Poor Ricky. Can't believe I am saying this about him, but since last week's DO (he did a jaw-dropping R&R in the DO), and now his Foxtrot was the best I have seen from a male celebrity (better than Tom Chambers), and best cha-cha I have seen a male celebrity too (bar none).

BUT, despite being top in the judges leaderboard, he probably got the lowest public vote.

Is it because

(1) People just don't like talented dancers (he's unpopular)?
(2) People thought he didn't need saving?
(3) People don't like Natalie Lowe?
(4) People think he's overmarked?
(5) People didn't like the scandal he's involved in last week?

He really did try to work hard at his pigeon toes for the cha-cha, even I as a non-dancer could see that. He was not as good in his foxtrot (the bow-legged pigeon-toes were quite obvious in some parts).

What do you folks think?

Can he make it to the finals? Do you think Chris will get through by the public vote, while Ali and Ricky fight it out in the DO? Do you think he's like the Lisa Snowdan of last year (least popular of the celebs)?

People on this Forum go on anbout natalie BUT I think in general she's not a problem. I think that they don't, and they aren't marketed right. No ITT coverage. There relationship seems focused and devoid of fun. So I think that is where the problem lies. The thing is when you see the live show, they so seem to get along and are fond and supportive of one another. Would it kill the BBC to edit this into their VT's. They tried it once (the whole she's become such a great friend VT) but they've stopped that now and its back to all work work work VT's.

It does seem as though he's the least popular of the three left.

But I think it's for different reasons to Lisa Snowdon. I believe her lack of popularity stemmed from the perception that she was being consistently over-marked.

Ricky is not the only celebrity to be generously scored this year so that can't explain the lack of support for him and he was clearly the best tonight (even I, as a non-expert and non Ricky fan can ackowledge that) so I'm not sure many would dispute his scores in relation to the rest of the field.

So it must be the case that people simply haven't warmed enough to his character, or to Natalie's or to both of them. They just don't reach out to people as a couple.

I was sort of sad to see him in the bottom two. I was convinced it would be Ali.

Over-marked? I disagree. I think her marks were fair but she was simply Lisa "who?" to a lot of people who don't listen to Capital Radio.

I so hope that he'll end up with Natalie as a couple after this series. Something about her tells me she just adores him.

For the record, I am not a Ricky fan. I am often neutral to him (and even Natalie), even though I can see he's really a talented dancer. He got a little cocky in the Samba and maybe was thrown off a little in his R&R, but he did tried to improve this week and really did well (a tad overmarked but his position in th judges' leaderboard was correct imho). But still... DO.

Well, it must be really soul-destroying at this late stage to discover you are unpopular with the public no matter what you do...

I'll feel very sad for him if he doesn't make the finals because whilst he's not my favourite he's easily the best left.

Sad thing is that if they were all extrovertly gaga about eachother and talked about how much they loved eachother, and had VT's that showed them being sweet and cute. Everyone would love them and that just makes me sadder because they entered this competition and they work very hard and just because they aren't really open and accessible people they don't have support. And I am sad for them tonight. Very sad.

Could it be the fact that she's pretty much all over him? But like I said we don't know how they relate to eachother and she may just be very supportive and keeping him calm

You may disagree that she was overmarked but I think you'll find that an awful lot of people think she was. I definitely think that contributed far more to her unpopularity than people not knowing who she was.

I don't think overmarking or obscurity has anything to do with Ricky's unpopularity. I do think it could have something to do with his work schedule affecting his appearance on ITT and, in small part, to the public's perception of his partner.

I think he's the best dancer left and, although he doesn't wow me like other celebs have in previous series, I'm very tempted to chuck him a couple of votes next week.

I think in generally at this point when there are only couples everyone is statistically vulnerable. Don't forget Alesha was in the DO at this stage. There is no dodgy mid table point where people think you're safe so don't vote - the top of the table is now at risk.

I think also it's been such an odd series there is no obvious way in which things pan out.

I don't think it's anything Ricky has done per se. Chris has a huge chunk of the public vote, so it only needed Ali to also pip Ricky in the vote for them to end up in the dance off (assuming in the event of a tie the public vote takes priority).

When he ended up in the DO again, Lisa came to my mind too.

I felt really sad for him tonight. I probably would have voted for Ali if she'd impressed me tonight: she didn't. The dance I enjoyed most was Chris' samba, but surely anyone would concede that Ricky danced the best tonight and put in good performances at both ballroom and latin.

It really must have been like a smack in the teeth for them to be in the DO again.

Well I don't know anything about them off screen. I just get that impression generally that she has that smitten look in her eyes. (I'm being romantic, not critical and if I were lucky enough to get tickets for the show, he'd no longer be interested in her as he'd fall in love with me).

The only thing I see in her eyes is ambition!

Not that there's anything wrong with that. But a little more warmth would endear her to the viewers more I think.

She's growing on me but it took a while. She didn't get off to the best start with all that talk of 10s in week one.

I wasn't on this forum last year so you may be right. I just felt that Lisa didn't deserve to be in the dance-off so often. I didn't care for her show dance however.

The judges thought she was better than the public did, but then the public don't vote on dancing skills alone do they?

Well none of us know anything about them off - screen. The way they relate to eachother and what type of relationship they have, or don't have, seems to be off the table in Strictly land. So that's what I meant when I said we don't know how they relate to eachother. They certainly seem fond of eachother, and the press did have their rumours a few weeks ago (but seeign as there appeared to be no actually evidence for that they soon stopped)

I find him a cold dancer, he never entertains me whatsoever. He has "IT" missing IMO. He is too desperate and his dancing style shows it IMO.

Time to remember, its a "show", where the public vote and want to be entertained, if Chis entertains people, they will vote, sadly I feel, Ricky has not got what it takes to entertain. He may have the moves but without "IT", they are pretty worthless.

I much prefer Chris and Ola and Ally and Brian, I do not find it odd at all that Ricky is not a favourite with the public.

Which again is all part of the fact that: we don't see anything of them. We have no idea. If ITT or the VT's showed one clip of the two of them messing around and enjoying themselves I think people would soften BUT the BBC seem intent on showing a determind, single minded angle for them. However of course they may never have any good times together, and they may hate eachother. Point if we get nothing with them. They manipulate everyone's VT's etc and I wonder why they manipulate Ricky's to seem like that?

Same here, Sid. Except I actually liked her talent when she did the pro QS earlier in the series. But when she started to say "I don't do average (or something like that)" or "I except only the best from my partner" etc, it just made her look really chilly. Don't hate her, but she's really not very approachable person.

Ricky sometimes got a little cocky in his dance (but that's alright because many of the pro male dancers are cocky). He is definitely a hard-working guy (judging by the fact he's working full time in Hollyoaks and trained like mad last week), and actually IMPROVED in his techniques.

But is it too little too late?

I think we agree and I'm glad that press rumours aren't tarnishing them. She's new to this type of show perhaps so I may be reading more into it than I should.

It might not be want you want to hear but I'm not sure there is much scope for footage other than of them training.

After spending an entire day filiming, I doubt there's much time for Ricky and Natalie to socialise other than getting the odd bite to eat.

There are only so many hours in the day.

She was a veteran pro in the Australian version of SCD. She's no spring chicken.

Also, I don't understand this side-topic of them being an item being a problem (assuming it's true): on how this has affected their 'popularity' since Ali and Brian are clearly attracted to each other but they were not THAT unpopular like Ricky and Natalie?

You misunderstand. I mean he has not got "IT" when he is dancing, his dancing is cold, nothing to do with what VT they show of him larking about. Most people arent really interested in the fluff, I record and fast forward through it anyway and ONLY watch the dancing. It is his personailty while dancing, the clinical performance and lack of warmth etc between him and Natalie.

Hmmm but Ricky was already in a relationship. That's the difference.

I'm not sure I buy into the romance rumours concerning him and Natalie anyway and wasn't he filmed sending coded messages to his girlfriend Carly?

His brush with the law might also have impacted on his popularity.

She's not. She's been in the Aussie one for a good few years and she is always a supportive partner to everyone, regardless of their talent. She just seems quiet I guess. I would be interested to know more about their partnership to be honest, Because on the live shows they seem fond of eachother and she seems very supportive and visa versa but you get nothing from their VT's or ITT. I mean what exactly is Natalie's teaching method? Do they spend most of the week screaming at eachother? Are they really so uneventful? What type of student is Ricky? Are they all work? It's certainly a bizarre one.

Ricky started as a bit of a cypher. He was young, hollyoaks, and seemed very sure of himself and not really very charming. He was partnered with an out and out competer of the most obvious sort. What she wanted was to WIN. They all do, but she didn't seem to care about the relationships etc that go into the experience. She came across as a bit cold and a bit dumb.

Ricky hasn't really shown much improvement until this week, and I am desperately glad to see it.

I have watched Ricky learn about Natalie, try to do and say the things she should say and do, bear with her, praise her and try to get better in spite of what comes across as, her selfish, and rather stupid, aggressive mindset, her lack off sensitivity to her partner to others, and to her audience. This is evidenced in her vts, what she says on the show and the routines she puts together and the way she dances them.

I don't feel Natalie has served Ricky well at all. She is human and we are all flawed, but she seems to have no self awareness at all - even in the foxtrot she seemed to be showboating, I had to force my eyes off her over extended back, Erin would never have done that.

Ricky though, is good, and he has had a lot to cope with. I shall vote for him next week, he is a very good dancer.

I hope Natalie actually begins to think she might, just possibly have something to learn.