CORONATION Street star Sean Wilson - Martin Platt in the long-running ITV soap - had made Blackburn Ice Arena his home back in 2006 as he rehearsed for a new celebrity show, Dancing on Ice.
Sean was partnered with professional skater Marika Humphreys and made it through four weeks of the Saturday night show before being eliminated.
He and Marika trained at the Grimshaw Park arena where bosses had seen a major boost in attendances.
A spokesman said: “There has been a significant difference in attendance levels since the programme was first broadcast, especially in the number of families coming at weekends and people inquiring about lessons.
“In fact, it has got so busy that at certain points staff had to turn people away because they had run out of skates.”
The first series of Dancing on Ice was won by actress Gaynor Faye and among other celebrities taking part were former England footballer David Seaman, West End star John Barrowman and Olympic runner Kelly Holmes.
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