As good as these 2 have been built up I am sure neither has much chance of avoiding the dance off in the coming weeks

Of the contestants remaining is there any less popular than these 2?

Jade probably on placings before. We have no idea how popular Ricky W is - he could be miles ahead and taking all the votes from the people who actually vote on the dancing or he could be suffering the backlash too for being good and not a comedian. . At some point too the people voting will change as more people vote on different grounds - which might have something to do with what actually happens on the show.

I really do think Ricky COULD be the next Austin, just miss out on that final, with it being Jade, Ali & maybe even Laila

BUT

I would LOVE it for it to be Laila, Tuffers & Chris final, without a doubt

Its more absurd than Austin if he doesn't make it. Austin had poor weeks, Tom was near to him in ability. Ricky's poor has been near Austin's best and no male is anywhere near Ricky's league. The show would be a laughing stock if it gets neither of its two best dancers to the final including someone who is recognised as the best seen yet. If they don't get Ricky W there they may as well cancel the show as winning it will be meaningless and now they have lost Zoe they only have Ali as credible opposition.

Laila and Anton can't dance Latin so we would have the Matt situation again. Tuffers would be there entirely on a fanbase and Chris is probably the 6th best dancer. It wouldn't be a great final.

I'm not sure Ali is Ricky's closest competition, I think Jade is, as so far, Ali's Latin hasn't been that strong.

I agree. Ali is this year's Cherie, beautiful lines - the best - but add some tempo to a dance and she is all over the place. Jade is far more consistent and does well both in hold and out.

So who do you all think would go it Ali was up against Ricky in a dance off as I think this is likely to happen soon?

You would have to assume that it would be Ali...

God it would be like the dance off of the don't cares for me. I know they are both really good dancers, I get that I do, but they do absolutely nothing for me whatsoever!

Dont agree with any of that Austin brought great personality on to the floor which Ricky doesnt. I am paying a fair amount of money to see Austin dance on tour I would pay 2p to see Ricky and Natalie.

Obviously it would depend on the night, but I couldn't imagine Ricky leaving. So Ali.

Some of the entertainers (Ricky G, Chris, Phil, Natalie) will be out within the next few weeks I have no doubt. Also Jade will find herself in the bottom two again at some point, and Laila will as well if her latin doesn't improve. I think Craig will go next week, I know you're a fan but lets be honest, most the votes he got last night were just to get him to Blackpool.

What would there be to love about a final of 3 not terribly good dancers?

I'm really enjoying the Laila + Anton & Katya + Phil partnerships - but I don't particularly want to see them in the final.

Me neither! For me, Austin was the best contestant Strictly has ever had, except for maybe Jill. He combined ability with personality, but I will concede that not everyone will agree with me, they just have no taste!

What you mean is you fancied him.

I thought he was good, better than Tom & deserved to be in the final, but nowhere near as good as Jill, Ramps or Alesha.

The people at the top of the leader board aren't necessarily falling into the dance off because they're unpopular but because people think they are safe and don't vote. A lot don't seem to have quite worked out that the new scoring system makes very few places safe.

It's only really possible to call someone unpopular if they end up in the dance off twice, as Zoe did.

I think this would depend on the dance-off performance.

Don't assume it would be Ricky. Remember Austen Healy?

Also, the judges might consider that Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe have little chance of winning the competition, due to a perceived unpopularity.

This particular penny never dropped in the past, witness Lisa Snowdon as the most recent evidence.

There, Their, They're. Sorry to be pedantic.

I think that is the best point of this thread.No one care about the 2 of them

You might not but I certainly do I would love to see an Ali Jade & Ricky W final

Yes but unfortunately for you and your favourites the majority of the British public don't seem to agree with you

You could maybe say that about Ali (and i'd still say its not definite yet)

You certainly can't say it about Ricky who is yet to be in a dance off.

Thank you I was going to post the same

How do we know they are disliked apart from on this forum And as the OP knows very well, the views of this forum do not reflect the views of the voting public.

What are you basing this on ? Look at the polls , Ali is popular in every week . Ricky may not be , but Ali has alot of support

But still ended up in the dance off. The polls on here don't represent the voting public.