i thought sher gave it everything isnt that wot the comp is about

the dress was unflattering though

Is she a size 14 in the same way that Tom Cruise is actually 6ft tall ? According to the media no celebrity woman has ever been above a size 14!

Seriously though the size doesn't or shouldn't matter.

I too feel that with slightly more flattering dress she would have looked better and possibly presented better as a result. The dresses that had a longer frill or were cut longer on one side rather than the tiny tasslely thing she had on would have been far more suitable.

She is not a tiny petite waif but that does not mean she can't dance she looks like she has a sackfull of confidence, she most definitely has a sense of humour and seems very personable.

I have really taken to her and I hope she does well.

I don't watch the soaps but recognised her vaguely. She seems fine to me. She knows she's no beauty queen but she's giving it some welly and doing her best.

I thought she seemed very likeable - I felt for her when she was saying she was in the front and wasn't too happy about it, and when Allesha just said she gave 110 percent.

I think she needs to keep her confidence and have a go, and she's up for that - good for her.

So far, I like her - she tries hard and doesn't take herself too seriously. I think she's brave.

I admit now I am not keen on her...but that's nothing to do with how she looks at all. The very nature of the programme is to have celebs that don't dance, can't dance and shouldn't be able to dance, and then the pros have to
earn their money by getting the best performance they can out of the celebs.

If they were all perfectly proportioned and could all dance, we may as well be watching 'Come Dancing'....but we're not, so I'll watch her with interest.

I think Allesha's comment wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't just called two other girls 'foxy ladies'...and then added 'Sonia 110%'.... Damned with faint praise...

No, not faint praise, she obviously thought Natalie was good.
I hope Natalie does well, I really like her.

I agree.

One of the other girls had on a coral/orange dress which had a longer frill on the skirt.

If Nat's dress had had a similar skirt it would have been much more flattering, and would have put more of a focus on the dancing.

I thought she was great too. From what I saw she danced well in an outfit that was rather revealing (I think it flattered her as she's an apple shape, she'd look worse in a dressy dress).

I think she's the type of person to hurl herself into dancing. She may never appear graceful (I think Latin will be her forte), but she won't be eliminated for lack of effort.

Alesha called her by her real life name....Natalie.

Might give your argument slightly more weight if you distinguish between real life and soap life

The problem for her, I feel is that she made a big deal of the weight loss, the slim line her and how healthy she was etc.
Then she gained the weight back and of course became more of an obvious target for comments.

She wasn't the worst dancer, and yes good for her etc. But the outfit was awful and center stage, more shots than Zoe etc and bright red, did anyone else think it was all a bit of a media stunt??

What with the new judge scandal and now the natalie weight issue, is it not just getting a bit tacky.

However the group dance was entertaining and when they swung her off the floor i was almost clapping so i guess its working i was glued to her and the people she danced with.

My argument is heavy enough....I only got her name wrong is all

Depends if you are determined to take a negative interpretation I suppose.

Personally, I was seeing it as Alesha noting the effort performance that Natalie put into the dance, something that was definitely lacking from others.

I watched the group dance again and she did great. Good, very good rhythm and not fazed by the changing in the speed of the music.

The two footballers' wives were amazing (Laila and Zoe), while Richard, Phil and Jo were atrocious.

This. She looked fine to me - certainly one of the better ones.

I hated her on Easties, she comes across as very OTT on anything I've seen her on as herself. She could well be a size 14, remember when Vanessa Feltz claimed to be a 12 when she lost the weight the first time? Unless you've seen people in the flesh you can't really tell. I've seen a local footballer in our local Tesco & he looked a lot shorter than he looks on tv. Also saw a Hollyoaks actress recently & although she looks slim on tv, she was absolutely tiny.

I didn't take a negative interpretation, I took it on face value.

Yes Allesha said Natalie did well, but after all the comments on here tonight about Natalie's weight, I felt that saying two other girls were 'foxy' just before saying Natalie gave 110% was a bit thoughtless to be honest.

I'm not saying Allesha meant it in a pointed way, just that she didn't think about what she was saying.

I agree - the remark that she gave 110% would have been fine if it weren't immediately preceded by calling two other girls hot.

I don't think Allesha meant badly, but the juxtaposition was unfortunate.

for me, it's not a question of size, I just find her irritating which is perhaps unfair as I don't know her.

I wish she had kept her legs closer together during tonights dance, I think that would significantly improve the performance.

Oh come on, you had to laugh in the Mambo when the girls got lifted sideways and well...

As for the OP, while I'm not a fan of slimy Vincent, I'm reserving judgement on Natalie. Hopefully she won't come across as desperate, which I think she might.

Definitely not a size 14, I'm an 18 and she's bigger than me. Don't think there will be many lifts for her and Vincent, somehow!

i agree with the comment about it probably being a publicity stunt - putting her in a red, short, low cut dress at the front of the group - they knew what they were doing!

but also that she was the one who publicised her weight loss with videos, magazine articles etc and so being in the public eye, people will notice and comment when she puts it all back on.

But what i wanted to comment on - did anyone else notice (couldn't miss!) the ton of dark eye make up she had on - when they panned round the celebs in the results room? she looked like a vampire or something - really awful - none of the other women seemed to be made up like that.

I had the very same thoughts about Kat too.. horrible rigouts.

Cruel, cruel people here who keep taking a p*ss out of her figures/looks.

I recalled Letitia had some really nasty remarks about her (when she did that horrible rhumba in week 2), but she survived until the quarter finals.

Turns out, Letitia improved so much she became very watchable.

Natalie may have her demons to fight (her weight), and she may look very 'common' (for the lack of a better word), but she certainly had some good rhythm in her in the group dance and I think as long as Vincent really push her hard enough as well as being her rock, she'll go much further than lots of naysayers say she would.

She's nowhere near an 18 in my opinion. Just goes to show how differently we all see things.

I'd say she's a comfy 16. Certainly not a 14 and certainly not an 18. But then we can't be certain can we, television makes people look bigger than they are for a start.

Think its disgusting how many pointed comments and jibes are aimed at Natalies weight. Considering there are so many of you nasty, superficial people out there, I think she's bloody brave for giving it a go! We're all different shapes and sizes and the beauty of Strictly is that the contestants are all shapes and sizes too. If they were all super slim and fantastic dancers we wouldn't have a show. It would be boring. No improvements, no contestants increasing in confidence and nobody having an unexpected corker of a week.

I'm rooting for Natalie. I want her to show everyone that you can be bigger than a size 12 and be able to dance. Size isn't everything for god's sake.

size 14 is a lot to lift though for male dancer, theyre usually size 10 and under.

There aren't really many SCD dances where they are allowed to put lifts in! I don't like all that showy, fling your partner around, so no-one can see they can't actually dance malarkey.

I prefer to see the celebs improve on the dancefloor. I thought Natalie did ok and has potential.