i am furious about the way craig was treated
brebdon was soooooooo rude
and bruce was bloody out of order
why was craigs comment any more personal than brunos ? it wasnt
i think gunning for craig is feeling like school bullying and i for one am complaining about it

sigh @ strictly

Craig has the bad-guy role. I don't think he's bothered.
Skippy the kangaroo. Quite an obvious comment really.
What's wrong with dancing like a kangaroo? I wish I were that good.

Bruce and Brendan both went too far with their reactions, but I cannot agree about Craig being bullied. I think that overall he is the best judge, but some of his comments are too harsh, and I think some of his worst comments from over the years are closer to bullying than anything that was said to him tonight.

I hope Brucie apologises. He obviously couldnt cope with the F1 overrun and then Brendan flouncing off and Craig caught the wrong end of it.

It really put a downer on the show for me and I didnt buck up again really until Flavia and Vincent danced that wonderful Tango-Waltz...and as someone who usually puts the kettle on when the pro's come on, that's really saying something; they had me spellbound.

agree, i thought it was a bit of a downer too. kinda took the sparkle off the evening, thank goodness for V&F. sooo sick of brendan and his tantrums.

The whole thing was something I would expect to see on the X Factor. Brendan should have stayed put and flouncing off like that did him no favours whatsoever. In defence of Brucie I do wonder if he was worried about the audience perceiving the whole thing as personal. Remember they're all still reeling from the JS fiasco last year.

In defence of Brucie:

Is he doddery?

Doddery he is!

It was completely unfair IMO.

BRUNO made the personal remarks first and qualified them by giving an insulting impersonation!! Craig backed him up by saying she was more like a kangaroo, at which point Bruno laughed incredibly loudly therefore making it worse Granted it wasn't nice but Bruce was completely out of his depth! Maybe he thought that Jo had got upset and that's why Brendan had taken her away and so picked on the easiest target at hand - Craig!

Bruno in effect started it (I sound like I'm back in the playground), Craig might have added to it but they were BOTH at fault yet Craig alone is castigated and shown up by Bruce for it? In Craig's shoes I think I'd been telling him to shut up and just get on with presenting the programme and leave the judging to them

Bruce really is big for his boots sometimes IMO. He has no right to tell the judges off Getting his whistle out when they're all arguing is one thing but this was a completely different situation.

As for Brendan - I think we're all used to his flouncing, tantrums and anger by now. No doubt he'll be shooting from the lip on It Takes Two next week

The only one who had ANY dignity throughout all of this was JO!!

Brendan Cole is the real culprit and I'm sick to death of his prima donna act year after year. The guy should never have been chosen for SCD. He seems to have very little self control and flys off the handle at the slightest provocation. I hope they let him and Anton go when this Strictly finishes and let us have some new, first class male Pros.

I actually thought that Craig's comment was a little caustic, but not personal and not bad enough to evoke such a reaction from Brendan.

Bruce was wrong to reprimand Craig as he did for making the remark and he made things a lot worse by saying the same thing again once Brendan and Jo had walked off.

Bruce should have ignored Brendan and let Craig finish his critique and then moved on to the other judges. Brendan was wrong to walk off and the best reaction would have been for the judges and Bruce to ignore it and carry on as usual.

If Brendan thought that Craig was that offensive then this could have been sorted out off air.

Bruce is the presenter and as such should know that sometimes, it is best not to comment.
He made the whole Anton race incident a lot worse last week by making comments to the press and rekindling the whole thing once it had started to die down.

I can see why the powers that be are reluctant to get rid of Bruce but perhaps its time they found him another role - perhaps a Sunday night show?

I was appalled by the way Craig was treated and I'm appalled at the way the judges over-marked Jo possibly as a result of this. I felt possibly even Craig was influenced by it giving Jo a 5 when Joe and Craig got 4 - she was as bad if not worse than them. It really cheeses me off how Jo plays the 'poor lickle me' card and everyone falls for it I had sympathy for her at first but now I want her gone and especially want her gone before she stays in at the expense of someone with some talent. I felt so sorry for Zoe and James being in the dance-off when they did not deserve it and hope this doesn't knock Zoe's confidence and she can see for the stupidity that is a part of the public vote sometimes and not a reflection on her. James looked livid and I don't blame him.

They were ALL in the wrong!!

Craig does tend to make personal and insulting comments to the celebs. I think Bruno's "grasshopper" comment was OK as I (and I think Brendan & Jo) understood what he meant - but then Craig seemed to feel that he had to make a more insulting comparison with his reference to "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" to make his point. He was intimating that she wasn't as light as a grasshooper but as ungainly in her movements as a wallaby - which she wasn't.

All he had to do was say he agreed with Bruno and go on and make his comments as normal. As it was, that was very much Jo's best dance to date, and her confidence is obviously quite fragile, so Brendan decided to remove her from hearing any more gratuitous insults.

That said - Craig is the judge, and Brendan /Jo the contestants being judged, but their efforts (however bad) deserve some respect. I've said since series 1 that Craig doesn't need to be quite so insulting to the dancers in order to get his point across - he does it more for attentionn than attempting to be constructive. Don't forget that Craig is not actually qualifed to sit in judgement on a ballroom dancing competition, so someone like Brendan who IS qualified will probably find Craig's more asinine comments hard to take anyway.

Bruce should never have leapt on the bandwagon though - it was neither the time or place for that

Why was it Ok for Len to call Natalie hop-a- long because she was a bit skippy but not Ok for Craig to say Jo looked like a kangaroo. Same thing isn't it?

Everyone laughed at Len but complained about Craig.

Apart from Len I'm not sure who IS qualified.
Skippy is an endearing character and Jo did skip. Some people need to get a thicker skin.

If you don't stand there and take it like an adult you may miss out on some constructive criticism. Craig nearly always covers all the bases - good points and what to work on.

Grow up, Brendan. And Bruce? Keep your substantial nose out...

Well indeed.

Jo didn't even appear upset, it was just the usual Brendan flounce which I suspect he wanted to get in before he was voted out of the series.

The judges apparently give their marks as the couple walk towards them, so the "incident" had no bearing on the marks Jo and Brendan got last night.

I thought Bruce's reaction was OTT and not a great idea, but I have waited for years to see someone refuse to take the gratuitous insults which Craig throws out. The couples should do it to him more often

You can criticise a performance without being nasty or resorting to personal comments

I agree with you Carol. The judges can judge without resorting to personal comments and without likening the contestant to " Skippy the Bush Kangaroos"; "Rag Doll"; "Grasshopper", etc. etc.

I rather think everyone is missing the point.

I don't think Craigs remark was much more offensive than the other judges,but I fail to see that liking someone to a 'kangaroo' can be classed as constructive criticism.

Craig has been more guilty than the others over previous series of making cheap remarks and not offering professional advice.

They got rid of Arlene, who at least tried to give tips on how to improve.
Perhaps it is now time to look at Craigs record ?

A bit more pointed when directed at Brendan though.

We never got to see if he got to offer any constructive criticsm as he got shouted at by Bruce. The question is why was he singled out at that time if he's been doing it for years? Bruno has also said things which can't really be called constructive - being told King Tut in a frock would have done a better job wasn't going to help Kate Garroway improve. I find it less annoying that Len's marking according to what mood in he's in, which celebs he likes and his failure to acknowledge there are paddles below 6.

Even hubbie who is not familar with Craig and Brendan's issue had no trouble recognising this as a grudge match between them.

Alesha's 'drunken rag doll' and 'dad at a party' comments were just as personal as the 'bush kangaroo'. Bruce reacted to the latter because Brendan stormed off, while others smiled in acceptance and appreciated the humour. If the judges are made to feel they can't use descriptive similes, it will make for some very bland and boring commentary in the future. If anyone is to blame, i think it's Brendan.

I thought both Bruno and Craig were downright bombastic toward Ali, both OTT and Bruno was almost angry.

Then they both followed up with unconstructive cheap shots at Jo.

When Bruno started with 'grasshopper' Bruce made a quick aside to him of 'well you can do anything'...quite dismissive...then when Craig waded in immediately with the Skippy comment I think Bruce was past his tolerance level, and with Brendan walking off it was left to Bruce to make a split second decision of how to go forward so he silenced Craig and went on to the other two judges.

I was actually pleased with Bruce's reaction, at least it showed care for Jo's feelings.

When it's clear that a celebrity if lacking in confidence, publically demeaning their performance with silly remarks in order to get a cheap laugh is very unprofessional....

I concede that Bruce may be guilty of this, but at least we know he's there for that reason, whereas the others are suppose to be using their professional experience to critique the dancers, not take pot shots...

Everyone wants to be funny, everyone wants to be the star of the show...too many divas in one room...

Bruce is a bit of a hypocrite.
His cheap shot last week about Jo " losing a stone" was far worse.

Bruce did seem to be rather frazzled last night - fluffling lines (more than usual) and getting people's names wrong (most embarrassingly during the dance off).

The over-run probably meant the show finished way past his bed time.

I agree Brendan acted like a big girls blouse with his flouncing off like he did last night. Craig is the only judge that tells it like it is and imho Bruce was out of order last night and for the very first time I do believe it is time he took his leave of SCD .Yes I am cross I just don't get this we must protect Jo Wood, she is a grown woman for gawd sakes and not some helpless woman with ten kids whose husband has left her. I can't remember the same protection act when Brendan partnered Fiona Phillips, another lady who just couldn't dance.