STRICTLY Come Dancing bosses beefed up security in Blackpool over fears protests would wreck the live show.
Four bodyguards were by hosts Tess Daly, 54, and Claudia Winkleman, 51, as they chatted to fans by The Big Blue Hotel ahead of the show at the town’s Tower Ballroom last night.
A source said: “Bosses were clearly taking no chances and made sure that all of the stars were chaperoned between the hotel and the Tower.
“They must have spent a fortune on equipment, with barriers put up around the entrance to the hotel.
“Strictly is the jewel in the BBC crown and producers would have hated anyone sabotaging their show.”
EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier was also followed closely by security.
We revealed last week that producers were ramping up security over fears of pro-Palestine or Just Stop Oil activists causing chaos.
The BBC competition — usually shot at Elstree Studios, Herts — films one episode at the seaside town’s famous dance hall every year.
It came as former British tennis player Annabel Croft, 57, revealed how getting to week nine of the competition has got her in the best shape of her life.
She said: “I’m way more supple now than I’ve ever been in my life. It feels like a big ball of string that has kind of started to open up and unravel – that’s how it feels.”
Annabel, who runs four times a week to stay fit, added: “I’m thinking, ‘Wow, I should be putting more dance into my routine now’ because I don’t want to let that go.”
