CELEBRITY presenter Michaela Strachan has given her memories of Mr Smith’s as the club faces demolition.

Along with Pete Waterman, Michaela presented the Hit Man And Her TV show from Mr Smith’s between 1988 and 1992.

She said: “It was a bit like an early day reality music show where we’d gatecrash nightclubs and film whatever was going on.

“It was really tongue in cheek with games like ‘get your gums around these plums’.

“We were hugely surprised by the success of it.

“We’d go to different clubs at different times, and had a big following.

“Mr Smiths was one of the early clubs that we used a lot.

“We did a stint where we had a few weeks from there.

“A lot of people who remember Hit Man and Her, the club they remember is Mr Smiths.

“I loved the music at that time because it was songs you could sing along to.

“We’d film until midnight and people would travel miles to come to a Hit Man And Her show.

“One of our dancers was called Jason, and of course it was Jason Orange who ended up in Take That.

“Mr Smiths was the sort of club that suited us really well.

“I’ve had lots of Tweets about what’s going on, and the demolition.”

Residents continue to criticise the likely fate of Mr Smith’s.

Property developers LPC Living say it failed to sell the site, which has been empty for four years.

It can be knocked down from Monday although a date for work to start has yet to be confirmed.

Great Sankey resident Neil McIntyre worked as a plasterer when the ABC Cinema was redeveloped into the iconic nightclub.

Mr McIntyre started working on the site in November 1985 and the opening night was May 1986.

He kept a copy of the original plans of the building when work was complete.

“It was all gutted and the cinema seats had been ripped out,” he said.

“We saw it all come together, all the different tradesman doing different jobs.

“When it opened, queues stretched around the block.

“To demolish it will be terrible, because it’s something that will be gone forever.

“It’s got a history and should be preserved. A lot of people met their wives and girlfriends in there.”

Facebook campaign ‘Save Mr Smiths’ continues to attract support, with 1,477 ‘likes’, with calls for it to become a theatre.

A second Facebook group has now been set up, called ‘Mr Smiths Memories’, where old pictures are being posted.