to Anton, but it was still nice of him.

Thanks.

I'm glad you had a wonderful time londongirl. I loved the opening number, in fact the whole show was top quality. Which were your favorite couples ? And who was the DSer 😮

Sounds fantastic, glad you had such a good time, thanks for the update.

Getting there early is becoming silly now. 3 years ago when we went the first in the queue didn't arrive until after 6am. Fortunately I was a contestants guest once, so no queuing and Green Room hospitality!

Thanks!

If I had to pick, Danny and Oti. I wasn't expecting him to be as good as he was. All of the performances were great.

I know his real life but I don't know his Digital Spy name. He might just be a lurker, come to think of it.

Thanks, no problem.

I agree that it's silly. However if you are lucky enough to get a ticket, you don't want to waste the opportunity or get crap seats. If you arrive after 7, you might not get a seat. I would do it again without a doubt. It's so worth it!

I totally agree

when I was lucky enough to get tickets validation was 12pm and people used to arrive anytime after 6am - which, in my opinion, is early enough!!!!!!!

I don't really know why the changed it to 9am doesn't really make much sense to me tbh

They were my favourites last night too. I'm thrilled for Oti that she's got a contender.

Me too. Hopefully Danny is good at the ballroom dances as well.

Was it interesting to see how the Sunday results show is recorded after the main show finishes? I still think there are people out there, not necessarily posters on here, that believe the results show is live even after all these years

Bit early to film the results show for next week, lol!

Great review LondonGirl - thanks so much for sharing.

I agree with everyone who has said that the timing to queue is now getting ridiculously early....however, if I had tickets, I would do the same, as it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Thanks for the review LondonGirl I've got tickets for next Saturday so you're info has been fantastic.

Thanks.

I agree, there's a chance that you might never get tickets again so you might as well queue up early.

No problem.

Have a great time when you go. Have you decided what time you are going to queue up?