The poor girl has done everything she could, and tried every trick she had to disguise just how bad he is over the last few months except physically carry him around the floor or zap him with electric prods to make him keep time. She was probably mentally and physically exhausted. She deserves a medal for the work she has put in and especially for not telling him he was hopeless herself – which I’m sure she must have been tempted to do many many many times. It looked as if it was all she could do to restrain herself from agreeing with the judges – she is only human.

It is possible to resign yourself to having a dud dancer on strictly but a dud that makes no effort to improve or listen to you, or the judges and as absolutely no appreciation of dance or sense of humour must be slow torture.

One day she may become the patron saint of dancers - asuming she is catholic of course. I really felt for Flavia this year.

I got that too. I think Claude desperately wanted to say exactly what Alesha said on Saturday but was too polite to say it. Instead she gently ripped the p*ss out of him just about every time he was on ITT and Craig being Craig ie. on another planet never spotted it.

I got that too. I think Claude desperately wanted to say exactly what Alesha said on Saturday but was too polite to say it. Instead she gently ripped the p*ss out of him just about every time he was on ITT and Craig being Craig ie. on another planet, never spotted it.

Overheard on the Underground this morning, Flavia singing along to her iPhone. Can you help me identify the song?

First, four bars of high-pitched squeaking, then a repeated rising sequence of "kerr ANG nang nang nang nang nang, kerr ANG nang nang nang nang nang"

Then more high-pitched squeaking, followed by "na na-na, tastes..of reality!"

Then she got off the train. What WAS she listening to?

The bandwagon that got Craig to Blackpool really did fall apart very quickly. He was no John Sargeant though he may have thought he was.

One thing about SCD, when the judges have the chance to ditch the worse dancer they invariably do-unlike X Factor where "business" decisions are made.

Poor Flavia was just relieved that she could just get back on the coach & back to Matt!

I honestly don't think Flavia's the speaking out type. I can't think of any occasion when she's come out in vociferous support for her celebrity partner in the face of extreme comments. I don't think it means she's not supportive - she's just not particularly outspoken.

I thought Flavia must have the patience of a saint , the few minutes we saw Craig was sleep inducing ,Imagine it for 7 weeks, maybe he thought his feet were pointed and she could nt get through to him


I have to say I laughed when Flavia went ruinning off stage in her rush to get away and I could almost hear her Whoop with joy !!!

Snort!


I'd go along with that.

It's just not in her nature.

I haven't watched it back to double-check, but I do recall commenting to my housemate on Saturday that Flavia seemed to be nodding in agreement to some of the judges' criticisms. It must have been very difficult for her to teach Craig, not because he was poor so much as because he seemed to have no grasp of the fact that he was poor. On Saturday when Len pointed out that his dance was far and away the worst, for example, Craig responded with 'yes, there've been some amazing dances tonight', or words to that effect, as if his dance had been okay, but the others just happened to be even better. He went on to criticise his mark for being too low. How are you supposed to cope with that lack of self-awareness as the pro tasked with teaching him?

One thing I do wonder, though, is if Flavia ever made him watch his dances back and objectively critiqued them with him? I think that often things can feel okay even when they don't look right, so actually being made to look at his Saturday night performance in the light of the comments and marks might just have helped him to understand. I know that time is tight and the temptation must be 'let's put that behind us and move on with this week's dance', but with someone like Craig who didn't seem to get it, I think an hour or so on Monday morning going through the performance and perhaps looking at previous good performances of the forthcoming dance so he knew what he was aiming at, would've been time well spent. I also think that I'd have been tempted to film some of the training and play that back to him to help him see where he was going right and wrong.

You've got to be joking! JS was much better than Craig.

I actually thought that Craig had shades of Fiona Phillips on Saturday.

Oh dear Sammy - the grammar police are alive and well!

FWIW I agree with you completely, both on the subject of Flavia and Alesha; but I doubt if we'll see Alesha called to explain herself.

Really ?..I think you might have a short memory.
I must admit, JS was a far more interesting character..witty, intelligent, and a complete gentleman. Given the choice as company, JS would win comfortably. But with regards to their respective abilities at dancing..I'm not so sure.

If I remember rightly, JS's Waltz, Foxtrot and American Smooth weren't too bad - in fact, his Waltz was absolutely charming. I'm not sure I would describe any of Craig's dances as charming. I know he tried but he just couldn't dance.

On the Paul O’Grady Show Craig said that the dances never looked as good when he watched them back as they felt in his head at the time he was dancing, so he did look at himself in action.

What was Flavia supposed to say to Alesha on Saturday? She is not the kind to jump up and down. She will not have wanted to make it look like they were begging for votes either. When Brendan stood up for Jo, some people accused him of ensuring that she would get through by making a drama. The pros really can’t win.

As far as her support in general is concerned, the fact that Craig managed to bounce back with enthusiasm time and again is a testament to Flavia’s teaching skills and motivation. Craig praised her at every opportunity and I think the he felt fully supported by her throughout the show.

I'm with you here. It is quite possible that Flavia may have had something to say to Alesha but it may not have been broadcastable at that time of the evening!!

Yes, I remember JS's Waltz. It wasn't bad, in fact it was charming as you say..but in a "dad at a wedding" sort of way. I actually didn't think that Craig looked that bad in the first couple of weeks..unfortunately, instead of getting better he got worse.
Still, not worth arguing about really.

Can anyone ever remember Flavia being "confrontational" with any judge? She's no "Brendan" is she?
She strikes me as not one to be outspoken.

Perhaps all Flavia wanted to say was, "Thanks!"

Well, she's just said on ITT that the judges were a bit harsh, so she's supported him now.

Oh, do come on.... She's a professional and as such would at least expect some semblance of improvement from a celeb. The sad fact is, he's talentless, really does think he's the bees knees (I'm a doctor, I really can treat this kind of self delusion if he cares to get in touch), and moaned incessantly at the judges for having a go at him. If he really was as good as his demented opinion of himself seems to think he is, I'm sure she would have supported him. As it was, I think she's probably relieved to be shot of him.

Just where is his sense of reality? And please, now that Blackpool is over.. SHADDAP Craig.

She also said a she was relieved and didnt want to be the couple who people were cross about them still being there ,
Said it all really .Flavia got it , Craig didnt .,He still thought he could do better next week

Yeah, I made that previous post before she said that.

Thats ok , I held my breath for a while thinking she was going to hold back , then she said it !!