When Natalie said that yesterday thank god Len pulled her up on it

to try and fool people that the "perfect" Ricky would never make a mistake was wrong

why do that ?

A lot of the other Pro's have done that in the past. Brenda definately has this series. Camilla did last year with Tom.

I think its sweet, the pro's want to protect their celebs if they can.

Maybe she did actually go wrong & didn't just want her partner to get blamed the pros do go wrong now & again

Because she wants everyone to think positively of Ricky, and because she's willing to have people think negatively of her instead.

I think that's a nice thing to try even if it's not quite true.

Because she might have genuinely thought it was her fault. It does happen where things go wrong because of a moment's lack of concentration and even the most experienced dancer may think it was because of something they did. It's happened with my instructor - admittedly only once or twice. Len, as a third person, had the advantage of having a better view, since he could see both of them.

Yes, I agree with all that is said in posts 2,3,4 and 5

I didnt like the way he reacted and said quite nastily that he would take a point off if she continued to say it was her fault, shut up Len im disliking you more and more!

She did seem to get overexcited about being in Blackpool and forgot she was dancing with Ricky not a pro so she probably thought she was to blame.

Lots of pros that take the blame when mistakes actually most have in the past.

I thought she was being really nice and protective and it shows that they have a good partnership. I also didn't like how Len reacted saying he was taking off points as he never did when other pros blamed themselves for mistakes.

I was really put off by her grinning through the whole routine.

She did actually appear to have gone wrong at one point, so she wasn't lying. But Ricky had also gone wrong a couple of times. Len went a bit OTT.

I think it was her fault. I'm not a fan of either of them but last night i was enjoying their tango however her smiling was really putting me off. I thought that was out of character for the dance (?)

As for taking the blame for her celeb partner, i think that is a natural reaction and nothing wrong with it.

Yeah, why the grinning?
It was all a bit of a mish-mash.
Crikey, if she wants to accept the blame as the senior partner that's OK!

That's exactly what I thought.

This might be slightly off topic but both Natalie & Ricky looked genuinely shocked when Bruce announced they were going to dance first. It was as if they didn't know. Now I know they must know the running order but they looked very surprised to me. I wondered whether this added to the nerves and made Natalie make errors. Or maybe, as she said, she was just caught up in the excitement of dancing at Blackpool. I think she admitted to making mistakes because she probably did and because she wanted to protect him which is only natural. He looked so downtrodden, so disappointed at the end of the dance because he knew they had made mistakes. I felt sorry for him because during the week he had mentioned that he was very much enjoying the training and the dance itself. It's such a shame when you go wrong especially when it's a routine you feel you should know very well.

I agree that I was really distracted by Natalie GRINNING through the whole thing. That's more objectionable than her comment.

I think they went wrong on purpose (hmmmmm!) as I remember Ricky saying in an interview that no-one likes a couples who are always perfect......she might aswell have stood there and said 'its me, its me, its me, its me' in that self blaming (but not really) way

Oh come on! Its verging on the ridiculous to say he messed up on purpose.

Watch again. There was no surprise on their faces

Yes, but why do it, on all occasions, in Blackpool?

I agree about the grinning, really out of the character of the dance, and she couldn't even say she was grimacing in pain

Ricky was mortified. He looked very embarrassed. It wasn't a clean routine. Deliberate mistakes? No.

I don't think you need 'verging' in your sentence.

I agree with Len that there was no need for it, as it was obviously not her fault, especially towards the end seeing as backstage he even admitted to it. I know they think they're doing well by it but at the end of the day they've already scored the dance and in this case just made the situation worse.

I was really irritated by that and wished the judges would have said something to her about it. I didn't like the music choice so was struggling with the dance anyway, although I have to confess that I enjoyed it more than any of their previous offerings, provided I concentrated on the neck downwards). The whole routine seemed a bit 'off' though - as though they messed up at the start and that threw them off immediately.

Didn't care for the music chosen for a tango for starters, then there was Natalie's manic grin, plus a few mistakes, towards the very end Natalie did trip slightly, whether over her foot or Ricky's heel is difficult to tell. I was very disappointed as I was looking forward to Ricky W's tango. He seems to take it very seriously, I thought I saw a tear rolling down his cheek when they were waiting for the judges comments. I know I seem to be in a minority but I quite like Ricky W and think if he could relax and allow the performance to come through he would be so much better, there is a bit of the mannequin about him right now.

Since they are judged as a pair, not ricky alone, whoever goes wrong should not make any difference. It's a mistake.
I agree since the Judges have pulled several clebs up for their facial expressions, they should have commented on Natalies.

I think Ricky is great and am reallly warming to him ,but IMO they were overmarked.