She's there to bring new angle and she did I am sure there was a lot of people who thought the same. It was just another way of saying You are not good enough you should have been gone by now. It was his doing a bit, he wanted to get to bloody Blackpool no matter what and people granted him this wish at an expense of a good dancer leaving.

I see that this thread is mainly inhabited by the pro Arlene faction that have always bashed Alesha on here no matter WHAT she said, and are continuing to do so. I'm sure you will all be back next week and bash her for saying platitudes / poor grammar / blinking too much etc. etc. etc.

Well done Alesha for saying what most were thinking.

Isn't it you that needs to "move on"? Those of us who are rather shocked at her comment are only referring to something that happened last night, you're referring to her win 2 years ago, isn't it time you "moved on" from that? I'm sure we'll get over our outrage by the end of the week or at least by the end of the series. You're still harking back to 2 years ago.

I'm not pro- or anti- Alesha as a judge - her comments last night to Craig made me cringe and feel as though I'd have preferred not to have been made a party to them by viewing/listening.

I'm quite sure it wasn't intended to come across in quite such a - sorry, I can only think of one word that accurately describes it and it begins with c, usually has four letters and this time you add an -ish on the end - but it did.

I think perhaps the best thing would be for Alesha to rewatch the footage today. I'm sure it won't look good, even to her.

I found her comments to Craig very spiteful and then when he was voted off - patronising.

Don't forget that it's also been inhabited by the pro-Alesha faction that have always defended Alesha no matter what she said.

My problem last night with ALL four judges in this regard is there was no constructive comment on how he could improve. If (heaven forbid) Craig had been saved again by the public, what could he have worked on?

I agree he could not dance, and was happy to see him go because of this, but in fairness, at least the judges (as judges) should have said something about some aspect he could have worked on (goose neck, lack of rhythm, not acting the dance, etc)

Well yea - maybe that's also true!

However, my opinion of her has increased the last two weeks. In the case of the dance off last week, she was the only judge to actually make a decision on who actually danced best in the dance off.

It did strike me that judges comments the last couple of weeks towards Craig were pussy-footing around in order not to provoke a spate of public voting as a result. Len's comment last week was particularly clever by saying "If effort was the main factor, your half way there". The sub text of the comment was still "You can't dance and shouldn't be here" - clever comment. This week, she said what a LOT of people here have been saying in that he's completely deluded about his dancing ability. I think a lot of people that have said that are now bashing Alesha for saying it, whereas they wouldn't have reacted the same way if St. Arlene had said it. I agree that the "I had to endure.." might have been best unsaid, but it was still what the majority of the viewing public were thinking (and saying here).

Bottom line is that judges comments this year haven't really influenced public voting. The GBP wanted him to get to Blackpool and were probably always going to leave him there. I think the voting has reached the point in the series (as it always does) when they realise that it's now about dancing and not the jokers in the pack.

I thought her supremely unprofessional.
She really should apologise to Craig.

Woe betide anyone who isn't any good at this dancing lark. If people support you (JS) and keep you in you are damned if you do and damned if you don't.
If you opt out because everyone says you should leave the way clear for "better" dancers then you are a coward. If you leave it to the public and hang in then the judges have a go at you!

How dare she!

I don't think that is what the majority of the voting public think though. I think generally they don't feel that strongly about these things. We on this forum do though clearly .
Craig could have got quite a high public vote and still been in the dance off apparently.

I haven't seen it so can't comment but my the impression given from what people have said outside of this forum (which I think is sometimes a better interpretation) is it is not what she said but how she said it.

I think this year they aren't giving so many tips to anybody on how to improve. I've noticed a lack of that this year. But I don't think they ever gave him any tips on how to improve no.....odd.

100% agree with you.

Following that logic, when Alesha appears as a judge next year, you anti-Aleshas will have nothing to say since her original appointment will then be over a year old.

Praise be!

However, I am referring to peoples current ongoing gripes about Alesha and the foot stomping complaining to Auntie coz Craig got a much needed reality check. Look at the things Alesha has been called in this thread and how much has been written. Pot, kettle, black.

Me too

Alesha was very unkind last night - and her tone was appalling. I was no Arlene lover but at least she really knew what she was talking about having spent years perfecting her craft. Okay she was a bit of a bitch but I did respect her opinion. On the other hand I don't respect Alesha who really has no business judging the dance. Alesha's role is to emphasize and support the contestants. I didn't see much evidence of that last night. She is so completely up her own arse that she could clean her teeth from the inside. She was disrespectful to Craig and disrespectful to the General Public whose vote has put Zoe Lucker in the dance off last week. What a cow.

I resent being labelled by some posters as an Arlene supporter. I agreed with the Bbc she overstepped the mark last year. I have adored Alesha and saw her appointment as a separate issue to Arlene leaving and was happy to think she may find her own role on the panel. Well, she shot her so called empathy with what they are going through right in the foot.

For those who say Alesha has gone up in your estimation and said what you were thinking I ask you - would you actually say it with the same vindictive delivery. Because, if you would, you really have a social problem. It is not good and clever to blame others for things out of their control. It is not good when in a position of public power to unleash vindictive diatribe. Honestly is one thing but tact and thought for other peoples feelings should always come into the equation. She was a bitch last night andthat comes from someone who adored her.

Agree wholeheartedly with your post.

I also resent being labelled an Arlene supporter - like you say she was a bit of a lemon-sucker but she DID know what she was talking about - someone said on here that there seems to be less advice for the celebs on how to improve this year - and that is because that is what Arlene did! I agree with you about her overstepping the mark - but in spite of her being a bit of a dragon, I have to admit that her expertise is rather sorely missed.

I'm not an Alesha-basher either - I didn't want to feel this way since like you, I adored her - but your last paragraph said it all far better than I have been able to - is so exactly how I felt too.

Speaking as a new Alesha fan I think that everything she said last night was fair and well put apart from the reference to Zoe which made it too personal. However, the other judges just seemed to avoid the point with their useless comments, yet Alesha actually spoke up and said that he should just go.

And for those who say that she was patronsing in the D/O I can't see what else she could have done. She obvious regretted her Zoe comment earlier so thought she'd word it a bit nicer this time. If it had come to her in the D/O and she'd gone, "well it's about time, enjoy the ride home Craig". She would have been ripped apart.

I never agreed that Alesha should be there to empathise with and support the contestants. Like it or not, and irrespective of whether we think she is an appropriate choice, she is there to judge. She only did what Craig does every week - and I respect him most of all the judges - say that the dance wasn't good enough for week 8. She didn't blame Craig for Zoe's demise but said that she would rather watch her. For those of us who watch because we like dancing, the show moved in the right direction last night. The two worst dancers were in the DO. No, I don't respect members of the public who vote to keep poor dancers at the expense of those who are better. it was clear that Flavia also thought it was time for her and Craig to depart.

I completely agree. I've never really agreed with her being a judge, but I adored her as a person, so was able to stop fretting about that. However, her attitude has been getting worse week by week, there's an arrogance about her that I'd never seen before and last night she revealed a really nasty side

I don't think she's done herself any favours at all. And I really hope the BBC don't sign her for next year.

I am not a supporter of anyone - Arlene or Alesha. I was coming round to Alesha but last night was disgraceful. That's a term overused here but in this case (perhaps) justifiable.

Say:
It's time for you to go.
You've had a good run.
I hope you have enjoyed it.
I know you tried your best but sadly your performances didn't inspire me.

Say any bl00dy thing that isn't personal and NOT HIS FAULT.

I think it was a really rude and nasty thing to say and not something that a judge should have said. Of course Craig was the weakest, but what are the weaker celebs meant to do? Agree to step down when better dancers are being voted off? He was taking part in the competition just as the rules intended. To blame him for Zoe going is just ridiculous. I've always supported Aleisha and thought she was a very nice person but that was beneath her.

Not the language to use in a professionnal situation. Ok on a day to day basis in a casual situation.

Nobody, no matter how poor a dancer, deserved those comments. Bad enough in private but in front of millions not a nice thing to do.

She sounded truly spiteful towards Craig.
Very unpleasant for us to endure.