Benidorm Mayor recording his speech

Just like a hurricane, the ITV crew and presenters came and left like a torpedo!

The morning started early at the Sol Pelicanos hotel - the crew having already set up by 8am ready for the live link ups.
Benidorm Mayor, Agustin Navarro arrived at 9 o´clock to pre-record a welcome speech as he had a previous engagement so couldn´t broadcast live - not that anyone would have realised anyway. He welcomed all the British holiday makers which come to the town - they make up 60% of the tourist numbers every year so a very important market for the town.

Benidorm´s Loose Women sampling the cocktails

The 3 presenters all arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed ... well perhaps the Optrex helped in some cases. Put it this way, they sampled the best of Benidorm´s entertainment last night but were raring to go like the true pro´s that they are.

Our very own Benidorm royalty came dressed to the nines in their beautiful sparkly sequined frocks and pouting red lips. Miss Levi aka Wayne from Levi´s Showboat and Miss Jordan Rivers aka Gary from The Rich Bitch.... in fact, I felt positively underdressed sitting next to them.

Alison & Matt surrounded by eager fans in (cold) pool

The crowds of spectators began to appear at around breakfast time, all calling out for Mateo (Jake Canuso) in particular who always obliged and had photos taken with the fans... in fact all of the presenters did - but the hunky Benidorm waiter was a favourite with the ladies.

Alison Hammond and Johnny Robinson are exactly the same in real life as they are on screen ... a real hoot and totally down to earth. They were entertaining everyone in between the long waits until the following live link up. Johnny did make me gasp when he said that he didn´t even have a passport, so he had to get an emergency one rushed through when he was asked to be a presenter on the show... but now he has sampled Benidorm he will certainly be back.

Benidorm babes at the bar with Alison & Matt

Many of the hotel guests came to watch, even local residents turned up but I was shocked to discover from Lorraine and Barry Priestley that they were charged 10 euros each to come into the hotel just to watch the filming! When the production crew asked for volunteers to jump into the pool there was no shortage ... lots of eager hands shot up at the opportunity (mine remained firmly clamped to the chair)

Writer of the ITV Benidorm series Derren Litten came to watch - he´s in town for a break from the wet British weather. It is Derren that we all have to thank for creating and writing the series and making Benidorm such a popular holiday destination - in fact, every time that the series is aired holiday bookings go up - great news for all the local bars and restaurants.

Alison with the 3 lucky contestants!

On one of the live feeds they did a Benidorm version of Blind Date, called "Costa Del Cop Off". The 3 eligible men behind the screen were Jake Canuso and presenters Matt and Johnny. As in the original show they had to answer 3 questions and Jake was the lucky winner! Their answers certainly amused the crowds but there was no luxury holiday for Jake and the lucky lady.

Asa closing the show with La Vida Loca

The show ended with our very own Benidorm singing sensation Asa Elliott closing to the lyrics from the hit song by Ricky Martin "La Vida Loca"
Asa appeared as the Neptune´s cabaret singer in the last series of Benidorm having made his debut in the Christmas special where he sang at Benidorm Palace.

Point of no return for Matt

Once the cameras had stopped rolling there were chants from the crowds for the presenters to jump in ... and guess what, Alison and Matt obliged fully clothed! They did first remove their shoes, ear pieces and wires beforehand but astonished the delighted fans. Surprisingly Jake, Sherrie, Johnny and Asa all declined the kind offer of cooling off in the pool!

Me and hunky Mateo

The fans all left excited having met some of the cast from the Benidorm series, clutching the flags that were handed out to wave during transmission. It certainly made their holiday that extra bit special this year. But it made them realize quite how long it takes to set up shots for such a short broadcast.

The presenters were all heading off for a quick lunch before making their way back to Alicante airport for their return flights to the UK - a whistle stop visit this time but lets all hope that we´ll be seeing them back again soon for maybe series 6 !

... and just incase you missed it, Johnny won the mobility scooter race along the Levante beach yesterday!

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