We can today reveal that Ryan Thomas, formerly of Coronation Street and a one-time winner of Celebrity Big Brother, will be headlining this year's Altrincham Christmas Lights Switch-on.
The 39-year-old is best known for his 16 years playing Jason Grimshaw in Corrie, and has also appeared in Australian soap opera Neighbours.
He's also been very successful in celebrity spin-offs of popular TV shows - in 2018 he won the final series of Celebrity Big Brother and last year he triumphed in Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.
He's currently training at Planet Ice in Altrincham ahead of an appearance in the next series of Dancing on Ice, which returns to ITV in the new year.
His professional skating partner, Amani Fancy, will be joining Thomas for the switch-on, which will kick off Altrincham's Christmas celebrations on Saturday 25th November.
Hosted by Happy Radio's Darren Proctor and Chelsea Norris, the switch-on stage will this year be located on Regent Road (at the top of George Street), with an additional relay screen on the Travelodge bridge, allowing the audience to enjoy the show along the length of upper George Street.
The show begins at 3pm with a heartwarming performance by the Little Belters, followed by The Music Place Choir, Sing It! and Wellington School’s Year 7 Choir.
Local singers Alexander Stewart and Millie Royle will also be taking to the stage along with the cast from Planet Ice’s Wizard of Oz and team members of Altrincham Football Club.
Santa will be putting in a special appearance and joining Ryan to press the big red button and illuminate the town’s lights at 6pm.
The town’s Christmas Lights Switch-on is organsied by Altrincham BID, who produce Visit Altrincham. The event is funded by Altrincham’s businesses, with additional sponsorship from Altrincham Football Club, Assura, Calderpeel Architects, Capstone Financial, The Con Club, Gran T’s Coffee House, The Grafton Quarter, Handelsbanken, Hill & Company Solicitors, McHale & Co Solicitors, Jameson & Partners Estate Agents, Kier Construction, Lund Bennett Law, MLP Law and Rasassi Restaurant.
