It does happen every single year, and it's one of the main reasons I hardly ever visit here anymore.

Zoe Ball, Emma Bunton, Rachel Stevens, Kelly Brook, Lisa Snowdon -they've all received the most hateful venom on this forum for simply being 'good'. They're over marked or they're over hyped or they're 'dull' or they're too loud or they have an annoying laugh or they're out to further their career or any number of things that people bang on and on about. The thing is, they're usually the most talented and the best dancers when people who can't dance like John Sargent are adored. I don't understand it and never will, and I really question why some people watch this show.

We all like some couples over others, but the inevitable hate campaign for whoever is top of the leaderboard that is whipped up here every year is just simply pathetic.

They started the routine with LIGHTING A CANDLE!
*shudders* I half expected to hear Len at the end tearing them into strips for 'all that faffin' abaaaart'

I still think it makes sense though that other thread is a classic marketing thread if ever I saw one......then dissapears and finds that he isnt getting the nice posts he hoped and suddenly we see lots of fuss about not being supported when as far as I can see there is nothing away from forum(s) to suggest he isnt being supported.

Violet, Ricky isnt "top" of the leaderboard based on his latest outing. On Saturday he tied 3rd with Jade and Ian and has only only been top once more than Ali and I don't see people "hating" on her.

I don't think it helps that his dancing ability has been over-exaggerated, but it's not just a dancing competition, so none of the contestants can rely on dancing alone to get them to the final.

StrictlyWhittle, I wasnt a great fan of Tom - he over-performed for me - but youve got a nerve saying all contestants should be respected on this thread and yet on another you flippantly state that reigning champion Tom had no talent and Ricky has.

Fair enough, if your 10 years of Salsa doesnt make you a better judge of that than most of us watching at home I dont know what does. But it's the sort of attitude that gets some of the "better" dancers sent home before their time

Er... how does he know he has "a lack of support"? He hasn't been in the dance-off so that must mean the public votes are being leaked, which I find hard to believe.

I think he is reading this

I read that too Casp - although tbf that comes up every year. Last year it was Austin and I believe Zoe suffered the same accusation. I think if it was true some pap would have leaked a pic to the red tops by now.

Still don't like him.

Note the use of a small "r" in "ricky", and then have a look at his other posts, then his blog. It's him, I tell you !!

(Or the equally revolting Natalie Lowe). (Or both of them).

I have to say I tend to agree.

As much as I don't particularly like Natalie - I think "revolting" is taking it a touch too far...

Yes, yes, yes...

Hours of training and dancing, AND get paid a large wad of cash into the bargain? Of course I'd go for it, no matter who was watching, who wouldn't?

I am not an idiot, I have an opinion based on what I've seen of their public personae so far. I am allowed that, especially given all the encouragement from the vids on ITT and the intros on a Saturday. If that's wrong, maybe someone should change the editing or the script to give a different impression?

I think the best couple in the show currently are Vincent and Flavia, I've not yet tired of watching that Tango Waltz, that was truly incredible, and the only dance I've watched more than once so far.

On a slightly different tack......why do you think they are not on ITT...I know its probably because of him working in Liverpool but they could surely do a recorded interview. I dont expect to like them any more for seeing them interviewed.....she did ask if anyone had got a 10 in their first week if you remember .....but I still think its odd, they are almost invisible except for training footage and the actual show.

I did deliberate for a while on this. It came down to a choice between revolting and odious.

My wife had the casting vote.

I can't speak for anyone else but Lisa earned my ire for being over-marked and I think Emma was too. Doesn't mean they were rubbish but I also think the fact that Austin was eliminated to keep Lisa in further got backs up against and Brendan's strops every time she got less than he thought they deserved - I'm sure she a nice person but she seemed like an appeaser and that made her look like she was argeeing with Brendan ergo was as arrogant as he was that year. Kelly's personality seemed to annoy some people I was fine with her but I can understand why some didn't like her - Matt Da and Gaby seem to attract a lot of vitriol too. Rachel was a lovely dancer and probably a nice lady but she was a tad bland personality wise and had a tendancy to spout cliches which didn't help her. I liked Zoe both as a person and a dancer but as I said on Monkseal's blog she wasn't helped by her marriage problems being in the news just prior to the show, her training over the allocated number of hours being percieved as cheating by some and the fact that the public and producers seemed to think it was time a bloke won that year.

I think that we all remember the flak our favourites get and are hurt by it and don't notice the flak we agree with. So I'd agree that, say, Rachel and Lisa got flak last year but I wouldn't agree that John Sargeant didn't, or that generally the no-hopers are loved on here and the able dancers get rubbished. There were loads of posts that loathed JS, that felt he was everything that was wrong with last season, and wanted him to 'do the decent thing' and resign, something nobody suggested about Lisa or Rachel.

There are one or two couples on here each year where the love noticably outweighs the crits, but this year the most support I see is about Jade and Ian and Ali and Brian, very talented dancers, not brave little useless triers. Other than them, some are going mostly under the radar, and some are getting attacks as well as support. (jmo, but I'd say Craig for Blackpool and Natalie for her weight issues get as much as Ricky W - neither hated for being likely to win. But I can't say I've kept count.)

I'm not trying to stir up more flak about any or all of them and I get why it hurts. I just think 'nobody likes a good dancer' is simplistic. There's some of that, but it's only one of the huge range of opinions and biases on here. Personally I have no favourite so far this year, and I really envy those who do, tbh, it's much more fun, even if it means nobody can really upset me with discussions like this either.

*Standing ovation*
Very true, I supported all of those girls, especially Rachel.. The true wi.. Nevermind I won't go down that road


But Rachel and Lisa were good dancers and deserved to be in the competition, I have no issue with John Sergeant but you can't really compare.

Absolutely, JT.

[quote=TylerTango;36339873But Rachel and Lisa were good dancers and deserved to be in the competition, I have no issue with John Sergeant but you can't really compare.[/QUOTE]

I'm just saying (in a very verbose way, I'd admit) that the hatred JS got was much more extreme than anything thrown at Rachel or Lisa. Bad dancers don't get all love on here.

It cuts both ways - I never saw anyone talk about their desire to inflict physical injury (slapping, hitting, choking, throwing things at) John Sergeant. I saw people say that repeatedly about Lisa Snowdon.

I don't think there's a tendency to like the sympathy vote candidates here, but I do think the most hated celebrity usually ends up as someone who scores very highly and makes it very far. Basic human psychology would suggest that it's because people feel, on a subconscious level, their favourite is threatened (this might explain the John Sergeant stuff, as people genuinely believed, for whatever reason, that he was a threat to win).

Certainly I look back to some of the ways I thought about Gethin towards the end of his series, and realised it was mostly because I was convinced he was going to beat my favourite. I never really disliked him at all. And that's a hallmark of a lot of posts against the leading hate figures - people talk about not knowing why they dislike someone but "they just do", or accusing them of nebulous or meaningless things like "being fake".

I'm not saying sometimes someone doesn't crawl under your skin like a bug and gnaw away at you, but some times it might be worth thinking about.

True, but sometimes I don't think Digital Spy is a good represenation of the general public. Maybe I'm wrong, lol.

I didn't think John was a threat to win - but I did take some evil and malevolant satisfaction in sticking two fingers up at the holier than thou purists.

Shame on me - but oh the joy!

Great post and I too have been guilty of not really knowing why I've disliked a good dancer in the past, and (with the exception of Darren Gough, who I really did not like at all) you've probably hit the nail on the head. Which is probably why I tend to champion the "no-hopers" as it can get quite vicious on here if you do support a good dancer. Last year I hardly posted about my support for Rachel and Vincent because I really didn't need the grief.

Interestingly in work we were all agreed that we didn't like Tom, I loved Rachel and Vincent and got lots of "friendly" stick about it and the rest of the team were all supporting Lisa (mind you I got my revenge with "that" showdance ) However, we ALL happily agreed that Tom's showdance was fab and he deserved to win on the night because of it. Mind you his showdance didn't wash with my Mum who loved Austin Healy and felt that Tom shouldn't have been in the final at all!

I suppose what I'm trying to say in the above is that although we all enjoyed watching SCD we all supported different people. Yet, we never fell out about or became nasty, vicious or spiteful to each other or about the person someone supported. The problem with writing on a forum is that we can't see "how" someone is saying something. Even though someone may just be making an observation/comment it can at times appear to be a personal attack.

It really shouldn't matter who someone supports and honest criticism is always a good read. I enjoyed the comments in the thread about Ricky's feet, something even his most loyal followers agreed with the OP on. However, I do get cross when someone posts a load of tosh about a celeb just to start a "flamefest". I wasn't a great fan of Emma Bunton but, even I found myself sticking up for her because of some of the nonsense people were posting. This year I'm actually supporting the "perceived" threat and have felt like hitting the screen when I read some of the snidey comments that are made up about him. My favourite is still the poster who complained about him getting a 9 when the guy got all 8s!

I honestly don't think there's been that much venom on here for Ricky W (the worst ever has already been used up on Zoe Ball and Emma Bunton).

I think a lot of people are ambivalent about Ricky. I know I appreciate what he does on the dance floor, can look at it objectively and go 'yup, that was good, well done'. But would I vote for him? No. He's a nice enough guy but he just doesn't have that spark (that elusive X Factor to be slightly ironic) that makes me want to support him.

Does anyone this year?

Zoe Ball, Emma and Lisa were all disliked because they were very obviously favoured by the judges, and they were kept in at all costs irrespective of their dancing abilities (less so in Zoe's case than the other 2).

I don't think I was alone in thinking that others equally good (or even better than they were) were penalised heavily for the same mistakes these ones made leaving them vulnerable on the leaderboard.

On the whole the viewing public like to see fair play, and would vote for the ones who they felt were "done down".

JS was getting the votes due to a combination of factors - the campaign by Chris Moyles et al, the fact that the judges and certain other dancers slagged them off repeatedly both on and off the show, and the classic "vote for the underdog" mentality that keeps no-hopers in.

Ricky and Natalie as a pairing leave me going "Meh!" He is a good dancer yes - but he is as boring as all get out, and her competitiveness leaves me cold so as a couple they don't inspire me to vote for them. I don't hate them, or anything - I just don't care about them. There are other couples who I personally feel are more worthy of my vote(s),