The judges said they needed to see more skating from Haley this week. Judging by their generous scores it would appear they got it.

But - and I do lovely Hayley and think she is a great performer - I'm not sure I actually saw her on the ice very much this week. She had a lot of lifts (something Dan's partners always seem to have) and lots of twirling, but I'm not convinced that she did as much skating on her own as say Mikey or even Daniella.

The quality of what Hayley does is amazing - but I feel she was towed around by Dan a bit.

What do you guys reckon?

I agree and thought exactly that.

I like her but I didn't think she did much solo skating this week either. Gary Lucy and Danny Young did far more.

Lucky you!

Dan always drags his partners round the ice

Hi Mama - Hayley is one of my favourites this year - and I reckon her solo skating is just fine - (better than Zarah's)

Hayley is amazing and she isn't being dragged around by Dan at all. She did loads on her own last night!!

Hi Ignazio! I KNEW you would be a Hayley fan! There's no doubt her skating is better than Zaraah's - but I don't feel she got the opportunity to show it on Sunday.

She seems confident on the ice, great at performing - I just wish they didn't give her all the lifts and tricks. Let's see her do more out of hold please!

Who are your other favourites? It's not you who's been voting for 'Dr' Hilary - is it?

Just watched it again on you-tube - she skated quite a lot of complicated steps out of hold - dont know what other people were watching tbh

I'm with you on this. I'm not a big Hayley fan (I like quite a few of them, Mikey, Danielle etc.), but Hayley even started the routine doing solo skating (not just on toe picks). With regards to lifts, I finally realised (watching people like Tana and Emily) that lifts require a lot of skills from girls as well. Hayley seems to be good at both and master the lifts without much drama.

I love how she comes out and really enjoys herself and doesn't winge about injuries, nerves etc, she is a bright spark in an otherwise dull competition!

Yes, I agree, makes me wonder what some people are watching? Her solo skating was miles ahead of anyone else in the contest.

Well he's not dragging Hayley around that's for certain

The Doc - not guilty but I reckon I could point you in the direction of the culprit (Ask Sid).

I like Danny but I feel he was too tentative this week. Mikey's started to grow on me this and much to my surprise I'm taking to Daniella - but no one's getting my vote ...yet.

I like Hayley, but imo she has a bit of a head start having been in countless musicals, it must help with the dancing part, I did put Mikey and Daniella in front of Hayley on sunday night as I am not a big fan of the spectacular lifts. It is great to have so many skaters in with a chance this year.

She didn't though. There was effectively zero skating before she was first in hold with her partner. She started standing still, then we lose sight of her feet for a bit while she does some irritating "performing" while not moving on the ice, then she does some bouncing in place, mostly on her toes, with a few little steps in addition, then she's pulled into hold.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aq73bMP4jY

She does then do some skating (approx 5 seconds) before the 1st lift, but the lift takes longer (about 3 times as long).

Then she does some twirling steps on her toe picks.

When she starts skating after that, her partner is holding her arms. They skate like that for a while as she turns back and forth (sometimes facing towards him, sometimes away).

Next, she skates out of hold for about 15 seconds before he's again holding her hands for the moves that lead into the second lift which is followed by some more skating while holding hands. They let go for a moment so they can change holds to the one that lets him pull her between his legs.

She finishes up on her toe picks again.

Hey Mama <smooch!> x

I'm with you re: Hayley.


Cheeky!

I toyed with the idea of voting for Dr H, but Stephanie Beacham virtually bankrupted me as I voted for her countless times in the Big Bro final (to no avail, she finished 5th!).

I don't usually vote on DOI. Donal was an exception to the rule.

x x x

She still skated more on her own than any other of the female celebs iirc yet Hayley is the one coming in for more criticism

Hello Gorgeous! I must admit I'm not voting - yet? But it wouldn't be for Dr H! You worry me Sid - you really do!


More than Daniella do you think?

Yes I think so

Will study both routines to try and time the solo skating when I have more time to spare

Danielle did look fabulous Hayley`s hairstyle reminded me too much of Bonnie Langford

I think Haley did more this week; I'm not sure which of them's done the most overall.

Hayley skated on her own more than anyone else, her lifts were far superior. If you want to complain about the programme overall, then that is down to the choreographer surely, not Hayley, she can only skate what she is given.

I have to agree with the OP on this one. Hayley is fantastic to watch but in my eyes, the level of skating needs to improve because what we do see can be quite good.
People are right though, Daniel's partners do tend to become a ragdoll and get thrown around. Hayley's lines are more developed and obviously, they have the advantage in their connection but more skating would be push it up towards a 6 for me.

I wonder if part of the problem with Hayley is that she makes what she does look easy, so there is a tendency to underestimate the difficulty of what she's doing?

A lot of the credit for Hayley's amount of skating time goes to the choreographer as well.

However, at least two of the guys skated more on their own, even if we don't count the time they spent lifting their partner.

I think it's the other way around. Her "performance" makes what she's doing look more impressive than the difficulty warrants.