It's pretty clear after tonight that no matter how dismal Mikey is, he's likely to get through on the public vote. He's already knocked out one skater much better than him, in Emily, but which other ones do you think he'll mean we lose before he finally goes?

I see Gary and Danny as being at particular risk of being trampled by Dr Mikey and his legions of voters.

But I think there's actually a real risk he might actually win the thing if he makes the final (which he probably will), and can rely entirely on the public vote. Even Colleen didn't manage that...

I'm sorry..but if Mikey wins the show, it would be an absolute farce. He should have left the competition last night, and the fact that he must have got double the votes that Daniella got...is just ridiculous. I have seen no improvement in his skating since week 1 (and to get his lowest score last night...) and I really hope the public stop making this a popularity contest...

Colleeen got through to the last four last year - even though she is dreadful. Its to doo with the vote split and I think we will need to get rid of at least another couple before he ends up in the bottom two. He won't win though - unless his skating improves miraculously over the next couple of weeks.

I think this is a bit premature. Emily hasn't been a fantastic skater up to now (quite a few people wanted her to go for quite a while now), although last night she was obviously clearly better than Mikey. I don't think he would be rescued every week, if he carried on in the same fashion. However, we don't know how he will perform next week.

He isn't nearly as good as Emily but be fair - I don't think anyone apart from Dr Hilary has been as bad as Colleen.

Probably depends on how many reminders the public get that Mikey has hurt himself once the phone lines are up!
I like Mikey and although I think Emily was better than him, I doubt she'd have reached the final and she'd certainly knocked out plenty of skaters who were better than her by the time she left. However, unless he improves a lot, I'll be disappointed if it's not Mikey next time.

This week Mikey definitely got the sympathy vote - he hasn't really needed it in the last few weeks, as he wasn't the worst scoring by a country mile like he was this week. As soon as they started talking 'updates' I knew he'd be through

However, we all know that sympathy votes like that usually only last for a single week, with the celeb improving in their next performance, and then it's bye-bye.

I suspect the fella's had his chips, but we'll see

if he continues, he'll get to the final. He's not even nearly as bad as Colleen but of course those who find him a threat will lash out.

He's had a tough time, what with the injuries & another friend's death. Give it a rest, Eejit.

Ooh, touchy, Strictly!

He's pants, he really is. Not his fault, but it's getting a bit tiresome people making excuses for him every single week. He's very much like Colleen or Dr Hillary, in that he has a built in fanbase that votes regardless, and that's going to mean much better skaters going, sadly.

Sorry Eejit (and I'm not a voter or avid fan of Mikey), but you don't have any evidence for this and I think it's unfair to compare Mikey to Coleen or Dr Hillary (or you must have a very short memory in relationship to Coleen who was dire). This was the first week that a better skater left, and to be truthful, overall Emily was not a much better skater than Mikey. Based on potential, I think Mikey is still capable of producing a better routine than Emily.

Kieron did also not have good night yesterday (same scores as Emily) for perfectly good reasons, I would not have wanted him to leave in favour of Emily either. Imagine Kieron's fall had just happened before the show! His routine might have been as bad as Mikey's. We don't know the real extent of Mikey's injuries.

So far the order of people leaving seemed to be correct (apart maybe from Sunita, and that might have been fixed as she is now pregnant - weird coincidence).

Nah, I don't think that's true. I wouldn't have an issue if it was just an isolated dodgy week - Daniella had one of those this week, for instance. Mikey's last three performances have been really rubbish - even the mark he got last week was way above what the routine actually merited for instance. (IMHO, obviously)

I thought Mikey had quite a lot of potential at the start, actually - even though he was clearly overmarked, and had a lot of work still to do. I've been very disappointed to see him standing still, or even going backwards, week after week.

I'm not disputing that Colleen was dire though! I think that's pretty much an indisputable fact!

Well we can definitely agree on this one. I think the beauty of this year's competition (one of the few) is that we don't have a Todd or Coleen.

i knew he would get through on sympathy i mean how mant time sdid they say hes fallen over and is ohysio-after every ad break i counted

they obviously want him to win or be in the final to be honest he hasnt been that good since the first week hes just a nice man which is getting him through

but yes it will be at the expense now of a better skater as they are all better now than him

Mikey is nowhere near as bad as Coleen! He started well & made a big improvement in week 3 where he came 2nd out of 12.The following week he was given a difficult routine & fell alot durring the weeks training which knocked his confidence.He improved the week after but last week he found out another close pal had died just before he skated & then yesterday he fell badly,which all knocks his confidence & i think he did well to skate on both occasions.I so hope he can show us what he can really do again next week.

Dr Hilary was bad but he knew he was bad, was trying to improve and did in fact improve every week.

Todd claimed he could not improve however hard he worked -which made him a bit of a strange choice - and of course poor Colleen was plagued with injuries so she spent a large part of each week being photographed and filmed in physio and at the hospital so even being dragged round the ice by her partner was a triumph.

Eejit - to compare Mikey to Coleen really is ridiculous and you aren't going to get anyone taking you seriously coming out with things like that. Living up to your user name there!

His performance last night was not good but he still did things like his jumps that Coleen could only dream about. In fact Coleen pleaded injury so she didn't actually do that required element. Mikey didn't do anything of the sort. As well as being a better skater he is also a far more likeable person than Coleen.

Last night was the first time he had been bottom and Emily was saved loads of times when she was bottom so any of her supporters can't really complain. Also I think last night was the first time Emily performed better than him so you can't really say she's better than him overall.

I don't think he will last too much longer unless he improves though.

I actually liked Dr Hilary, and you are right, he did work and consequently improved. Todd (thank godness) left early. That's why I mentioned Coleen as the only dire one (she could have been replaced by a sack of potatoes and we wouldn't have noticed - actually I'm lying that would have been an improvement ). Her criticism of other people with injuries is an absolute mockery. She is my least favourite contestant ever. Mikey is nowhere there yet. He has actually produced one of the most enjoyable routines this year (in one of the earlier rounds).

If you actually read what I wrote, I didn't compare his skating to Colleen. She was a whole special kind of awful. I'm just saying the effect he is likely going to have on the competition is much the same - in that he's almost certain to get through each week, no matter how bad he is, meaning much better skaters being eliminated. Only he's got a real chance of winning the thing (which thankfully we managed to avoid with Colleen!).

I still don't think he will even get to the final or win unless he improves though.

I don't think Mikey will win even if he is popular.

Mikey was OKish at the start but I haven't seen any improvement unlike with most of the others remaining. He is obviously very popular with the viewers but if/when he ends up in the dance off I think he'll go. Trouble is that might not be for a week or 2 so there is a possibility that we could lose a better skater.

Its sad to say, as I really like Mikey but he hasn't improved that much and last nights performance was his worst by a long shot. Emily left it late to improve if she'd worked harder in the first weeks she could have been alot better but she was lazy at the start so her performance this week although better was not a week 8 performance.

Mikey's was more technical with room for more errors but he has always been quite a picky skater which makes him look a bit messy.

I hope the comparison between him and Colleen is about popularity only and not about skating as he is miles better than her.

But in answer to OP - I think we'll lose either Kieron or Danny and possibly even Danniella before Mikey goes.

Oh how quickly we forget...

It's barely five minutes since Emily was being slated for her woeful performances - she has a couple of half decent weeks and suddenly everyone's up in arms about Mikey staying in ahead of her.

Okay, in a way it's a shame as, on the evidence of the last two weeks, Emily was starting to find her feet while Mikey definitely looks like he's lost his but it's a bit premature to start laying all the evils of the world at Mikey's (mislaid) feet just yet. He did have potential - has that really just gone down the toilet? Let's see what happens before we start blaming the poor guy for things that have yet to occur...

For once, I have to disagree with you Lach. I honestly do believe Mikey is the weakest skater (maybe not Dr Hilary standard) but certainly Coleen was better in my opinion. Last night's routine was horrendous, and it's clear that he has not improved in the slightest since week 1. I think he's got too much on his plate to fully focus on the competition, and will be very relieved to be voted off next week.

No problem disagreeing with me gazb2, I enjoy a nice argument.

However, are you seriously saying that Coleen was better than Mikey. I'm not saying he was good, but he has far more ability than Coleen and his routine was far more technical than any of Coleens ever. You astound me.