I'll support you and vote Yes for these reasons too.

No, she's likeable but would be much better as a replacement for tess rather than arlene imo.

Absolutely adore Alesha - & want her to be part of the show - but as a judge, no.

She should have replaced Tess.

I couldn't say I like Arlene, but I respect her enormous dance & choreography experience. I want comments from professionals, not a fan, lovely tho' Alesha is.

I can't believe BBC has got this so spectacularly wrong.
80% of the votes on this thread say no.

It's not the same situation as Cheryl Cole - nobody needs huge experience to tell if someone can sing in tune.

I like Alesha and she was a brilliant contestant but she doesn't have the relevant experience to take the position of a Strictly judge .

Yeh I agree. If anyone went it should have been Len imo.

Trouble is, the bbc regard Strictly as a "light entertainment" programme, they are not interested in dancing as such. And when asked, made it plain that the show was intended to appeal to the "general viewer" not to dancers or dance enthusiasts.

Well, I'm sorry, I think that is totally insulting to the "General Viewer". Many watch the show with a passion, and judges knowing what they are talking about is far more important to them than seeing a bit of glamour sitting in a judges chair.

Out of interest I asked our 14 yr old next door neighbour who is an Alesha fan if he would be tempted to watch the show because Alesha was in it. "You must be kidding"

Dancing on Ice shows 5 judges can work. They should have kept Arlene but brought Alesha on anyway then just don't let them all speak and let scores speak for themselves, like DOI. Hearing different people each time is sometimes quite refreshing.

No.

Most emphatically no.

She's a singer & performer, and has no real dance qualifications that indicate that she knows how to judge dance, I cannot see her comments as being anything more than fluffy observations. There is also the ever-present question of potential, bias towards her previous dance partner.

Me three!

I'm a huge fan of Alesha, but like many she should not be on the judging panel.
The panel has three men, two of whom are chorographer, why not even out the panel by removing one of the men and replacing with another ballroom expert. So I'm not convince that it isn't sexism and ageism by removing Arlene.

They could just do what I said and keep Arlene (I think she was the most integral judge on the show) and have Alesha as a 5th judge, giving her a similar role to what Ruthie does on DOI.

Oh no - not a Ruthie clone!

Ruthie knows naff all about Ice Dancing - but if we stretch the boundaries of credulity, her experience of the dance element does perhaps give her a remote (very remote) justification for occupying a seat on the DOI panel.

Alesha can sing (if you like that kind of singing) - now what the hell has that to do with dancing.

I agree 5 judges would have been best, although I think Len is the most vital judge - excusing his mad moments last year when I think all of the judges were possessed by aliens - that's the conclusion I have come to having watched the brilliant Torchwood this week!.

Common sense says another judge with a background similar to Len would have been ideal, but the BBC is not know for common sense when it comes to this kind of thing. I do think Arlene's card was marked at the end of last series and I was as gobsmacked as everyone else that the rumour about Alesha turned out to be true.

I think Alesha will play a role similar to Ruthie, but hopefully without the blantant favouritism (think 'Zoe' here). Alesha is too down to earth for that imho.

Haven't been on here in a while, but I voted no. I really like Alesha and can understand that Strictly want her to be part of the show given that she is very popular, but becoming a judge weakens the credentials of the other judges.

Had they replaced Arlene with Darcey and given Alesha another role in the show, maybe given her a show like the xtra factor straight after, and a reporter on ITT, would've made more sense. Dunno, we'll have to wait and see.

I mean the idea behind Ruthie, not a clone To put it bluntly I hate Ruthie and she is too biased to be a judge, as already mentioned and Zoe used as an example. If Alesha was a fifth judge and marked/commented as a viewer watching the performance for entertainment value rather than a judge watching for technicalities it could give the judges a bit of balance and possibly more of a representation of a viewer verdict which the 'real' judges don't really pick up on. I do like Alesha, she has enough experience on the show to just qualify as a judge in her own right, but not as an adequate replacement for Arlene imo. I really hope she isn't being set up for a fall.

no she shouldn't be a judge. it takes years of dancing practice to be able to critique and alesha's been doing it for less than 5 mins.

but the beeb aren't concerned about quality but quantity of viewer that they hope she'll pull in.

life's not fair arlene !! personally, i'd have got rid of one of the fellas.

Its a bad decision for me. Alesha is lovely and she was a deserved winner, but she quite obviously does not have the dance knowledge that Arlene does.
Personally I think the Beeb have watched too much X Factor and been too much affected by the John Sargeant issue. The judge changes for X Factor have worked because the team behind it are masters of media manipulation.Fiddling around with SCD format is very dangerous as the audience is older and will not react to change in the same way as the younger X Factor followers. I dont see that having Alesha on the show will necessarily bring a younger audience.Apart from looking extremely good I cant see what else Alesha will bring compared to Arlene.
SCD must be a fun, but a competition at heart, anything less and it might as well be Hole in the Wall.

The only past contestant who could be considered for the role of judge is Jill Halfpenny. She was both technically good and a performer. The Christmas SCD showed how quickly Alesha had lost her skills. All she ever had was the gloss of performance.

Forgot about Jill - but good as she was I really do not think any past contestant is qualified to judge a dance competition.

I'm not keen on past contestants either. I was just saying that Jill is the only one who is anywhere near qualified to act as a judge. I don't think pro dancers who have been on the show should judge either although Brendan or Karen would be an improvement on Alesha. Why couldn't they have found someone from the world of ballroom dancing?

No Alesha should not be a judge

i put no im no arlene fan she is as doddery as bruce at times and twice as nasty as a rabid dog but she will be missed i fail to see what alesha can add as a judge she has no qualifications to critique profesional dancers if she is just going to judge the performance and not the dancing whats the point i have eyes i do that myself thats how i choose who i want to get through.

V good contestant but NO - Alesha should not be SCD7 judge

Not been on here for ages, as no access at work but now I have a lap top!

Anyway, no I don't think she should be a judge, for reasons already mentioned in this thread so I'm not going to repeat them again. The beeb just never learn.

First 'wicked' uttered and I'm switching off.

NO, they should have picked one of the pros instead