Grandparents to enjoy last dance at Tower Ballroom thanks to TikTok plea

Monday, 24 November 2025 15:45

By Richard Hunt

An online plea has meant an elderly couple can enjoy one last visit to Blackpool’s famous Tower Ballroom where they used to go dancing.

The Tower Ballroom was a favourite haunt of Ron and Marilyn Hill for 20 years from the mid-1960s to the ’80s, when Ron was an entertainer at the resort’s Empire Hotel.

But sadly Blackpool-born Ron is “fading away” as he has Alzheimer’s disease and other health problems and will need to go into a care home.

So granddaughter Olivia Watts decided to approach Blackpool Tourism Ltd, which owns the Tower Ballroom, to see if the couple, who are in their eighties, could dance there one last time.

But the venue was booked up and it looked like she’d hit a brick wall – and then Olivia posted her plea on social media platform TikTok.

Fortunately, Blackpool Tourism spotted her message and reached out to her, saying the ballroom could be made available to them on Tuesday morning this week.

Olivia, Ron, Marilyn and other family members are travelling from their home in south Oxfordshire to Blackpool today, ready for their special date tomorrow.

A spokesman for the Blackpool Council-owned tourism group said: “We reached out to Olivia and were able to make the Tower Ballroom available in the morning . We were delighted to help when we read about what she was trying to do.”

Olivia, 28, said: “It will be incredible to see them on that dance floor. They told me all about their days at the ballroom and I used to go to Blackpool with the family when I was growing up.

“I will be there when they go onto the ballroom floor, it will be really moving to see them there. It will be a dream come true for me too – I can’t wait.”