I am not an Alesha hater (voted for her in series 5), but her comment to Ricky W regarding Andrew Castle really irked me on Saturday night. She said something along the lines of ' Your not Andrew Castle' obviously indicating how rubbish he (Andrew) was. It doesn't sit well with me Alesha knocking past contestants. I know the other judges occasionally reference Wilson, Garraway and Philips, but as Alesha is a previous contestant, I felt this came across as quite bitchy. Isn't the idea that, Alesha, as a past contestant, knows how stressful and hard it is and is there to emphasise with the contestants to some extent. Andrew Castle certainly wasn't the worst dancer on the programme and Ill bet he was really delighted being spoken about like that. I don't think its her job to start rubbishing previous dancers.
Didn't like that at all.

I voted for her also. How I now regret that decision!

Well each week I miss Arlene more and like Alesha less. She is patronising and arrogant!

That comment dissing Andrew Castle is an insult both to Andrew, who worked his butt off for this show, and Ola, the choreographer.
I was stunned she stooped so low.

I thought it was a fair comment for a judge to make, and completely consistent with comparisons drawn by other judges with other contestants (as the OP states).

Of course, if I was unable to accept Alesha as a judge then I might see it differently.

Well Ricky is Craig's favourite anyway , he has just said on Breakfast .

Anyone of Ricky , Zoe , Laila or Ali could win he thinks at the moment .

It wasn't just an out-of-the-blue dissing of Andrew Castle though. She was saying that a particular move, that is associated strongly with Andrew Castle, was too easy for him. I'm sure Andrew's not under any illusions as to why Ola had him standing stock still thrusting his arms.

I am more than able to accept Alesha as a judge, no matter on what (or not) merits that decision was taken. However, my issue is that she is partly/mostly? there to represent the celebs POV. Once she starts slagging previous ones off (for an appearance when she wasn't even a judge), it doesn't help to endear her to anyone.

I find this in contrast to whole idea of why she's there in the first place.

Monkseal appears to have got inside my head and stolen my answer. He's also right.

I cannot see Alesha as being bitchy but it was an inappropriate comment - very inappropriate. I think she made another, similar, one about someone else at one stage. She will learn. She is not doing too badly - and at least she didn't say, "You was like Andrew Castle".

Well, if she was going to pick on celebrities for using 'gimmicks' as part of their routine, she could've chosen a better example than Andrew flippin' Castle and his headbanging. Kenny Logan and the kilt, anyone?!

It was a good point ruined by a bad illustration for me - and not just because it looked like she was picking on past contestants, which isn't really good form from any of the judges, but because it was a poor choice of example.

Wait till Ricky starts head banging.

She told Chris he was hardly Matt DiAngelo and the other week said to Anton it was good to see him with someone who can dance.

As an ex-contestant, and now a judge that is meant to have empathy for the contestants, she comes across as just plain bitchy.

The comment dropped like a lead baloon anyway

I am a fan of Aleshas , loved her and Mathew Cutllers win , I suprted her in this new role .But I have this sinking feeling that its going to be a very bad career move for her and not do her any good at all

She was out of order. At the risk of repeating others, her appointment to the judging panel was justified by many as, given her past experience as a contestant, she would be empathetic with those now walking in her shoes.

When she made her comment, someone should have responded "And you're not Arlene Phillips."

She wasn't talking about gimmicks in general, she was talking about a specific move, where the celebrity stands on the spot and pumps their arms. Andrew Castle did it (I think a few times) and Ricky Whittle did this week as well (and so did Natalie Cass. I think).

She maybe over-estimated just how much people remember who did what moves, but it was a staple of Ola's choreography for Andrew, because there was precious little he could do. And hence Natalie Lowe shouldn't really be hauling it out for Ricky W. I thought it was perfectly on-point and showed why it was a poor routine - it was way, WAY below the level he's capable of.

I thought she mentioned it in the context of the backflip?

I'm not in a position to rewatch at the moment but I'm fairly sure she was talking about the arm pumping - Len was the only one I remember singling out the backflip for criticism.

I thought it was a silly thing for her to make a point of, as far as I am aware, it is a recognised dance move, have seen it lots of times in routines I'm sure.
Natalie C did it this week as well and if memory is correct.....lol, always debateable.....didn't Karen Hardy and Ramps do it too?....anyway, thought she was just nit picking tbh.

Just checked the comments and while I may have got confused regarding who mentioned the backflip, I think Alesha's use of the word 'gimmmicks' was open to interpretation...so I'm gonna leave this one hanging

Yes, she was referring to that specific gimmick and she`s right in a way, Ricky W shouldn`t need to resort to gimmicks.

I don't think making comparisons to previous seasons contestants is fair at all. Each season should be treated as a seperate entity. My mouth dropped open when she was rude to Chris and compared his Salsa to Matt Di Angelo's, then doing it again a few minutes later to Ricky Whittle was too much. On a separate note though, I think Alesha is becoming a much better judge!

I know she's in a bit of a 'no win' situation but I think she's going bit far now with her comments, she's coming across as too cocky and arrogent.
I thought she was on the panel to empathise with the contestants and bring a new dimension to the panel, not slag off her old colleauges and make comparisons to insult her new ones.
On the first show I thought she'd started off really weak, but then there was a huge amount of pressure on her. However, she then seemed to get so much better over the next couple of shows and I was finally starting to take her opinion on board and accepting her as a judge.
But, on saturday night I found her awful! Patronising, arrogent, it really didn't suit her, AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HER GRAMMER!!!!

I know she's in a bit of a 'no win' situation, but I think she's going bit far now with her comments, she's coming across as too cocky and arrogent.
I thought she was on the panel to empathise with the contestants and bring a new dimension to the panel, not slag off her old colleauges and make comparisons to insult her new ones.
On the first show I thought she'd started off really weak, but then there was a huge amount of pressure on her. However, she then seemed to get so much better over the next couple of shows and I was finally starting to take her opinion on board and accepting her as a judge.
But, on saturday night I found her awful! Patronising, arrogent, it really didn't suit her, AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HER GRAMMER!!!!

She is right.

Ricky W's salsa was - by his standards - rubbish. He was lucky to get 32, and the whole arm-shimmy rubbish is more samba than salsa.

I don't mind Alesha using comparisons, either. They work.

I suspect some people will have a go at anything noteworthy Alesha says, simply because it's Alesha saying it.