I hope it's not true.

The reason I like Strictly is that it's the only reality show (apart from the ALW ones) where the judges panel are actually experts with years of experience on what they're judging. Unlike X Factor, BGT and Dancing on Ice.

I like the four judges as they are. I'm used to them by now, and I like knowing them well enough to be able to judge their comments based on their typical style. I know what a good comment for Craig is like, or what a good score from Arlene is like.

Arlene did put her foot in it a bit with John Sargent last year, but I'm sure she's learned from that. The only problem I had with the judges last year was the blatant over-marking of Lisa and Brendan. But then again, it got them to the final and we got to see that disaster of a showdance.

Alesha would be out of her depth on the judging panel next to three expert choreographers/dancers. Camilla could work although I question whether she'd have the personality of someone like Arlene. Karen Hardy as a judge is one of the few things that would tempt me to turn off the show. She's far too manic for me.

I want Bruce to stay on as presenter for as long as he can.

Tess can go though. She's the only one I see as replaceable. Maybe they should replace her with Claudia and let someone else host ITT.

that could change! karen could easily be bumped up to judge! nothing is ever set in stone

It's all a mystery at the moment

Karen did a lot of judging at the major competition in Blackpool a few weeks ago and her saying she would be back on the floor a few weeks/months ago dosen't really mean anything.......Brendan judges and does some pro dances in the New Zealand equivalent of SCD.

Tbh I wouldn't mind losing Len as well as Arlene...

I think that Craig could be the new head judge with maybe Camilla AND Karen filling the vacant seats. Karen's record speaks for itself and both she and Camilla have the inside experience of what it's like to train the celebs and the pressures involved

I don't really see how Alesha could be considered to have the necessary experience to actually judge on SCD tbh, even if she was interested...

Tbh I'd be very surprised if this is true however if it is, maybe they would have a guest judge every week ? prehaps the pro who was voted out the previous week like they used to do with the red button commentry.

I also wonder what it'll mean for the Tour if Arlene is to go? I maybe wrong, but I'm sure she was one of the driving forces behind getting it on the road in the first place!

Loving having some new speculation about SCD again. I am a big Matthew & Alesha fan, but have to agree that Alesha wouldn't be my first choice, if there is to be a new female judge. I would personally quite like to see one of the "older" female pros, and probably not a hope of it happening, but Nicole Cutler would be my preferred choice. Camilla or Karen would be fine by me too really.

It does however make you wonder as to a role this year for Alesha, if there has been no outright denial...I remember Heather Small moving some concert dates last year to compete on the show - but I can't see Alesha doing that!

I think both Alesha and Gethin would be great in some sort of presenting role, or as ITT roving reporters even. Wonder if the Beeb would resurrect a post-show show (?!) like in the early days?

I hadn't thought of Nicole, she'd be fab too. I really hope it's not Camilla.
I don't think that would work, there'd be no consistency, also what do you do about the married couples? It's hardly fair to expect the Jordans or the Bennetts to judge each other!

I absolutely adore Alesha, I think she is one of the most amazing people I've met and so incredibly likeable - I also voted like a demon for her to win and probably would've been in tears if she didn't. But this is a TERRIBLE IDEA. Alesha is no more a dancer than I am (I started around the same time) and certainly not qualified in any way to judge. Bruno and Craig already judge the performance.

Wow honestly I thought this was all a bit of tabloid rumour BUT it has even appeared on Newsround. I think there is more truth to this rumour than I thought there was. I mean the BBC being the BBC wouldn't put out any false or rubbish things on their own news.

To be a decent judge someone needs more than just a knowledge of dance.

When Len took a break from DWTS, Michael Flatley stood in for him. There was quite a bit of speculation before the event on how good Flatley was was expected be, "Much better than Len" said expectations.

But he turned out to be really dreadful. Please come back Len.

There's a pile of comments from different members on the Digital Spy DWTS forum here...
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=924116

There are also some comments on that same thread saying that Flatley was being lined up as a replacement for the next series of Strictly. Oh no....
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/strictly...tly-panel.html

And she did a lot of the choreography!

From what I heard Darren and Lilia were responsible for most of the tour choreography this year. In the tour programme only the pros are credited for choreography which would seem to back that up, and in one of the news clips before it went live, D&L were miked up directing the group rehearsal. Arlene certainly did it for the first tour though (but not the pro dance- again I think that may have been D&L as it used part of a routine which was originally choreographed by Lilia).

I think Arlene helped train people to do the group pro-celeb dance last year as there is an article where Caitlin Moran turned up at the training session for it (BTW - that's where the Pointlessly Beautiful comment in the MAD thread comes from) but it was actually Richard Marcel's (who helped out with the training and did the original training for the series five version) choreography. I don't know about the group VW on the first tour but I imagine Vincent and Flavia probably did their own choreography and ditto James and Ola.

For the first tour, yes. Although actually most of the choreo was really lifted from Dirty Dancing in any case.

The group dance I'm talking about in the first tour is the pro group dance. It originally came from the latin medley pro dance, which was choreographed by Lilia.

Edit: now I think of it the group VW in the first tour can't have been done by Arlene as it was adapted from the pro VW of that series wasn't it? Which I have a feeling was done by Ian and/or Camilla.

We saw Arlene's choreography on the dire DanceX, and I thought it was very same-y and dated.

Wow! If Alesha is judge? I would turn off and encourage the public to do the same. She is not good enough to a judge and does not have the character to be one. I can imagine her crying on the panel and being so kind when she needs to be critical.

THIS IS THE END OF SCD!! BBC fishing for the tabloid loving X - factor crowd - a complete joke!

Arlene will replace ruthie on Dancing on ice if she does get sacked

I have been thinking azbout this today

I would have thought that the decision to dismiss Arlene would have been reached a good few months ago- only now it has been made public- Coincidentally while the papers are banging on about X Factor, therefore the need to grab the headlines.
Therefore they would have had to have had someone in mind to replace her- and if it is Alesha I am reasonably certain they would have told her to keep certain months of the year free. The fact that Alesha has a tour scheduled tells me that she was never in the running for a judges job.

The other point is if they were going to approach Karen they would have done so long ago- as it is she is now dancing on the show. It also means that they would have had to find two new female pros

So that would imply that Camilla is the new judge. Plus - how many times has Camilla when she has been on TV on various shows said she would not be doing the new series of Strictly as a dancer

It seems a bit strange (if it's true) that they want to attract a younger audience,that the rumoured list of contestants includes 'oldies' such as Richard and Judy,Fern and Sharon Osbourne.
Mind you,lets hope for them rather than Nikki from BB and a load of young soap stars.

I’m just a SCD fan and have no experience at all in respect to the world of ballroom and latin. However as much as I love Alesha (I was one of her newer fans after Strictly), I absolutely agree that her replacing Arlene (and I can't stand the woman) would be TERRIBLY WRONG.

Since winning Strictly Alesha has made some smart moves by not rushing to accept anything and everything offered to her but has instead concentrated on her music and charity work with the odd bit of presenting.

I fear if she takes on this role her hard earned respect and popularity will suffer a backlash. Comments to some of the news stories have already started talking about her becoming over-exposed and there have been some comparisons between her and Mylene Klass. They may not be to everyone’s cup a tea, but there are many out there who seem to have a problem with likeable, down to earth, well-spoken, talented and beautiful women.

As much as Strictly is an entertainment programme, it is also about the dancing too.

Does the BBC not realise that some viewers like me actually dislike the genre of reality TV, but enjoy watching SCD because it’s not just about somebody trying to get on TV because they want to be famous. Ok some of the Celebs may well be trying to bolster their flagging careers but in order to do that they have to work at it by learning a skill and being put through their paces by an expert in that field (the same reason why I loved C4’s The Games), and judging by the hours of training some of them do, it’s not an easy task.

I know that the BBC are trying to win the ratings war against X Factor but stay credible by doing it with somebody who has knowledge and experience in that field. Don’t do it just for the sake of it.

I’d hate to see any of the current Pro line up go, but I also understand why they would want to refresh the format slightly as we’ve had the same judges and presenters since it started and apart from Brian and Kristina, who were additions, and Hayley who replaced Nicole, the rest of the line up has been the same for the past 3 series.

If they are to replace Arlene and want a female presence in the judging line up, I think that they would be better off having somebody else with technical dance knowledge. But does that replacement really have to be well-known? After all neither Bruno nor Craig were well known until Strictly.

I think having another person who is well respected in the ‘dance’ world either as a judge or former pro would even out the balance between performance and technicality after all its well known that Arlene, Bruno and Craig’s background are from theatre and therefore they tend to judge more on performance, whereas Len has been a judge in the dance world and looks more at the technical aspect.

I also think it’s too soon to have Camilla on as a judge plus I fear her judgement maybe clouded by her professional and personal relationships with the other pros, and now that its been talked about that Karen’s dancing in the next series, perhaps they could consider one of the female pros from the first 3 series who have since left, even Nicole, (although highly unlikely) or perhaps even that lady (don’t know her name) who provided the expert commentary with Philip Jackson for the SCD 5 Finals.

Like many of you, I'd much rather see Alesha back presenting than judging.

I like Alesha but I don't think she is qualified to be a judge. I guess she could judge the performance but she doesn't have the technical knowledge to judge anything else.

I would like to see Camilla replace Arlene but if the intention of the changes is to attract a younger audience then that seems unlikely. I think they are wasting their time going after the younger audience because they are not going to switch from X Factor no matter who replaces Arlene.

Much as I liked Alesha as a contestant, I don't get this obsession with getting her back to SCD in, let's face it, almost any role going!

Tess has had a baby - don't worry, Alesha can be the new Tess.... Arlene's been sacked - no problem, Alesha can be the new Arlene....

And why would Alesha want to do it? It won't further her pop career in any way. Whatever the BBC might think, I really don't believe that the Strictly audience is the same as the X Factor audience, and replacing one female judge with a newer model will not have X Factor viewers defecting in their thousands!

I think Camilla is only 35- she is not quite ready for her pension book just yet

And the PTB will know that they can't afford to lose the older viewers of the show

i dont think camilla is judge material, i dont think shes got the personality i think karen hardy would be perfect for the role!

I didn't mean that Camilla was old , I just don't think that she would be well known to young people who don't already watch Strictly and therefore not an attraction.