I do think that Laila has had a bit of a rough ride from the judges, but I also think she raised their expectations at the start and that has been a problem for them because she hasn't been able to deliver - unfair on Laila though as it is their problem (hope this makes sense).



That's a really good point and I'll bet you are right Jan. Even though they have all done the VW, doing it as a group is a different kettle of fish.

Her paso may have been good but there were 3 lifts in there, she's lucky the judges didn't remove a mark for each lift. I'm sure in a real competition they'd have been disqualified for breaking a rule not once but 3 times.

What I can't understand though is why Anton can't just go to Morocco and practice with her there. Natalie L is spending most of this series travelling between London and Liverpool with Ricky, Matt C spent most of one series commuting to and from Scotland with Carol Smilie and some have gone further afield too; Aled Jones spent at least one week in Poland with Lilia and Peter Schmichael had to go back to Denmark to work as well and Camilia (?) went too. I'm sure there are lots of other examples that I've forgotten.

Erin went to Denmark! She was partnered with Peter.

The BBC would have to pay for Anton to go to Morocco with Laila and with all the fuss about BBC expenses lately I don't think that would have been too popular. They got away with it in the past but I'm not so sure it would go down too well now.

A group VW with no coreography or training might be quite fun........a bit like dodgems

A bit like the first series group VW! Still my favourite group VW ever!!

At the risk of getting flamed or being called racist, it has occurred to me that Anton going to Morocco to train with Laila might not be acceptable as Morocco is an Islamic country (almost everyone is Sunni Muslim).

This is at odds with a GQ photo shoot, but it has crossed my mind that apart from this she may be respecting the culture of the country where possible.

I'd forgotten about that and I wish I could watch it again!

Could be, and there could be more to her trip than just that photoshoot anyways for all we know.
She's quite the celeb over there seemingly and was knighted by the King of Morocco in 2001. So maybe she has over things to do as well that she couldn't get out of.

Here you go-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Htr1-enu8I

I loved Laila for the first few weeks but this (if true) is exactly the reason I just can't be bothered with her anymore, moaning and whinging aside.

She seems to have a very half hearted committment to the show compared with Chris and Natalie who maybe not as naturally talented but put the hours in.

I hope she's out on Saturday.

But since the series started, Laila has been one of the few celebs who has practiced on a Sunday.

Also, I doubt Natalie C will put in many more hours than Laila this week as she has resumed filming on Eastenders. Why are her work commitments overlooked but Laila's frowned upon?

I think the only difference I could see Sid is that she is (if Anton is not with her) completely away from training whereas Ricky W (definately) and Natalie C (probably) are training for a few hours each day after work. Ofcourse if she trained before she went and trains all day when she gets home the number of hours might total up the same and it will make no difference.

Yes, that's true Jan.

The trip has come at a bad time, but it was unavoidable. I hope Laila does make up the hours somehow and can do the Charleston justice.

More than any other celebrity, I feel she has something to prove this week.

I got the impression from ITT last night that NC will be putting the hours in this week despite her EE schedule and one of the reasons her samba was so bad (as well as Vincents poor choreography) was that it was her first week back on set and she underestimated just quite how much was involved with training and filming.

I was also under the impression that Laila had done a couple of Sundays but they weren't every week by any means.

As for Chris I don't know he he manages to cope with this early starts and the hours he puts in. Most impressive.

I think the frustration for me is that Laila has a natural gift, could be incredible but just doesn't seem to have the right attitude, for what ever reason be it lack of chemistry with Anton, injury, work ethic etc....

Well on ITT her trip to Morocco was confirmed and they havent trained very much did she say 4 hours as compared to Chris (the most) who was at something like 22. I fear for them but I think she may fall lucky as I dont think they will have an elimination if Ali cant dance it would be just too ridiculous. So that means it will go ahead.

I know I'm very biased allready but I couldn't really see much of a difference between Laila and Chris's dances.. They looked pretty much the same standard to me but maybe that was early footage.

I sincerely hope it was early footage - none of them looked much good.

It's tough to assess these new dances because we have nothing to compare them with.

For the life of me I don't know why they introduced them.

Mrs BBV - I stand corrected. I really commend Natalie putting in so many hours this week Laila has some serious catching up to do.

Chris and Laila have similar problems with learning routines and we only saw a very small part of both of them......goodness knows whats going to happen I am still in shock over Ali

Even without training - Laila's still a better dancer than Natalie and Chris, atleast in the ballroom section - so unless she's up against Ali or Ricky in the bottom 2, im pretty sure she'll be saved by the judges over Natalie and Chris.

Exacty, although Alesha seems to be in love with Natalie.

Thank you for that! What a fabulous show it was! Brings back so many great memories! I had to laugh at Brendan giving Anton a big shove near the end LOL! And is it my imagination but was Brendan's hair MUCH darker back then! I though all the clips from the first series had been pulled from YT, so I didn't even look - just brilliant!


Funny, I thought people said Alesha was in love with Ricky... and Ali...and Laila...but not Chris.