Originally Posted by arlene's boy:
“I suspect not better than she is now. Can't understand why there's a feeling that she's a good dancer when she's only completed one dance successfully so far! And, of course Matthew would then have been the fall guy for the 'race row'!
BTW, how did the so-wonderful Matthew - with a very good partner - manage to get voted out in round 1? It doesn't exactly accord with the 'world's greatest living dancer' tosh that keeps being spouted on these boards!”
What a strange post
Matt could only be the fall guy for the 'race row' if he had said what Anton said... which I doubt would ever have happened.
He isn't the world's greatest living dancer, but it certainly isn't tosh to say he is by far the most accomplished dancer on Strictly. Look at his competitive record- it speaks for itself.
How did he get voted out in week one? Well he didn't deserve to, plain and simple. In a group of eight, he and Martina were ranked fifth. They were eliminated first because the public unaccountably voted through Lynda and Joe, and because the judges made what is widely acknowledged to be a strange decision. It wasn't even a majority decision- it was down to Len's casting vote and his bias for celebrity males.
Whether Laila would have done well with Matt is speculation. But to say she is a bad dancer when she has been taught by someone who doesn't know the first thing about latin.... how would Anton ever produce a good dancer? Someone who was actually teaching her the basics, increasing the challenge week by week, and lending credibility to the routines by actually dancing them well himself, might well have produced better results that Anton has.
Even if you accept that she isn't capable of dancing latin well, she'd probably be better with someone like Darren. I can just imagine the kind of corny routines Anton would have produced for Lynda- at least Darren let her hold on to her dignity, and actually taught her proper, albeit basic, latin routines rather than just going for the comedy factor. Darren would have made Laila look much better than Anton does.