Aliona? (She does have a name!) Yes, she has a celeb partner this year. No word on whether she'll dance with mMatt in the pro dances though...

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the petion is a good idea but i don't think that the BBC will listen to us.

Nah...I'm sure it is just like riding a bike!

Just spotted you - hiya!

Aliona is the one pro I wouldn't minded not coming back - of course you like her!

Buddy wouldn't he have just been 6 then? I know there are a lot of kids who show great potential but I would hope he would have done a bit more ballroom since then. His competitive record on dancesport suggests maybe not. http://www.dancesportinfo.net/Couple...0/Results.aspx Also 'ballroom' is sometimes used generically to cover all of the 10 dances.

However he doesn't need to have competed in ballroom to be able to teach it. My current teacher is a Latin professional. But then again, he has taken exams which means he is well qualified to teach ballroom.

LOL! Looks like he was a talented junior in Hawaii (but not at aged 6!) - that would fit in with the rest of the information that at aged 14 he was taken on by Buddy Schwimmer and lived in California for the next three years - or he could be extremely talented!

I am gonna go out on a limb and assume the masterminds at the BBC chose Jared is that they are planning on matching with a very young celebrity probably in her teens. It is a way to bring young viewers in who associate ballroom dancing programme with the with "older set" and X-factor with young people. If they end up being an exciting couple to watch and bring in that younger demographic, the experiment will have worked, if not he probably won't be picked up next season.

I think you are probably right. I wonder which celeb they have in mind.

Lucy from Eastenders has recently been axed from the show if I remember. I think she's about 18 and is in the Strictly audience regularly so is probably a bit of a fan.

Wasn't Louisa about the same age when she was on the show and was a big success so they might have 'Lucy' in mind for this series.

I think she has a bit of a reputation as a 'willd child' which was the reason for axing her...so they might be looking to spice things up with her.

I also remember her being in the audience more than once, you could be onto something there Dilly.

This sounds very likely.

I don't know Lucy from EE though. TBH I doubt if any other young actress like her would bring in new viewers (Louisa didn't as far as I know). A young male actor with a female following might, like Matt D or Chris Parker, but personally I don't think it works the other way around,

A petition to bring back Ian, Lilia, Darren, Matthew and Brian

I won't miss Brian (though I think he was very, very good) - but if SCD cull Ian and Matthew I won't bother watching the next series.

Totally agree - bring them all back. If they want to ditch any of the professional dancers, get rid of Brendan (too many childish tantrums) and Natalie (comes across as egotistical and false).

Is the pattern of the demotion really that simple? That makes it sound like some know-nothing in their twenties with some meaningless qualification in a shiny suit is responsible for the changes in Strictly with no knowledge of its history. Lilia went out first but she has made the biggest single contribution to Strictly as outstanding dancer, teacher and choreographer. Darren and Matthew have also won the series.
If they want to remove somebody who made little contribution to the celebrities, remove Aliona.
If they want to remove someone without charm, remove Natalie.
If they want to remove someone who is too small, remove Vincent.
If they want to remove someone who is too big, remove Natalie.
If they want to remove someone who is too old, remove Ian - they did.
If they want to remove someone who is too variable, remove Anton.
If they want to remove someone who shows all the other women up, remove Ola.

And 'too small' and 'shows the other women up' are obviously valid reasons for getting rid of people

I for one am glad Brian is not coming back.