Ex-Strictly star Ola Jordan joins ‘Eddie 'the Eagle’ Edwards and Paralympic star Ollie Hynd for Kirkby Leisure Centre open day

The event, on March 11, was held to celebrate the facility’s first six months in business, with a wide variety of free and paid-for activities laid on for the local community.

The state-of-the-art £15.5 million site, run by Everyone Active in partnership with Ashfield District Council, has enjoyed a successful start to life with more than 100,000 visits since it opened in August.

Ola was joined at Kirkby Leisure Centre by Eddie ‘the Eagle’ Edwards, who was the first competitor in 60 years to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping in 1988.

Completing the line-up was local swimmer Ollie Hynd, a three-times Paralympic gold medallist and four-times world champion.

All three celebrities were present at the centre on Saturday morning and took part in the activity programme, as well as signing autographs and having selfies with the public.

Ola hosted two beginner dance classes – cha cha and jive – in the group exercise studio, while Eddie tackled gym challenges and the fun climb wall and Ollie gave out awards to young swimmers poolside.

She said: “My daughter is aged three and when I walked in and saw the soft play on the right, I thought ‘she would love that’.”

Among the other activities available were free gym and swimming sessions, fun climb, soft play, face painting, balloon modelling and arts and crafts, as well as cookery demonstrations.

The day formally began with a plaque unveiling by Coun Jason Zadrozny, Ashfield Council leader, followed by a question-and-answer session with the celebrities in the sports hall.

The open day was part of a weekend of celebrations which included further fitness activities and two cinema screenings of the films Matilda the Musical and Eddie the Eagle, which took place on March 12.

Ollie said: “It’s a massive honour to have the pool here named after me and my brother Sam. I hope the swimming legacy me and my brother have built in Kirkby will inspire the next generation.”

Eddie added: “I’ve already seen the swimming pool that you have here and this centre is a beautiful facility.

“It certainly makes me want to put some sports kit on and take part in some sport.”

Lorenzo Clark, contract manager at Everyone Active, which runs leisure centres for the council, said: “This was the perfect way to celebrate the first six months of a state-of-the-art centre which will serve the community for years to come.

“It was great to see the public experience the wide range of activities and to really get a sense of how much there is on offer for everyone at this fantastic site.

“We hope to see lots of new and returning visitors soon as we look to build on the centre’s early success.”