Ant and Dec have declared “We love Blackpool” after the famous Geordie duo took to the resort’s streets for a sightseeing tour as part of the latest series of Britain’s Got Talent.​

The TV presenters shared photographs from their trip on social media this weekend, the same day their Blackpool episode aired on ITV1 at 7pm.

In the episode, Ant and Dec were seen aboard an open-top sightseeing bus touring Blackpool’s most famous landmarks alongside judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and new judge KSI.

The bus passed Blackpool Pleasure Beach, where the pair reminded viewers that “two very famous people were here” back in 2018, and Madame Tussauds, where the duo jokingly claimed the attraction was “considering removing all of the other celebrities and having wall-to-wall Ant and Decs”.​

The tour ended with Ant and Dec giving KSI a musical education by introducing him to their 1994 number one hit ‘Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble’, performing the track on the top deck of the bus as it drove through the resort.​​

It is the second year running that Britain’s Got Talent has filmed its judge auditions at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, with the 2024 move from London proving so popular with audiences that producers decided to return.

Judge Amanda Holden previously said the Blackpool crowds were “super-warm and brilliantly up for it”, adding: “I honestly think we won’t go back to London for the auditions”.​

Blackpool lit up by 800 drones

The resort has already featured prominently in the current BGT series after Somerset-based drone artists Celestial performed what was billed as the largest drone show ever staged in the UK over Stanley Park.​

The display, which aired during the series premiere on Saturday, February 21, saw 800 drones fill the night sky above the park with images celebrating “the best of British”, including depictions of James Bond, Freddie Mercury and what some viewers thought was Marge Simpson, but turned out to be a guard’s blue hat.​​

VisitBlackpool confirmed the Celestial display was the largest drone exhibition ever held in the UK and described it as the town’s “worst-kept secret”, having been widely speculated about on social media before the episode aired.

The tourism body shared footage of Stanley Park “looking absolutely marvellous” lit up by the formations.