Blue followed in the footsteps of Ronan Keating, Steps, Westlife and Kermit The Frog (?!) by turning on the famous Blackpool Illuminations last night.

BBC Radio 2 brought live coverage of the switching-on of the world famous lights.

Special guests at the BBC Radio 2 Arena included Blue, Atomic Kitten, Liberty X, Robin Gibb and Louise.

Blue are one of the most popular boy bands in the UK, their blend of R&B tinged pop has given them a string of top ten hits, three number one singles, including Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word with Elton John, and two number one albums.

Blue's Antony Costa said: "We love performing up north, the crowds always give it loads and we buzz off that on stage."

The Blackpool lights will shine for 66 nights, from 29 August to 2 November. The illuminations are really 'glowing for it' this year with more than a million lights, 500 designs, 40 large tableaux and 500 flood and spotlights, with more than eight million visitors expected to come to view this year's ‘Northern Lights'.