Hi

I am new to the site though I have been an avid fan of SCD since it started. Have always loved it.

However I have not liked the changes made to SCD and those proposed. I am a mum of two in my late 30s so I guess I would be considered "past it" by the SCD producers.

I am shocked and disappointed by the changes to the dancer line-ups reported in the press recently what bothers me most is that Alesha is eported to be returning as a judge.

I have gone "full circle" with Alesha - loved her as a contestant - cannot imagine how much money I spent voting for her and Matt to win!!! - bought her CD (which has been donated to Oxfam) - loved to see her on the telly etc

Last year I could not understand the fuss about Alesha replacing Arlene - I thought give her a chance she will be a breath of fresh air.

Alas by the end of SCD last year my support for Alesha waned - I found Alesha to be so annoying - IMO she did not belong on the panel - she was out of her depth and at times rude. Her "acting up"with Bruno was annoying to watch - the dynamics of the panel changed and the panel was flat - SCD had lost its sparkle- the Alesha I loved to watch was not the same girl who sat on that Panel -I don't think that she came out of the whole experience well

I cannot believe therefore that she is reported to be returning as a judge - am I missing something? Certainly the impression I have had off friends/family/press is that the conensus is that Alesha was poor/ill suited as a judge- I was not a big fan of Arlene but I really wanted her back last series -surely it will be damaging to her popularity/music career to return to the "scene of the crime" so to speak - I genuinely I hope that she does not reurn and that she concentrates upon her music career where IMO her true talent lies

I really hope that SCD survives at the same time I also hope that it does not damage Alesha's career iirreversibly

I think it's not so much that the BBC think she's good (although of course publically they'll never admit otherwise), it's more that there was such a fuss over her replacing Arlene that they need to be seen to be backing her for more than a single series!

I loved her as a contestant too, can stick her as a judge (would far sooner have Bruno replced than Alesha!) but do put her on mute sometimes (then again I do that to Bruce and the entire judging panel!) and think she should have one more year, see if she improves - it's the same rationale for asking the new female dancers back for another year - only Natalie really earned her place, although I like Aliona a lot and would have been sad if she was ditched.

So I don't think it's surprising or wrong at all that they're giving Alesha another year. They should put Karen or Camilla there with her in Bruno's place, imo, they're making changes to the pros when they don't need to and they should be experimenting with the dynamic on the judging panel instead.

In reply to the OP, everyone is entitled to their opinions, personally i liked Alesha as a contestant on the show and her partnership with Matt was probably the best "All round" partnership ever on SCD in terms of ability, chemistry and entertainment value. I think she was very good as a judge, certainly for my money, much better than Arlene, however it is unfair to compare them after only one season, especially after the controversy , in part caused by the media backlash and accusations of ageism.
Arlene had 5 or so series to find her feet and quite frankly in her last series i found her even more irritating than ever, sure she knows a good dancer, but her on screen personna was very poor, stuttering and stumbling her way through her obviously scripted alliterations. I found Alesha to be a breath of fresh air in comparison and look forward to seeing her again should she return. I dread the thought of a girning Karen Hardy or Camilla on the panel.
When they brought in Darcy for the last few weeks it showed, to me, just how good Alesha was, Darcy was the major mistake of last year and hopefully one that will never be repeated, it proved to me that even a massively successful dancer is not necessarily a good judge on a light entertainment show

I think they should have a guest judge every week, drawn from former dancers like Camilla, Karen Hardy, Nicole Cutler (although she may tell them where to stuff it!) etc.

Some inconsistency here, perhaps? Why should anyone give Alesha another year to settle in, calm down a bit and sort her grammar out when you yourself object to either Karen or Camilla taking the judges chair on the grounds that you don't like their facial expressions?

BTW, I'd still rather lose Bruno than Alesha, but only just I think that with either Karen or Camilla sat next to her Alesha might be a bit more considered in what she said and how she said it...

Only in my humble opinion of course

Apparantly there are no new pro dancers in the UK good enough to take part in SCD as dancers. Yet Alesha is supposed to be a judge with a few weeks dance training. Makes a mockery of the judging panel and what the BBC thinks about them.

I agree with Mystical I think the BBC cant be seen to have made a mistake with Alesha so they are giving her one more year before 'changing the dynamic of the judging panel'

Horses for courses, Alesha is judging people with a few weeks dance training..... the judges are not there to judge the professionals.

Alesha is a singer and is not qualified to judge any form of dance!

The judges are NOT supposed to be judging the professionals, they are judging the 'celebrity' contestantants.

I would prefer to see Karen, Camilla and Nicole any day over Alesha, Darcey, Craig and Bruno. At least they are trained Ballroom/Latin professionals and know what they're talking about!

Quite. The whole point was that she had been through what the celebs were doing so had a perspective the other judges didn't.

And when Alesha incorporated that point of view into her comments, she was fine. But she appeared to have no direction as to what kind of role she should be playing and so we also got some badly-worded comments that were red rag to a bull with the anti-Alesha brigade. However, she was WAY more preferable to Arlene (and a damn sight more polite - really).

Personally, I'm fine for her to come back - provided she is taken aside and given a bit of career guidance about her comments. She should also be separated from Bruno ...

... preferably by Bruno not coming back at all. His OTT routine and blatant favouritism are tired beyond belief and, as far as I'm concerned, DWTS is welcome to him.

I can't believe we are going to have the 'Alesha' discussion again.

I'm fine with her being a judge again and not in the least surprised at her decision. Why put all your eggs in one basket? There is absolutely no reason why she can't continue with her singing career and do TV work like Strictly too.

We've heard all the reasons why she shouldn't be a judge on Strictly. Repeating them isn't going to change the reality that Alesha is back as one of the judges.

Yet another reason why I might find something else to do on a Saturday night.

I couldn't stand Alesha last year and there's no reason to expect any improvement this year.

I'll be very surprised if the replacements of Ian, Matthew, Darren, Lilia and Brian are better than the originals; possibly they won't be as good.

The Beeb have boobed big time.

I'm not surprised if it's true. The Beeb never back down over anything

to be honest, as it's so little about the dancing these days I'm not really that fussed anymore.

Can't stand the woman. Will never forget her comments last year 'and Zoe left because of THAT' nasty

Alesha accepted an offer of work. It may not have been something she was particularly suited for, but I thought she did her best.

I dont blame Alesha. I think the BBC made a mistake in asking her and would have preferred they asked Karen. I dont think the situation is any different this year.

I liked Alesha untill she became a judge. Now I hardly watch the program. Her comments make me cringe.

If anyone would like to have a set of DVDs showing all the dances in series five. I have a set which I no longer want. I can send it to the first person who asks for the set but it may take me a week or two to send it as I will be away from home for approx. 2 weeks.

She was right to be annoyed though, yes it probably came out wrong, but I completely agreed with her that it would have been far better from a dancing perspective to have Zoe there instead - and I'm a Flavia fan!

No-one can blame her for accepting work, especially in such a transcient industry. Anyone who thinks she should have turnbed it down needs to think about what they'd do if they were in her shoes - accept the job or not have a job? I know which one I'd choose...

She really showed her 'true colours' with that one. She does empathise with the contestants, the ones who are naturally good, not those who struggle like Craig Kelly or John Sargeant.

Makes you wonder what she was thinking when Kate Garroway survived for seven weeks in series 5.

Probably the same as the rest of the viewers, that better dancers had gone while Kate remained....... same as most viewers probably thought when Craig got through to Blackpool, I thought she hit the nail on the head with that one..... but unfortunately it gave all you haters a stick to beat her with, bit of a storm in a tea cup, especially when Arlene made much worse comments in her newspaper column the following week, if i recall she likened Craig to a donkey on blackpool beach..... which in my opinion was much worse... although i agreed with Arlene for once, he was terrible and should never have been on the floor in Blackpool

I do not hate Alesha and did not suggest in my OP that I did

I thinkk they were suggesting I hate Alesha, which I don't either. I just think she's a terrible judge. Mind you I think Craig and Bruno are as bad as Alesha, I'm not surprised Len gets grumpy.

I would agree with you about Bruno and Alesha - poor and sadly, especially in Alesha's case - annoying - why Bruno is still there I do not know why - however I do rate Craig for me the only one I listened to during the last series of SCD I think Len and Craig should return as judges but not Bruno and Alesha IMO

It'll be another year of watching on iplayer then, skipping past Alesha and Bruce's contributions, that's if I bother at all.

I think Ian should take Bruno's spot on the judging panel. He filled in for Len on the tour sometimes, didn't he?

While I'm not massively keen on Alesha, I am looking forward to another round of her vs. Erin.

She was never going to be removed in fairness. Like someone said, the BBC would never backdown and admit they made a mistake.

TBH even though Arlene was very experienced, i didnt really like the way she spoke to some of the contestants sometimes and i wasnt really sad to see her go, but the key was she has to be replaced with someone who would add something different. I don't really think Alesha adds that, and like so many have said, she needs to speak more formally and cut out the grammar mistakes.

I also thought she would be a bit like Dannii on the xfactor, in other words more understanding and bringing sweetness to the panel, but if anything she just followed the rest and clearly had her favourites as well.

Bruno got on my nerves last series as well, he really developed a nasty side and seemed to almost bully the ones that were the less able.

The only judge i warmed too really was Len, who has knowledge and isnt nasty when giving his opinion.