Over Brian, Ian, Matt and Darren who far, far superior dancers than he is? Honestly when Anton dances Latin its hard to tell who's the pro and who's the celebrity, he resembles a performing chimp in a circus with his silly grin, waving his arms and legs all over the place. He also thinks using racist language is still acceptable and ammussing. The BBC sacked Carol Thathcher for that, why have they kept Anton.

I really hope the X Factor trounces it this year!

I'm bored of the yearly Anton and a rubbish partner laugh their way to week 7 storyline.

Him and Brendan should have gone.

Agree, All the ones who have been 'sidelined' are waaaaaaaaaay more talented.

Do you think they may have been concerned that it would be seen as a punishment for the debacle last year with the racist comments??

Just a thought- also maybe they think people like him more than the others? They do seem to be more than slightly out of touch with the fans...

I totally agree. I am actually baffled as to why the BBC chose the four they did?With Matt and Ian, the only thing I can think of is that the BBC know which celebs they have in the pipeline this year and with them being tall they are not needed. Maybe no tall female celebs this time?

I am dumbstruck over Brian. A very popular pro, who brought a lot of press attention last time around. Always seemed a fave of the producers, so I am shocked that they chose him to ditch. I will miss his contributions on ITT this year as he is so knowledgeable about dance.

Darren and Lilia are also very popular. Although I think the producers have wanted rid of them for a while, just look at the duds they had. I supsect they only put them in this "troupe" to keep hardcore fans happy.. looks like it backfired.

If I said what I really thought of Anton Du Beke I'd be banned from here. Suffice to say he gets on my tits big time, the fact his Latin is like that of an embarrassing Uncle at a Wedding do makes me dislike him even more/

agreed!

I do like Anton - his ballroom is wonderful but his Latin is dreadful. The logic of keeping him and sidelining Matthew and co is beyond me.

I notice the press release says that the other dancers have been offered the chance to be in the professional group, not that they will be. I suspect that Brian won't be the only one leaving

understatement of the century I think! They had a perfectly legitimate reason to ask Anton to leave, and in fact the BBC have gone down in my estimation on this alone not because better male pros have been sidelined, but because it now looks almost as if they're condoning what Anton said last year....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009...e-dancing-race

Do you think 2 sell-out UK tours with I believe over 100,000 tickets sold is a reason?! It seems to me that the BBC is more in tune with the general public's afffection for Anton and Erin than the negativity displayed by a few on these boards, some - it must be said - with personal or professional axes to grind. By the way, Darren and Lilia's tours were not as well sold. Even though I personally think it's a huge shame they'll not be back for the next series there might be some lack of impartiality on the forums when it comes to just how 'popular' certain of the pro-dancers are.

Wasn't Anton and Erin's tour completed panned by the critics? Not sure where you get your figures from anyway as I have it on good authority that Darren and Lilia's tour sold much better than that.

I don't think whether he is a popular personality is a factor in whether he should be kept on. His dancing is plain not up to standard.

Really surprised he wasn't let go this time.
I don't enjoy watching him dance Latin or choreograph Latin dances for whichever celeb he is paired with.


But.............if the sidelined dancers are going to be helping the competing dancers with their choreography, maybe watching his latin dances this year will be less cringe worthy?
Or am I being too optimistic?

He still won't be able to dance it...

I'm really surprised they have kept Anton.
His Latin is way too weak for him to be included in the dance troupe & his Latin always lets his celebs down.

Choreography wasn't the problem - his Latin was awful in the pro group numbers, which were usually choreographed by Matt, Ian, Brian, Kristina, Vincent or Flavia....

Maybe the BBC had decided not to sack any dancer outright, to avoid any claims of racism, ageism and whatnot (although they obviously underestimated the Daily Mail, who have already decided it's ageism even though Anton pushing 50 is still in the competition).

... so it's either dance troupe or teaching a celeb. Anton is clearly not up to being in a dance troupe. So they decide to keep him competing, provided it's with an old dear he can't do any damage with provided he keeps his foot out of his mouth.

...and his Dancing with Wheels programme, makes no sense whatsoever. Thought he would be around for a couple more years at least.


omg, aint that the truth!

Maybe there was more to the ridiculous furore last year, as some people reported on here and the majority cose to ignore, than what was reported in the papers. Seems to me that the Beeb are showing Anton some loyalty after what happened last year.

I'm going to get bashed for this opinion but I'm past the point of caring. It appears that if you like Anton on this forum, then you aren't actually welcome. The bile on here is constant and ridiculous.

50 ... are you serious? Is he really that old??

Well he claims to be 43. But a few people in the know say he's nearer 50 than he cares to admit.

Woah!
No wonder he's not up to standard. Surely age isn't going to be on his side against all these younger dancers

I agree with you 100%

I completely agree. I also like Anton and am glad he's back. Do people seriously think any of it is about talent??? Its all about personally and what (the BBC think) makes good tv, in whatever way. I find some of the other males pros more boring than Anton, but I'll be shot down in flames for suggesting that!!

I think he's 44 or 45. He and my dance teacher Mark used to travel to comps together when Mark was 18-ish and Anton was about 21, and Mark's now 41, so...