Chris Hollins has won every public vote so far, according to tomorrow's Daily Star, with Phil Tufnell his nearest challenger: http://www.dailystar.co.uk/posts/vie...-John-dancing/

Hmm a source says in the Daily Star............

I have no doubt Chris is popular with the public but i have faith that when it comes down to the real competition and not the popularity competition (as it inevitably becomes) then Chris would only win if his dancing improves enough to be worthy of the glitterball.

I have faith in the GBP - i've never seen them fail yet! I have no doubt whatsoever that if John Sargeant had stayed he would never have been crowned strictly champion.

Not an official source but I wouldn't be surprised if Chris was well up there in the votes - he and Ola do seem to have a partnership that has drawn people in.

He certainly can dance but he needs to sort out his issues about remembering the routines. He could be another Darren Gough if he manages to dance to his potential.

It's hardly the most implausible claim I've read in the DS....but I'm still taking this with plenty of 'salt'.

I can believe the story as he is a nice guy who ticks the personality boxes, plus the longer he stays in the more likely there is to have the J word factored in as well. I don't think it would be a disaster if he won but, unless he improves rapidly then we will all have to admit that SCD is no longer a dance competition.

I don't like how they've likened him to JS though and I sincerely hope the Beeb don't start a JS type dirty tricks campaign against him. In another thread many people have posted that he's been under-marked on more than one occasion and again if the story is true I now understand why.

Absolutely. Regardless of the plausibility, "a source" generally means "we have made up".

He doesn't really tick most of the traditional SCD personality boxes. His journey is going backwards, he's not that good to look at , I can't see any great personality positives , he's not a bloke's bloke or a bloke's bloke learning to be something else. He's nothing like Darren or Mark or even Tom. He's not funny and his dancing isn't very exciting or good or even comical . He's also not very well known and breakfast TV hasn't helped others by providing that big a fanbase on SCD and other reality TV shows - except with some really bad people . If you wanted to find positives there are other males there who are funnier, trying as hard or better looking.

What he does have going for him is Ola who is a bright bundle of positive personality and is coming over as quite funny - but she hasn't got support for being Ola before. He's also got a BBC storyline going about him being the trier who is determined to do better - but thats a bit of a nonsense as everyone else is too. There's a bit of overlap there with the JS story but JS wasn't trying that much and got votes just because he was bad. Chris isn't doing that well with the judges but he should be doing well enough not to attract an anti-judge vote. Chris may be the nearest thing there to the usual SCD Billy Elliot storyline as Craig and Phil are not following that plotline, but he's not going far on his journey or transforming. Its all a mystery. If its indeed true he is doing well, it might be the other males are not winning votes and some male has to, it might be the public just want an under-dog , it may be people just want the nearest thing to a Billy Elliot story or it may be the same people who watch daytime TV watch SCD??

What I like about Chris is that he always blames himself if the dance goes wrong - never the choreography/Ola/the music/man flu etc etc.

Perhaps it is that which the GBP are liking!

I think this is all pretty much spot on - can't see him winning this to be honest - even if there was no dance off.

It wouldn't surprise me at all. There's never been a more engaging partnership on the show since Alesha & Matthew.

Chris & Ola are great to watch among all the dull, common & smug non-entities that are completely devoid of anything resembling a personality...not to mention the few posers we've got this series who allude to a "romance" just to draw even more attention to themselves and perhaps the show. I'm sure whoever is voting for them can see their genuine friendship and the hard work they put in every week.

I actually like Ola this year, whereas my impression of her was that she's always moody and generally just had a bad attitude. But she seems to have come alive this series and found a partner that has managed to bring out a less serious, more approachable side of her peronality.

Not sure if the Daily Star as gotten things right before in regards to SCD but they have been right a few times about Xfactor related voting leaks.

Ola had a fantastic relationship with Kenny Logan and we saw her fun side there too

Ola *did* have a brilliant relationship with Kenny.

I was all set to dislike this guy - not really sure why - but there's something about him and the partnership that makes me feel all warm inside and at one with the world!

Like others, I am taking this report with a pinch of salt, but Darren B asserted that "partnership" is the key to winning strictly, so who knows.

I do remember from the Express (?) leaked figures last year that the only male near John (actually near is a vast overstatement...) in popularity was Austin, with the women dancers - even my favoured Jodie - having derisory totals compared to Healey. And yet look what happened to him when he didnt improve.

At this stage the voting may favour contestants with personality/story over dancing, but voting isnt static and like bobbla I have confidence that whoever the winner is, they will have won as much on dancing merit as other necessary factors.

IMO this wouldnt suprise me at all.....he is going through a difficult patch at the moment but his Tango and Rumba showed a lot of promise....so personally I think you just cannot compare him to John Sergeant at all and for me in terms of personality and chemistry as a team they are way out in front of most of the pack. Personally I hope its true it means he is safe for a few more weeks which gives him time to get his act together.

Just wish the Star had said the order the others were in as we might have been able to work out better if it was true or not.

Don't forget thought Austin was bottom of the leaderboard the night he left. He could only be kept out of the dance off if the public vote reversed the leaderboard- voting Austin, then Lisa, then Tom, then Rachel. That was never going to happen!

Also the Express predicted that Tom was the second most popular dancer, and he went on to win in spite of having very little support on here and (IMO) far less talent than Rachel!

I wouldn't be surprised if this was true to be honest. And it's given me a heads-up for my Strictly King predictions

I am still not going to think he is safe though and he gets my vote at the moment.....along with some others.

I personally felt that she was overshadowed by how horrific Kenny was on the dancefloor and how he kept on getting through week after week. I always saw her being quite stern with him (and even more so with Andrew Castle). She was at times bitchy towards the latter in traning.

She just seems comfortable and relaxed this series...perhaps, she was always like this and we're seeing more of it now.

I agree with this post....I like Kenny but he has a HUGE personality which supressed hers a bit and I think she didnt get along with Andrew Castle vere well and found him frustrating. Chris and Ola are a true team matching each other perfectly ......if they could JUST fulfill the promise they showed week one I would be a happy bunny.

I thought the support was pretty much 50-50 for Tom on here last year - I suppose it depends which threads you read/took part in.

When it got to the last 4, there was SO little difference in the marks (1.4 difference between the top average - Austin - and the lowest - Lisa ) that anyone could have won - it WAS down to the public which is how it should be for this show.

Absolutely, and i think that's the way it ought to be. It is a dancing competition after all.

This might not even be true and yet, if other media outlets decide to make a big deal out of it...it might actually make folks not vote for Chris as they'll think that he's safe either way.

Lets hope the wider press don't pick up on it or it could be a real poisoned chalice for him

Ive since read that Tom was quoted as second favourite after John but as I remembered it, JS had a total of 1.5m followed by AH with 700k. My memory isnt great though and as I can't find any link to the article I will concede I am probably wrong

I made my prediction before seeing this thread, but I still dont think Id have chosen Chris as my "safe" option this week.

I can believe it. Chris or Tuffers and that's what the report says. Both have personality and both have an ability to dance. However, voting takes a turn as we progress through the competition. There really won't be very many voting at the moment (whatever DS forumites think) and when those that do come online the numbers will rise exponentially and the split of votes change.

I'ma great fan of the programme but have a strict rule never to vote until the final. We've broken the rule twice - my daughter to try and save Louisa and me when Ramps danced his AT in the semi final.

This article chimes with what Footygirl was saying a couple of days ago and it does have the ring of credibility. Chris is my 2nd fave - I think he's charm itself and witty to boot. Thoroughly likeable bloke but I can't see him winning it (despite public support) because of the dance off scenario.

Well if he is as popular as they say he could avoid the dance off even as the numbers get lower and he moves down the board as the new scoring system would be an advantage to him.

I also dont necessarily agree that their wont be many voting at the moment.....just because you dont vote until the final it doesnt mean others dont I always vote from week 1.