This week on ITT the pro have been unanimous in proclaring Ricky W the most dalented male dancer there has ever been. But I can only see him leaving Saturday and that makes me sad. I want to see this great dancer in the final and wish to God they could have gone for a threee final by carrying over the scores from this week. A great dancer whomever they are should be in the final else it becomes just a popularity contest and I thought we had got behind this in Srtictly. The winners in the last 4 shows I have seen deserved to win certainly. Sorry just a bit sad and the inveitability of the natural dancer leaving on Saturday becuse people dislike his partner mainly

I always think it's really harsh if people don't vote for a dancer because they don't like the pro.

I agree that a 3 person final would be preferable to any other arrangement. If it makes you feel any better I'm a Chris fan, and I want Chris to get to the final, but if he gets there I don't care if he wins or not. Ricky gets my second vote this Saturday.

But there has to be more than just being a good dancer and Ricky doesnt seem to have it....dont know what it is......if Chris and Ola could bottle it and sell it they would make a fortune.

Everyone has their own opinion about what makes a good dancer and I would argue that he is the best male we have had on strictly myself he hasnt managed to take the 'record scores' for particular dances held by other male celebs.

Unfortunately the standard of dancing overall in this series has been low in comparison with previous series with not many 'good' couples to choose from......add to this the lack of the 'something' I mentioned earlier from both Ricky and Ali to an extent and there in lies your problem. People wont vote fore people they dont engage with no matter how good a dancer they are.

Hard work should be rewarded.

I wouldn't even say he was a 'natural dancer'. Yes he makes it look really good and natural and I think he's definitely the best left in the competition. But he has to fight against 'natural disability' and even despite this I still think he's one of the best male dancers Strictly has ever had because he makes it look natural and very easy for him.

I'm not predicting who stays/goes/when/who for now because you can't be too sure.

Ricky has got a long way in this competition .. so I don't think people dislike Natalie .. they would have gone long ago if so (like James!).

It's too much of a co-incidence that Ricky's first dance-off came straight after his arrest .. I think that has more to do with it (rightly or wrongly .. people changed their perception of him).

Chris and Ola have won this competition in the training room mostly.

I think both Ricky and Ali have plenty of personality .. but they haven't got t-shirts or catchphrases or a breakfast TV slot every day.

Good luck arguing that one with Ian, Vincent, Brendan and James, and Erin; all whose opinions I would take over ANYONE posting on this forum.

As for the marks, well it's been well debated on here that some of the "highest" scoring dances were over-marked (Matt's Waltz, Lisa's CCC to name two off the top of my head). I personally have yet to see a VW that touched me as much as Ray and Camilla's did (and that includes Alesha's and Ali's).

As you say if what Chris and Ola have could be bottled they would make a fortune. His girlfriend obviously saw it and knew how to make a significant amount of people vote for it. I'm not knocking them for it, they saw an opportunity on how to get to the final and took it with both hands and ran like thieves into the night.

EDIT: I'm only going by your previous posts from around week 3 that you would argue that he isn't the best male celeb ever. If you're actually agreeing with Ian, Vincent, James et el. Then I take back the argument and apologise.

I was only quoting the professional as to whether he is the best male they have ever had. I d believe that a lot of his hollyoaks fans (including in my house) are watching the X Factor. The shows he has been on are aimed at under 30's. i watch them because of my family but a lot of older people had no idea who he was. The lask of getting to know them on ITT was bad news anyway. And unfortunately Natalie has not got oa winning personality. If Ricky had have been dancing with Flaviaor Lilia he would have walked it. \no doubt and I bet they wish they had got him as well. Sorry its just making me sad and want a 3 person final. It might be the X Factor for me next year if they don't get there act together and make plans for injuries and pull outs

I bought a mgazine today and there is a picture of Ricky and Natalie in it and it suddenly struck me why I am not warming to him
It was the smile , it was a huge big smile , but his eyes were dead .The smile is false looking and insencere .
Maybe that what is bothering alot of us and it is said the first impression is very lasting .

He's got the joint highest score for a male celebrity in the Quickstep, the Viennese Waltz and (if you ignore La Bussell) for the Foxtrot as well. Also regardless of whether you ignore Darcey, he's got the highest male Cha Cha score.

Really he's doing quite well in terms of record scores - it's just that they're trumpeting stuff like that less this year. Maybe they've learnt from how much it annoyed people last year.

(Oh, and he's got the highest score for a male in the Rock'n'Roll as well )

It could be and I can understand why you would feel that way, but, it doesn't explain why the pros don't see it and are more than happy to help/praise him. They've met him and seem to like him. None of on here have and yet the majority would have him hung drawn and quartered given half the chance.

That really doesnt help people warm to him though .You will find people make up their own mind and it is usually irrelevant what others say .
Its the same in life , you connect or you dont and I am afraid it a case of not connecting with Ricky , he just doesnt get it across .

To see the above post. I wish they would get this sorted.

I think that one might last for a long while I dont think they will risk that again unless ALL the couples do it on the same week


I think thats going a bit far I dont even dislike him particularly I just dont connect with him. Oh and I have just watched ITT and Erin calls him 'One of the best male celebs we have every had' I wouldnt argue with that.

I didnt understand your edit on your post earlier by the way. To clarify I think he is ONE of the best male celebs we have ever had but I dont think he is THE best as everyone including myself are entitled to our opinions just as the SCD pros are, but we dont have to all agree.

I totally agree with what you're saying, I've been guilty of the same. However, I still maintain that some of what has been said about him has been based on half-truths and band-wagon jumping.

The most telling example when someone came on here ranting that Ricky was over marked with 4 x 9s and the guy only received 8s (or something like that). Fair enough, if you don't like him or can't connect with him but, don't start making up lies about him.

I'm glad that I did misunderstand your post and apologise as you are one of the people on here who never seems to have a particularly nice word to say about him. So, I must confess that I'm surprised that you're actually saying that he's one of the best!

As you say we're all entitled to our opinions and we all want something different from our dancers. I really can understand why people would like Chris but, it often seems that people don't want to understand why others would enjoy seeing Ricky on ITT.

I don't think he's the best male dancer at all. Colin, Jackson, Ramps, Matt Dawson, Gethin Jones. All far better. All made far fewer mistakes. I'm not saying Ricky isn't good because he is. But I really dislike the whole "the best blah, blah yet" thing that goes on on SCD and XF. Mainly because it simply isn't true.

Everyone is entitled to their view and everyone is free to choose who they want to vote for. I absolutely love Team Cola but I do realise other people won't feel the same way as me. Voltaire summed it up brilliantly "I disagree with what
at you say but I defend to death your right to say it" so just because someone thinks differently - it doesn't make them wrong - if it is right for them, it is right for them. If someone doesn't do it for someone - for whatever reason, then they just don't do it.

Thanks for that.......I dont think I have been particularly harsh about him...I do get a bit cross when people are nasty about Chris and his supporters and I suppose that makes me lash out a bit which is perhaps what we all do to an extent. (this is the first year I have supported an inferior dancer by the way) Re ITT I was someone who some weeks ago defended Ricky from a poster who said we always saw him training on a Friday because I realised that we were not seeing him any other time. I actually think this has been very unfair on them and I am sure that they could have sorted it out........I was glad they were actually interviewed properly today and then cross because yet again I didnt connect with them because they just seem to say the same stuff over and over.....and James is probably not the best for getting to the nitty gritty.......to be frank I am convinced its her......she does tend to annoy me and tonight on ITT her slightly simpering looks got on my nerves. I actually wouldnt be upset if Ricky went on to win the compition on purely dancing merit he probably deserves it and Chris and Ola have done so well anyway, I just wanted the decision as to who went through to be the publics and not the judges for me anything else is a bonus.

I do think Ricky has made some dodgy decisions early on about what he posted in his blog which got peoples backs up a bit so perhaps its a shame that all things considered we couldnt rewind the last few weeks and start again and do it better. I think personally if he had been with Erin...who many people think was unfairly eliminated last year.......that he would have stormed it.

The worst thing is that we may never see his freestyle. This is the worst thing about a 2 person final. We never got to see Gethin's or Emma's or Louisa's and we wouldn't see one of the top 3 this year. The 3 that are in the semi is the 3I have lliked from the beginning (I also liked Jade) and all deserve a place in the final.

I don't know why people don't like Natalie she reminds me on Camilla in her first series when people thought she was too competitive and the ice queen which she isn't.

I think I am prepared to accept the particularly well informed views of the professional dancers on the show.
They have seen and indeed worked with many of those you mention and yet still rate Ricky so highly....they are the pros, not us, they know what they are talking about far better than we do.
The pros have commented on the mistakes, but clearly they don't believe that dance ability is necessarily defined by the lack of occasional errors, particularly as many of Ricky's mistakes seem to be those caused by memory, that is he forgets the routine, rather than errors in terms of technique.

Ive just caught up on ITT and thought, as always, Ricky comes across as a likeable guy. He did look knackered though and feel sorry for both him and Natalie, they must be so frustrated as although plenty of people seem to dislike him, he's trying his hardest to do his best. And I admired Natalie's honesty when she said she was suprised they were in the DO, I dont blame her, I bet no one at BBC central thought they would be.

I wish we could get to see their showdance, whether you think he is dead behind the eyes or not, I bet he would give it a darn good go and pull of some spectacular lfits

That's their opinion. I stated mine. Each to there own. No-one is right. No-one is wrong.

Did they say that? Today Erin and Ian seemed to say 'one of the most talented'. The praise has indeed been high for Ricky, but has one of them come out and said 'the best'? Genuine question, because I may have missed it.

From a technical perspective I might go along with that (although personally it's a close thing with Colin Jackson). Still think Austin and Ramps were a gazillion times better showmen on the dancefloor. I actually fell asleep during Ricky's Foxtrot!

True everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but some people are more informed than others and the pro dancers are more informed about who is a good dancer than the public are.

But maybe you've knocked the nail on the head - the perception of him as cold. If the whole voting audience could meet him face to face maybe he'd win. But that's not possible, and for me his dancing is not enough. Technically it may be strong, but in my personal opinion he has no connection with either his partner or the dance - it's just a bunch of clever moves linked together with no heart. That's why I personally won't be voting for him. But it could be he just has trouble portraying that on the TV screen - and if so that truely is unfortunate.