Surely you didnt think he was talking about her weight She did after all lose a stone, a rolling stone!

That was my point!

Yes, he left her for a 20 year-old, not fertile ground for comedy.

Can anyone tell me what Bruce's joke about Anton "being eliminated on saturday" was about? I missed it

And was Alesha's "I had to endure that" comment towards Craig Kelly?

Thought that was awful. It was one of the few BF 'jokes' I heard as I always mute him and it didn't encourage me to turn the sound up in future!

Thought Jo looked less than amused too.

i think that the only truly nasty comment this series has been alesha and her "i had to endure that..." to craig kelly.

to my ears, the rest could be taken with a pinch of salt, but you could hear the vitriol in her voice that night.

The "You're not as good as you think you are" part of her comment was exactly what everyone was thinking and probably needed to be said, given how deluded Craig was about his abilities as a dancer.

It was the venomous tone she used when she said "I can't believe Zoe's out and I had to endure that" which annoyed everyone. That was her making it personal and, let's face it, the fact that the public didn't vote for Zoe wasn't really Craig's fault.

(Hello twin ) That would be my choice too along side Arlene's 'Dead eyes' comment.

Both are far more appalling than anything else said by the judges because of how personal they were.

NB Both were said by Arlene and not Craig btw, who virtually everyone considers to be the nastiest judge.

I thought the nastiest comments this year came from Tess; every week in the Moment of Truth she'd say "Dancing again next week it's...Craig!" - I found that pretty hard to take.

The worst comment last week was Alesha saying to Ricky that the semi final had just started.
Even though 2 couples had already danced

To me that was just rude

I actually thought she was trying to be like Len who made a similar comment after Mark's Argentine Tango!

Aleshas I had to endure that. Said with venom.

Anything to add from tonight's Special ?

Just the obvious one from Len to Chris.
Too much port and not enough Gaviscon methinks

'lack of breeding'???? Oh dear.

She was telling Craig that she had to endure seeing her good friend (Zoe) being voted off when Craig had managed to get through to produce another woeful dance.

Give the girl a break - its well known (and well proven) that Alesha isn't as articulate as many of her critics are - she drops clangers every time she opens her mouth.

Christmas special apart she hasn't done too bad a job this season - her marks haven't been any more off the marks than the other judges (they have all had marking aberrations at one time or another) and she really hasn't made any really nasty comments.

You lot seem to have picked up on the ones that spoilt the tone.
Bruno's "Tutankhamun in a frock would have done a better job" was surpassingly rude but he seems to have got away with it here...

Obviously Alesha forgot that she was paid by the BBC to endure Craig Kelly's performances whether she liked them or not! Cannot recall Bruno's comment about Tutankhamun, but I burst out laughing when I read about it, even though it's unkind !

He said it about Kate Garroway's Paso and I thought it was funny. The thing is that it was said about her dancing whilst Alesha's were said about people - I don't think she was being deliberately nasty but she forgot there's a fine line between being rude about somone's dancing which all the judges do and saying things about someone which are personal - you danced like a thunderbird puppet is a comment on someone's dancing - you're getting on my wick is something more. I loved Alesha as a contestant she was talented, bubbly without being annoying and said all the right things - being a judge has done her no favours and has exposed a bitchy side and that like a lot of people who can do something well she has no empathy for those who struggle. A chemistry teacher of mine once said the best teachers aren't the naturally brilliant because they don't know how to explain to those who don't automatically get it - Alesha proves that she's right.

But I thought Alesha was incredibly fawning to Joe, Richard and Lynda in particular. The latter to a nauseating degree ("WE LOVE YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE LYNDA BELLINGHAM!" Speak for yourself Alesha, I don't really give a stuff about Lynda Bellingham).

I don't think it's a "she can't empathise with the rubbish contestants thing" (although she can't, or at least not in a convincing manner). I think she just, like all the judges, had her favourites (Martina, Zoe, Ricky, Lynda, Joe) and people she didn't like (Craig, Laila, Jo), and did a particularly poor job of hiding it.

Actually I think you're right - which is why her critisisms of Craig and Laila were so beyond the pale - it's obvious she didn't like them.

The quartet of Arlene, Bruno, Len and Alesha are all extremely rude and think just because they have a "paddle" they can say what they like to a contestant regardless of hurt they may cause.

Arlene went too far and was dumped - only to be re-employed for the tour and another dancing show. Bruno and Len are well past their sell-by date and both have made really nasty comments this series and Alesha Dixon puts her foot in it every time she opens her mouth. Her remarks to Craig were appalling. Len showed himself up when he spoke to Chris the way he did. Bruno can be extremely vitriolic and has a poisonous mouth.

Craig is Craig and whilst he can be very hard taskmaster - he is fair, always tries to be constructive and does have a twinkle in his eye - but as for the others - they are too personal and for that reason should be dropped from the next series.

OT I know but,
I had a Physics teacher like that and he made it worse by talking over the heads of the 5 girls in the class (including me ) who he had placed in the front row bench, to the boys in the rows behind.

He felt that girls had no right learning the Sciences apparently.
Emotionally scarred, we were

I want to thank you, katmobile, for the chance to be able to get that out of my system after ?? years

You're right though, Alesha was brought into the equation for her supposed ability to empathise with the contestants - not ridicule them.
There are 3 others who do that - 3 more than necessary.

"And last year's comment by Craig to Mark Foster 'stick insect on acid' was neither funny nor constructive."


Thanks, Ignazio, for raising this one, which IMHO, is the worst comment made so far by a judge to a contestant.
The famous "kangaroo" thing was Craig correcting Bruno's Skippy remark, but this was actually made worse by Bruce's interference.


I think that an unacceptably large number of "jokes" made in Bruce's crude introductions far exceed in rudeness what the judges say to the contestants in the heat of the moment. Somebody actually types Bruce's personal remarks into an autocue with letters so large that a great many other people on the set can see them.

The prize for "Being Acutely Embarassing" goes to Bruce, without any doubt, particularly in his non-PC music hall innuendos about Ali and Brian, who were still fending off the media until after the show was over.

Bruce must be booted out.

When that Evander guy came to Strictly for one of the Christmas Specials in the past and Craig said it was "one of the most disturbring jives i've ever had the pleasure of watching."

Then when he scored it he said "For getting on the flight, 3."