This topic is being done to death, cant you all give it a rest?

I dont hate either Alesha or Arlene, both have their good bits and their bad bits, no one is perfect, not even yelsel who thinks obviously that she has every right to be rude and agessive to everyone who disagrees with her opinion.

No one is right and no one is wrong, but please can we all stop creating more threads on this subject, it is becoming boring and annoying.

I was wondering how much yelsel was being paid to do this topic to death seeing as she hasnt posted on any other topic since joining. Not even the Alesha appreciation threads as far as I can see which is strange.

Get a life my dear.

Sorry EJ, I think this one is going to run at least until the new line-up is announced, and then again once the show starts and Alesha's judging style reveals itself.

Look at it this way, it's no worse than the JS debacle last year

Greytops news:

How is having Matt in her show showing 'dedication' to Strictly?

I don't get it....

This is very old news, i remember reading this last year. besides will Matt not be busy with SCD when Alesha is on tour

Does it really matter who the judge is? I mean in all seriousness, does it?

You basically need somebody with some dancing experience, yes and a background in dance and some achievement in dance. Alesha has that. OK in one case it's on the back of Strictly but it still showed achievement and she's kept it up too.

In Arlene's case, she was wrong or criticised by the other judges but that being said - how much of all this is just from the producers? How do we know that the producers aren't just whispering in their ears that we want you to say this and so and so will disagree with you?

After all it is a show.

People are trying to make out these Reality TV shows are in fact real and there is a real dance competition on. Some of these people come from dance backgrounds, others have health problems or immobile bodies due to age or otherwise. It's not fair anyway. To assume it's serious in any way doesn't matter.

The criteria for a judge is simply, credibility, dance experience and being able to talk Dance. Alesha can do that. In Arlene's case, for me, she didn't have the voice for TV. It was a whine and really put me off so I can understand why the contract wasn't renewed. I don't think it has anything to do with her age at all. I am sure some PR agency did that and maybe the BBC kicked off the publicity for Strictly months earlier to guarantee an audience to scrutinise Alesha - who will at some point be teary eyed and get a sympathy vote and lots of new fans.

It's TV - it's not a serious dance competition.

She'll do a great job. She won the competition after all but then again the winner is pre-determined anyway like all Reality TV shows.

Also we musn't forget that Alesha has signed a contract now. We don't know what she knew about Arlene when she signed it but since then, the backlash has started. Now despite all the negative publicity, Alesha has a legal obligation to continue due to her contract (unless the beeb decide to change things around of course). She probably had no idea how bad it would be and now she's stuck with this job with all the media and public against her, so to be fair she probably deserves a little support at least going into a new job.

Given that she said last year she hoped Matt would appear at some point on tour with her i.e. long before she was asked to be a judge, I think she meant back then that she wants to show how much she loved being on the SCD and wants dancing with Matt to still be a part of her life. She isn't walking away without looking back on her time on SCD like most other former contestants. Appreciation might be a better word than dedication.

I don't hate Alesha- but I do hate the way Jay Hunt has steamrollered through her obsession for youth

The people I really dislike are those who say that due to her Strictly experience Alesha will be able to judge contestants in a meaningful way.

This is not true as any thing she says will be superficial.

i a word yes, i cant really see alesha going there wern't enough heel lead's and it was all ball's haha. the whole scenario makes me laugh

Don't worry OP, I love Alesha and I may be the only one but I am looking forward to her being a judge. I've often thought it would be nice to have a non-pro on the panel, just to balance things out. And to get an ex-contestant's persepctive will be interesting, to me at least. I realise some people will now be hurrying to compose patronising answers to tell me why I'm wrong, but it's water off a duck's back. I will enjoy Strictly immensely, as usual, and feel sorry for those who feel they won't any be able to any more. That's their problem. As Shakespeare said, "Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

it's good that alesha has got some support now from kelly brook and gethin jones. it must be awful knowing the backlash.

So what if the BBC got UNDER 2000 complaints, that's hardly a mind-boggling amount all things considered. They are probably multiple complaints from just a handfull of people anyway.

I for one am looking forward to seeing Alesha; she'll be a breath of fresh air to that judging panel.

Im not going to judge Alesha until i see it

Who knows? She might be great

To be fair, especially given the current financial climate we're in due to the credit crunch and job losses, cutbacks etc, I don't blame her for not turning the job down.

I agree with a few posts that I can't see her pointing out that there weren't any "heal turns" and so on, but we already have three judges that we know will point that out so at least this way we'll get to hear a different opinion on the routines. Not everyone that judges on DOI can skate and they still manage to critise, so even though she's not a professional dancer she'll still contribute something to the panel.

http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebri...on-strictly/1/

People assume everything is going to be as was. What if len scores on technical merit, craig on execution of choreography, Bruno on something else and alesha for performance. Shed be a perfect choice. No one is giving this a chance.

I am pleased arlene is going she stepped right out of her role last year - it was awful to watch and I could not believe a professional would act like that. Alesha as a dirct replacement, no. As a special role though - perhaps.

I don't think anyone hates Alesha for this, but, and I conceed this is probably unfair, I am disappointed in her. The way Alesha came over in series 5 I would have expected her to be leading the cavalry against Arlene being punted, not replacing her.

she was offered a job, she accepted it, nothing anyone could have said or done would have saved arlene, and quite honestly why should arlene not have been replaced, she was pathetic last year and i am glad to see some new blood coming in.

Gethin is employed by the BBC. How could he possibly, when questioned about the Alesha situation, give a totally honest answer? I notice that other BBC employees in this situation have given faint support. They don't want to lose their jobs. And other ex-contestants replied similarly - they might want to work for the BBC one day.

I don't hate Alesha but I do hate what she has done. I would no longer support her in any way and that includes watching the new series.

So you now think that somehow Gethin has been "got at " by the BBC to toe some sort of party line, maybe he is expressing his honest opinion, I guess Kelly Brook, despite being unemployed currently by any TV channel was also "got at" by the BBC. You really are clutching at straws here to suit your own dumb argument. Alesha has done nothing to be sorry for, if she had not taken the job then someone else would. You have said you will not support her in any way, have you bought any of her records or been to any of her concerts, i highly doubt it. hopefully you will enjoy watching x factor or whatever is on when the rest of us are enjoying SCD, you will not be missed

Yes we will, television lives and dies by ratings. If ratings fall heads will roll, and that may include Alesha.

I don't think anyone is suggesting Gethin was 'got at' just that he's not stupid enough to criticeise his employer publicly, the same with other ex-contestants who either work for the BBC now or know they might in the future.

Gethin said he was sure viewers would enjoy SCD7 every bit as much as ......

SCD6