Popular Strictly Come Dancing website launched by Huddersfield woman Alex Dickinson

Sep 17 2009 By Andrew Hirst

A STRICTLY Come Dancing website, that has become so successful even the stars of the show follow it, was launched in Huddersfield.

The woman behind the site – Alex Dickinson – lives in Huddersfield and is grand-daughter of legendary football manager Peter Taylor.

The new series kicks off tomorrow night at 8.30pm when thousands of viewers are expected to tune in to watch Huddersfield actress, Zoe Lucker, one of the stars of the new series.

Alex, 26, is communications director at Huddersfield digital design company Running in the Halls, based in Bates Mill, Milford Street.

She has a degree in journalism and set up the website www.strictlycomedancing.tv to get blogging after becoming fascinated by the BBC1 show.

“I have to admit I became obsessed by it,’’ she said. “I’m also an internet geek so it all seemed to tie in quite nicely.

“I started the website for myself, my family and my friends to follow in September 2007 and did not expect any other interest. I was not prepared for what happened next.

“In the first month the site attracted over 9,000 hits and in the same month the following year it was pulling in over three times as many.

“This August it had over 60,000 hits and on the day the celebrities were revealed the website crashed due to too much web traffic.’’

She revealed that it has become so successful the BBC now plans to link to it from their own official Strictly Come Dancing website before tomorrow’s launch show.

Alex, who moved to Huddersfield a few years ago, added: “The PR agency the BBC has hired to deal with online marketing for Strictly are in regular contact with me to distribute exclusive clips, pictures and info about the show.’’

Sam Croft, development director at Running in the Halls, designed the website.