I agree completely I didn't see series 4 either and didn't warm to Gabby & James in series 5 (although I was immediately a fan of Ola), but I really began to like James when he danced with Cherie. In their training footage he always seemed very genuine and to me he came across the same way on ITT this year, with just the right pitch of humour and professional opinion.

Yes, he made a mistake with his comments about JS, but I think that's purely a case of not thinking enough before speaking - some opinions, while perfectly valid as everyone has the right to their own opinion, are better kept to yourself. And no-one can blame him for being supportive of Ola this year - just as many people would have criticised him if he wasn't! If he ever gets far in the competition I'm sure she would do the same, just as Darren & Lilia could reasonably be expected to support each other over anyone else.

I think Len was right on ITT when he said we've seen James mellowing over the series' - obviously he's become wiser about the public perception of Strictly, the balance of dancing & entertainment etc, and now that he's keeping any more controversial opinions to himself people can focus on his genuine personality, which can only be a good thing all round.

I agree with the above. A pro is always going to be supportive of their celeb partner, and their pro partner if they progress further. Especially when married. I'd imagine that when Darren and Emma were voted out instead of Lilia and Matt, he wanted her to win rather than Ramps. I do think the pros should try and be as impartial as they can on ITT tho.

That was one thing that impressed me about James when he was on ITT. Aside from a few times, such as the pro vs. pro VT on the final ITT (when he was talking from the perspective of being her husband), he was always very impartial and supportive of all the couples. He rarely seemed to show an obvious level of bias e.g. when Claudia asked how Ola was feeling pre semi-final and he pointed out that all the professionals were feeling nervous.

I've been a fan of James' since series 5 but he's won me over even more this year. He was really lovely with Zoe and he got to show a great side of his personality on ITT.

Of course James was going to support Ola, she is his wife and if he hadn't well....

With regards if she had been dancing with Ricky, I do think James learnt his lesson last year with JS and just because you are 30 does not mean you still learn about life and say things that you regret or that come out perhaps not in the way you meant it. Anyone who never continues to learn and develop are rigid minded and would be very scary to know.

From what I understand the dancing world is quite tough and only the toughest and most determined survive and do well, some pros may hide that part of their personalitry better that others, but essentially that is part of all of them. I suspect that is why sports folk cope reasonably well on strictly as they are used to dealing with that kind of environment.

I think that most of the dancers on Strictly are friends. Although it's a competition, it's probably not as competitive compared to world dance competitions etc. so the pros most likely become close and friendly with one another. I like all the professionals, especially the Jordans.

I am new to digital spy and any forums. Although I browse, I have never commented. When I saw this thread, I just had to join up to say how I enjoyed the Jordans, and hope to see them again on Strictly 2010. I enjoyed them more than any other pros this year, Ola with her great partnership with Chris Hollins. James with his patience with Zoe and of course his presenting skills. I also saw him last night on 'So you think you can dance'. Well done Ola and James, you were great this year.

Welcome and a Happy New Year!

Maybe everybody should just sit back a bit, and not make pompous statements about the pro dancers that they later regret.

For me, James has always been a beautiful dancer, hard worker, supportive of his wife and, whatever people say, a good sport. He choreographed a really beautiful American foxtrot American Smooth for SYTYCD which ghasted the judges' flabber (in a nice way).
He is an asset to our dancing scene.

Any negative comments James has made in the past have usually been justified and always quoted out of context and "over-hated" by an armchair audience unaware of what hard work goes into getting the celebs onto the floor with any kind of decent routine week after week (Google for the article relating to Phil's dance partner, when the gags were off, complaining about how hard it was to work with Tuffers).

Maybe James will now join the Darren/Ian/Anton category of "faves", but I just hope he sticks around. With any luck we will see an end to the bad vote "curse" which, sorry, was due 100% to uninformed and unjustified prejudice in the voting public, and has been driving the non-voting viewing public absolutely mad.

It's still the same old James. I don't know why the BBC have decided to give him so much airtime, it's a waste. He can be Mr Popular 2010 but his choreography is mostly dull and that's what's preventing him (and his celeb) from advancing any further IMO.

Well Stell, according to Nigel on SYTYCD James Jordan's photo is in the dictionary under CLASS so what do you know????????

Am I supposed to take this post seriously?
All that's missing is a "ner ner ner" and stick out tongue smily.

Sorry Stella, as you can see I am new to this and as far as the smilies go I don't know how to. I hope no affence taken but I like all the pro dancers and especially James and Ola and Darren and Lillia.

The judges often commend James' choreography, so that certainly counts for something.

And as for Nigel Lythgoe, he has decades of dance experience, so his opinion counts for a lot.

I don't find James' choreography dull...his Rumba and Foxtrot with Zoe were two of my favourite dances this series, and then there was his Rumba with Cherie.

No problem.

The routine James choreographed on SYTYCD was danced by two trained dancers, it was a routine that you'd never see on Strictly. Even the smooths aren't danced that much out of hold.
James himself was taken aback by Claudia complimenting his choreography. I think he has some awareness of his limitations.
His partners are likeable, they can dance but they fail to capture the public's attention time and time again and the judges don't feel inspired enough to save them. I'd put it down to the choreography. As complimentary as the judges etc may be, besides the rumba with Cherie, you don't really see his dances on old ITT clips, I wonder why that is....

I loved his Jive and Samba with Gabby. The latter was nominated by Darren as one of his favourite dances that series. Actually his quickstep with her was great too.

I would say that the slow ballroom dances (waltz, AS, foxtrot) he choreographs aren't that engaging, but the Latin are far better. Sometimes it is the celeb that means they fail to electrify - for example, Zoe's jive would have had far more zing if she'd relaxed and pitched her weight forward instead of leaning back which made it more sluggish. His Paso with Cherie contained a lot of classic choreography (cf. Brian's with Ali) and her salsa was a great routine that unfortunately became a car wreck. Imagine if this was being danced by James and Denise/Jade/Louisa/Alesha - I think it would have been more memorable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xuz71hD6hiE

Maybe one of the reasons his choreography doesn't turn up that often on clip compilations is just that he hasn't done that many dances on Strictly. He's never done a tango with a celeb partner so I'd like to see that one day.

Oops I stand corrected. Thanks for that Fredless.
But tbh I still don't see what other reason besides the actual dance that he hasn't advanced further with his couples.
We're in the days of the dance off so the judges also have the opportunity to save them when the public don't.

Given that you say some of the choreography would have been better danced by someone else, wouldn't it be better to choregraph to the celeb's ability....?

I think James has stated on ITT that he's a good teacher, but not a good choreographer. I think it's Ola who choreographs their own dances.

I never did understand why Penny was saved over Gabby. His other two dance offs I understand why he went though - they would never have saved Cherie over Lisa, and Ali had more going for her technically. But his ending up in the dance off I think was more to do with the general strength of feeling against him as a person rather than anything he was doing on the dancefloor. Prior to the end of this series, James fans were rather a small group, and his vocal detractors on the basis of his past behaviour were the majority.

Yes, you're right, part of good teaching/choreography is recognising the strengths and weakness of your partner. And largely he did this with Cherie but the salsa was something of a disaster. Maybe that routine would have been stunning if she'd got it right. Or maybe he got carried away and made it far to hard for her as it was his first salsa. I don't know.

I think James has been unpopular on this forum in the past but then most of us are uber fans that remember things most people wouldn't. When it comes to everything strictly i honestly don't think the vast majority of the voting public will even remember his minor gaffs never mind hold them against him to the extent that they wouldn't vote for his current celeb on the basis of them.

James has been unfortunate to be voted off early but imo i think its been mostly down to bad luck (and a voting demographic that is inclined to be biased towards male celebs)

James hasn't had the best of partners dancewise, except for Gabby, who had real potential.
Cherie was great at ballroom and the Rumba, but she used to write all the steps down to try to remember them like she was learning a script, and went wrong a lot.
Zoe was a very slow learner and lacked confidence. James gave her simple stylish routines to make her look good and her confidence grew.
Gabby and James didn't get the public vote. The only video available seems to be this Jive one, where Gabby lost her timing a few times. The routine looked good and without other dances to evaluate, I dont remember much about the pairing other than Gabby looked good enough to get to near the final on dance potential, but a combination of the public and the judges sent her home too early. It still ranks as one of the biggest injustices dancewise, so I'm sure it was hard for James to accept.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnynZAq_bUc

James' partners haven't been that bad. I remember watching Zoe in the first group dance she was one of the strongest dancers in that half of the draw She looked like she had a lot of rhythm and good timing. Zoe and Cherie had strong starts and certainly weren't weaker than the likes of Jodie, Letitia, Laila and perhaps Lisa.
I think the bit in bold is part of the problem. Maybe the dances and choregraphy aren't memorable enough to make enough of an impression to get votes.

James definately seems to have replaced Anton as the golden boy, will we see him start presening other shows for the beeb?

Something had to be done. James has had some decent partners and in Gabby probably potentially one of the best ever but his rather abrasive personality seems to ailienate the audience. I dont think he's changed and I dont think attitudes toward him have changed. He'll probably be out of next years contest well before the half way point of the show. James is a hinderance to any celeb he's paired with.

I like James - always have done. And I agreed with absolutely everything he said about John Sergeant.

He's been genuinely supportive of his wife and generally one of the male pros who's most patient with his partner. I think he's capable of some very sensitive choreography: his rumba with Cherie was one of my favourite dances ever.

I think he's been voted off early because the general public don't like him, and I hope that will change next year.

I've enjoyed seeing him present too - I'd rather watch him than Anton Du Beke any day of the week.