I think there's a fine line with confidence: Ricky and Natalie are VERY good, no doubt about that. But there is something off-putting about her attitude in particular, since it comes across to me as 'I'm here to win, I WILL win, and I can't be bothered to pretend otherwise and play nice'.

Well there are a lot of cocky and arrogant people on the show then.

But what is wrong with that,should she not want to win...all the pros are there to win,and anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken.

If you know you are good you have to be very careful to manage it to not be seen as arrogant. Not something he has managed to achieve as yet.

Really,I thought he and Natalie both kept saying he has a lot to learn yet...timing posture ect and he said he was not over confident atall and people just assume he is.

People are already saying that he has an air of false modesty about him; I don't think there's anything he could do to please people. This forum also has to have its hate figures (Lisa was the chosen one last year). Ricky isn't my favourite, but some of the comments on here have been a bit unfair.

Why aren't people allowed to be confident anyway? We have a very odd perspective in this country. On DWTS I've seen the celebs be quite competitive, and it hasn't made them unpopular.

I actually didn't mind Jan Ravens and thought her "rant" hilarious

As for Ricky being unpopular I can accept it when FMs give valid reasons for their dislike. However, even I'm surprised at how quickly people took a dislike to him and how inaccurate some of the posters are. On Saturday/Sunday someone posted in a thread saying he didn't deserve a nine, yet everyone who watched the show knew that Ricky received 8s. Fair enough the poster doesn't like Ricky and if they felt he was over-marked; not a problem but to claim to be a fan of the show and not know the scores seemed a tad suspicious to me. It's got to the point where I wonder if there's something a little more sinister going on. He's way out in front with the bookies, and it's not been unknown for gamblers to use the BB forum to test the waters and try to alter the odds and I do wonder if this is the case with Ricky.

When talking outside these forums people don't seem to care about the "training" rumours (and they seem to be just that) they just say "he's fantastic" and "gorgeous". I've loved him since I saw him dancing in the group dance, and sat there with my jaw dropped when he danced for real. His Paso was one of the best I've seen on SCD and even though his Salsa was a little off I still rated it as one of the best performances of the night. This also leads to another problem. Those of us who think he's the best thing to hit SCD for a long time tend not to post as it inevitably turns into some sort of argument.

After Colin Jackson, I wouldn't dare say that Ricky will win but, if he keeps up this standard then it will be a travesty if he doesn't. I'm a Ricky Whittle fan and proud of it! There I've said it!

Someone on here mentioned the other day that they'd have loved to have seen Natalie paired with Joe: I suspect the poor sod would have danced better through sheer fear with her!

But we have to live with months of this! Someone that only shows a win focus isn't going to entertain us for 16 weeks.

Public votes come from a whole package.

.....LOL!

At least she is honest.......Better than her banging on about not caring if she wins or not.....she is not the first pro to show her desire for winning....in series five Flavia mentioned on every vt that she was determined to get to the final as did Vincent last year,and Camilla was desperate aswell.

I certainly don't hate him: He deserves to be in the show until the very end, he's an excellent dancer.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with confidence, but not at the price of enjoyment IMO. The pair of them seem to be taking it far too seriously...

It's not what he says: it's the way he says it. Watch his mannerisms.

Yes, but they did it with personality! (I know, we disagree on that bit)

On matters raised by other posters. Hate is a ridiculous word to be using for a reality show couple and reflects more on the person feeling the hate (if they really are) than the dancers.

That's it in a nutshell for me too Sid

He's boring - she's desperate to win - never a good combination on these types of show.

It is different for different people.

I wouldn't say I don't like Ricky or Natalie and I don't mind that he is such a good dancer. Natalie is okay, but so far she's not going to become my favourite pro any time soon. I didn't know who he was before SCD, but two things have put me off Ricky -
[LIST=1][*]His lack of humility - He knows he's good and some of the things he says are insensitive towards the other celebs. He moans about how hard he finds doing certain things in training that some couples will never be able to do. There are others who are focused on their own performances (e.g. Ricky G and Chris) and not worrying about everyone else being better, but Ricky just comes over as me, me, me.
[*]His moaning about his work restricting his training time - That really gets on my nerves. When I hear a celeb say that, arrrgh! I just think about who else could have had their place and be 100% committed to SCD. There are others who are also working and they might mention it in passing or someone else might mention when talking about them, but none of them moan like Ricky. Chris gets up at 4.30 am and still gives 100%. Ricky's performance last week was weak through lack of training time and that's his problem to sort out, but SCD should come first.[/LIST]

He's very good - but he doesn't light up on the screen. He doesn't sparkle like Goughie, or come alive like Ramps. He doesn't seem to have Tom's sheer enthusiasm, or Austin's passion. (I'm sticking to the fella's for this before people wonder if I'm indulging in a little revisionist history and airbrushing 'Tasha, Jill and Alesha out). Dancing's not just visual: it makes you feel emotions deep inside.

I get nothing back from Ricky. Sorry.

With personality really......we really do disagree.

I love him and really want him in the final but, I do agree with you about this. When he said about work I did think "what about poor Phil"?

Still as you say it's different strokes for different folks. At the moment he's the only one I would pick up the phone and vote for.

Put it this way if they were to leave this Saturday i wouldnt bat an eyelid, dont care for them one iota.

I didn't particularly like Ramps or Tom. I also think that Austin and Darren were overmarked and overrated. However, I wouldn't call them some of the names certain people have reserved for Ricky on here. Someone said they feel like throwing things at the screen when he's on.

Interesting:
[list]Goughie - I saw a loud mouthed "cocky" so and so. I really, really didn't like him. [/list][list]Ramps - Loved. [/list][list]Tom - Smug and really couldn't take to him [/list][list]Austin - Like him, admired his ability but unlike you I didn't really see the passion. [/list]
Out of those four I only actually picked up the phone for Ramps. So it just goes to show that we all really do see different things when it comes to personality. I like Ricky, he's got a wonderful smile and comes across as a really nice guy who's loving SCD. Even the pros were cheering him on Saturday so he must be doing something right.

I wasn't Austin or Tom's biggest fans either, but they had something about them. Goughie had a likeable personality, and for me Ramps shone amongst them. But I accept what one person likes another isn't obliged to. Some people see something special in Ricky - and that's good! I personally don't really have any feelings about him one way or another. He's just not on my radar on an emotional level at all. Dancing, yes: he's good. But for me it needs to be more than that.

Can't imagine throwing anything at the TV screen though! Never wanted to do that to anyone on Strictly. Except Bruno when he gave a 10 for an illegal lift. That was a close run thing!

No journey. Plus the pro male celeb vote is competitive this year with more than just an Austin and a Tom competing for it. I suspect Tuffers and Joe have a big vote and Ricky G may have the cheeky chappy vote. There's also semingly a vote for Chris. That doesn't leave enough votes for Ricky W and those people are sitting on stronger stories or fanbases. I also suspect Anton is pulling in votes either from people who want him to win at last or who support him over his problems or like Leila. Ali has support and I suspect Nathalie has some too.

Question is do the weaker dancers go leaving the stronger ones to get to the later stages or is it Tuffers v Ali/ Ricky W in the final with Tuffers winning ?

You summed up how I felt about those four Laura!

But alas, this year, we disagree regarding Ricky W

Sorry!