I was surprised to see Ola was taller than Paul too - will they give her 'flatties' to wear?

I thought from the start that Anton would be paired with Ann, and never viewed it as a punishment. I think she was given to Anton as the BBC hope/think the pairing will be entertaining and place them both in a good light, whereas a pairing with a more competitive dancer would not have worked and have just been awkward to watch.

It is Ola that I feel sorry for, as all her hard work last year has been rewarded with a dud. I know Paul's height makes the choices limited (and I would not have wanted Flavia to get him), but it does seem harsh particularly as Natalie, last year's other finalist has done well again.

Perhaps Ola can make it work though, in the way Anton is expected to make his pairing with Ann work.

Capt S
Sorry, nothing to do with his dancing, he was made a fall guy for the behaviour of his partner and then in turn his reaction. But I'm so glad he is back. Long may he last.

Resurrecting this thread, because as I read the RT this morning I suddenly thought that actually this could well be about rehabilitating Anton rather than punishing him. If they wanted to punish him, they had a very easy means- don't renew his contract. They did it to five other dancers who hadn't made any racially offensive comments, and who on top of that were much more successful dancers than him- both on Strictly and professionally. Yet Anton stays- is that really a punishment?

Kristina benefited a lot from John's popularity (although it didn't last), maybe the BBC are hoping the same will happen for Anton partnering Ann. Then they've got their replacement for Brucie back in the public hearts ready for when Bruce finally calls it a day (if he ever does).

I fear you are right Katie.

And all the Anton fans who are moaning that he never gets a decent partner, well he had someone with real potential last year -Laila did some good ballroom performances but her Latin was poor because her partner can't teach or do Latin. It would be criminal to have paired Anton with say Kara or Michelle.

Think Lailas lack of sucess was more down to her poor commitment and attitude rather than Antons teaching!

Quite! I am astounded when people (some of whom claim to be dancers) endlessly peddle the myth that Laila had great dancing potential, with no evidence to back it up. In fact, I would suggest that she was quite stiff and inhibited, with little apparent musicality or natural rhythm. She also plainly struggled to learn and retain routines. It was a tribute to Anton's skill as a teacher (and particularly as a dancer) that she looked as good as she did in ballroom, where his skillful lead and her beauty concealed many defects.

Well said andiep!

I totally agree with you.

I completely agree with this (and with what you said too, Buddy! *waves*).

The 'punishment' conspiracy started on the BBC website and was then hyped up to the heavens by certain newspapers ... you know, the ones with the anti-BBC bias who go out of their way every year to rubbish Strictly. It wouldn't surprise me if some of their 'journalists' made the original posts - thereby being able to quote themselves to 'back up' their 'story' ...

If Anton's crime had been that great, he'd've been offed last year and Laila partnered with someone else, leaving him never to return. As katie_p says, it's obvious the BBC favour him over others and giving him AW means he will be firmly in the spotlight. I fully expect the judges to be mean to her (Craig and Bruno will be sharpening their claws already) - all at the producers' behest, of course ... :yawn: So I wouldn't predict an early exit.

However, as I've said on a previous thread, I don't think AW will have the same support as JS - purely because SCD voters are notoriously more sympathetic to male contestants than female ones.

Then again, I could be wrong ...!

I agree with that. He tried.then she got very divaish and spoilt the game for him and herself in a way

I think it's a bit silly to say it was all down to any one factor- it's clear there was a lot going on there, injuries, bad press etc. I don't think Anton's latin was a key factor, but it was there in the background and there were cases where it did look a bit as though she was being held back. Not that she'd have been Jill Halfpenny with another pro, but some of her latin routines did look like they weren't stretching her as far as she could.

I think the point about Anton never getting a decent partner is kind of circular, you then get into the argument about whether some of them were decent but Anton just didn't bring it out in them... there isn't really an objective answer in my opinion. But what I do think is that there are very few out and out 'decent' celebs who were always going to win. A lot of it is what the pro makes of it, along with a whole host of uncontrollable factors such as random audience voting.