Far better to get this sort of thing out in the open, it will be a shame for SCD if its true, following on from recent revelations in rugby, football and motor racing.

The quote seems too detailed to be an "off the cuff" remark, (which I presume means he meant it as a joke).

Richard Dunwoody would know that a remark like that would cause ripples across the SCD pond.

Anyone who is deemed to have had dance practise (women, at any rate) is pulled to bits - Emma Bunton,Cherie Lunghi and Kelly Brook, anyone. I don't remember much criticism of Austin Healey?

If Ricky Whittle's 7 months pre-programme training is true, then this might very well be a case of the public using their votes wisely. In other words: give 'em to someone more deserving, and kick Ricky into touch. If his training is true, of course......

The BBC have said "three or four salsa classes".

So unless you've got evidence that Ricky's been squirrelled away learning ballroom dance for 7 months solid, whilst he's had a full-time job, then I'm going with the beeb.


He's nothing in the salsa world, I can tell you that.

So if he's teaching salsa, he's not well known for it.

That's my point.

Clear? Or should I use smaller words?


Christ, I charge £30 an hour. It's peanuts.


Based on...?


In other words, you're ignoring the actual facts in favour of your personal prejudices.

Which he has done.

Story.

End.

Of.

Spelling aside, that was nicely put by him. Thanks, DavidJames!

7 months Dance experience eh ? well thats 3 months more than Alesha Dixon so should Ricky be the new judge then ??

The thing that will do for Ricky in the end will be the constant gushing praise and ridiculous marking of the judges and Natalie Lowe has already used the 10 word.......thats almost guaranteed to tick off the GBP and do for their chances.

When did they tell them that they are on SCD? Really 7-9 months ago? Anyway you either have a talent or you don't. It's typical that talent must be punished and mediocrity is celebrated.

Thanks for the link. I was inclined to believe the BBC rather than Richard as I couldn't quite think how he'd fit all that training with his Hollyoaks job, but it's nice to have the question answered. Doubt it will be last we hear of it, thought!

"like", no.... heh.

Rampant and obvious prejudice against talent narks me off, that's all - some people are clearly looking for any excuse to have a go.

I mean, my God, I don't like the guy - he's smug as hell and obviously his command of the finer points of the English language leaves something to be desired.

But come on, if you're going to have a go at him, have a go at him for something he's actually done wrong, you know?

We should be happy to see a naturally-talented dancer on the show. We should hope he'll set the bar high. We should look forward to an actual competition. We should, in short, treat it like series 5, not last year's abomination.

Good grief.

Can anyone remind me who came second in last year's abomination? Thanks.

Rachel

Well - we have now heard from the man himself, which clears things up. However, for the record...


Do you want to be any more patronising? This is a forum and people are allowed to post opinions that may not necessarily be agreeable with yours.

Blindly believe the BBC on things if you like, but I have past experience to suggest they are happy to bend the truth so I never listen to what they say. I thought it was significant that Lilia's partner mentioned 7 months of training, as after all, she would know how long he had been working with her brother in law.

I never said he was well known in the salsa world, I said he was established in the latin world as a very good teacher of both competitive and social dancers and would likely be more than qualified to teach salsa. I never said he was a specialised salsa teacher - his speciality is obviousy classic latin. Considering his reputation as a dance instructor and the simplicity of salsa, personally I wouldn't ever describe him as a 'second-rate teacher'. £30 may well be peanuts, but I know full well how highly Dale Bennett is considered as an instuctor, so the "peanuts" price isn't a reflection of his standard of teaching. There are a lot of very highy qualified dancers out there who teach for "peanuts".

I pointed out that I was merely speculating aloud in the last point of my post. It was based upon the fact he travelled to Dale Bennett in the first place for lessons. As Dale's famous for latin instruction, I was wondering aloud whether he went for latin lessons as opposed to Salsa as was printed in the NOTW. Was just wondering, hence me noting down that I was just speculating.

At the time of posting we didn't have any facts and I have never had any prejudices - I have said twice that the experience thing doesn't bother me and for the record, I like Ricky.

God some people are so over dramatic !

There still seems more to this than meets the eye!

This isn't me fiery.

This is me chilled.

Now, now! Don't you start!

Yes, I do actually. Is that OK with you?

Do you want to be any more incorrect and blatantly-prejudiced?


Absolutely.

But I kind of like some facts behind my opinions, I'm funny that way.

So if, for example, someone says something like "I reckon he's a cheat", against all the evidence to the contrary, then I know that:
A/ That person is clearly prejudiced
B/ The Daily Wail will now have another dumbass headline to run.


I don't. But you seem to blindly disbelieve them. Without any of what us people call "evidence" to back up your belief.


I'll take that as a "Yes, I was wrong and I'm sorry I leapt to conclusions based on insufficient evidence, I'll never do that again" shall I?


No, you disagreed with my assessment of his salsa teaching abilities. Again, based on no actual evidence. Funny that. One might almost think you had an agenda or something.


Rubbish.

Salsa is not like the other dances - why do you think most of the pros are rubbish at it?


OK, maybe you're simply unaware of the facts.


For the record, I don't.

Cor, that's deep that is.

I'd ask you to explain further but I suspect that'd strain you.

My mean lever is on 2 at the moment

Was it Ray Quin who won dancing on ice? He had been skating for a while before he entererd DOI. I didn't see people saying that was unfair.

I'm glad Ricky has spoken out and set the record straight. I just hope that message gets out loud and clear. IIRC Claudia asked Austin to confirm his (lack of) past experience on ITT, so it might be an idea if she did the same for Ricky.

I'd be interested to know how much public vote points Ricky picked up on Saturday- this isn't a foregaone conclusion - there are a few others who could conceivably win this

One of whom is Chris- everyone seems to have forgotten about him

You know the irony of it all? You said you don't even like Ricky W!

For me, I am still ambivalent regarding Ricky W. I liked his waltz (which I know you don't, you said it had no heart), but dislike his rhumba (too 'hard' and 'macho', and not 'romantic' enough). I'll have to wait and see how he deals with the dances in the subsequent weeks to come.

edit: just out of curiosity, what is your maximum mean level?

Thank you for your concern, but I do not feel inclined to be shouted down, a fate that has befallen others I see. Things like this should always be open to scrutiny without accusations of bias or prejudice being made.

So did Chris Fountain who was in a ice hockey team and apparently did ballet as a child but a lot of people blame this for the reason he didn't win as Suzanne had more of the "j" word

There are always people on Strictly/DWTS who have some kind of previous experience whether they went to stage school, had ballet training, were on a charity thing that included 'dancing' of some type, did a youtube video or did some dance classes years ago.

I will vote for who i believe is the best dancer on the night or overall (near the end) no matter who has previous experience oh and who i like dancing the best