I always wondered why the beeb had him commentate on the gymnastics at the Beijing Olympics... I thought it might have been some kind of Blue Peter challenge

Meh, so what? I'm sure none of us want to go back to the days of SC1 - we want to see people really dance, and if it turns out that they've had previous dance experience then to me that just suggests that they are more natural dancers than those who have not.

If you're being serious then I have 2 words for you - Gabby Logan!
If not, haha, I don't care, that was an awesome first dance despite the DWTS tricks

How on earth does being a gymnast give you an unfair advantage on a dancing show????

Patsy, Felicity, Scott etc. - all actors - Ooh! Unfair advantage - they know how to perform!

Michelle - shakes her booty to pop music - Ooh! Unfair advantage!

Gavin - no stranger to fake tan and shaving chest - Ooh! Unfair advantage!

Ann - used to taking harsh criticism - Ooh! Unfair advantage!

Paul Daniels - can use magic to get out of a sticky situation - Ooh! Unfair advantage!

Peter Shilton - will be good at catching his partner safely - Ooh! Unfair advantage!

And so on.....it's really ridiculous! Let's enjoy whoever gives a great performance!

Quite.

And while we're at it, let's go back in time and remove Alesha, Rachel, Emma, Jill, Tom, Lisa and everyone else who has ever danced or had dance training.

These arguments get thinner every year and are just perpetuated by people who feel their own favourites are in some way threatened. :yawn:

If you don't like Matt, don't vote for him. Simple as that.

OK, I might be 'blonde' but no need for the rolling eyes is there?

soz, was not meaning to be harsh, but I thought the reference was a bit too surreal and Monty Python for people to miss. BTW I'm blonde, are you starting something

I really like Matt's dance tonight. But I expect no less from him. Back in his Blue Peter days, he was trying to blag his way, Blue Peter Style, with Zoe, by learning to jive and paso with her with the help of ballroom dancing teachers, including Darren and Lilia.

Get this, they went to take part in a real amateur ballroom dance competition and WON!

Just check the youtube clips. Type in Matt Baker, Blue Peter, jive, ballroom etc. and you'll see the clips posted by katie-p the other day in this forum.

edit: very intriguing! The clips are removed from youtube!

tut! SCD-O please don't encourage this!!

I think anyone who thinks this would be remotely advantageous needs to have a go at both and then come back and report to us- proper scientific and all that!

I like Matt Baker! But there is an advantage there.

Remember that Tom Chambers and that tap dance routine?! He was the bookie's favourite at the start of the show, and then lost his way a little, but made a triumphant final showdance which I will never forget, AND WON! So you can have the 'advantage' and still win Strictly.

Only that he has kept himself fit and can tell his left from his right I think!

Really dancing these types of routines is so different to most things...

Hey ho- I'm with you- I like him and I don't care!

Judging by tonight he has not.

Gaby should have gone much further though - stupid len.
Matt did seem a little too good for a first time but i'd rather see good dancers and we'll see if he can improve on this otherwise starting well may not necessarily be such a good thing.

That's a fairly balanced take on it.

Of course a gymnastics background is going to help with achieving better lines and agility. Is that an unfair advantage though? No, not at all. It's not as if Matt has been formerly trained in either Latin or Ballroom. He's just better equiped to deal with these disciplines - someone has to be!

Ah, Sid, did you watch Katie-p's youtube clips a couple of weeks ago? It's now mysteriously removed from youtube.

In it, Matt and Zoe in their Blue Peter days, were trying to take part in a ballroom dancing competition. They had professionals teaching them to do jive and paso (and they really look quite good!). Even Darren and Lilia came into help them. And Ian Waite was one of the amateur ballroom dance judges, I think.

Within five days of intense training, they went against all odds AND WON. Now that's an unfair advantage, surely? That's even despite the fact that I like Matt and would like to see him go all the way to the finals!

Oh that's all news to me!

Maybe Matt will recall some of the things he learnt but it was quite a while ago and it was still a very brief course of training.

I don't think he's the runaway favourite anyway. The competition is fierce this year and they will have to win us over with their personalities as well as their dance moves!

I agree. This year there are so many to choose from!!! I am so happy Strictly is back on track this year. Hope I didn't speak too soon! *don't jinx it, don't jinx it*

But Matt Baker, as long as he's not TOO serious, to the point of being really competitive and self-indulgent, will get far. He has that Blue Peter presenter charm, like Gethin had. Zoe Salmon had it too, and I rooted for her in DOI when she was doing it a couple of years ago.

Snap!

And Zoe fans were rare to come by on here lol

Not quite the same thing though. Matt's advantage is much more direct than Zoe's was.

I meant the Blue Peter charm, not the advantage of Zoe. She had none, which was the point. She worked really hard and did many decent routine with the other Matt (the pro skating with her).

It's odd that the Blue Peter charm seems to work on the General Public for men, but women always seem to do terribly in the public vote. I remember the % being released for Dancing On Ice after the series, and Zoe would consistantly be on around 2.3% of the vote. Likewise when she and Konnie did Fame Academy, they both struggled to gain public support (although in Konnie's case that may have been more due to sounding like a sack full of kittens being fed into a leaf-blower)

I don't think you can say that his previous training won't be an advantage. It won't be a huge advantage, but it will help him. Combined with his own background, I do think that he has a considerable advantage over most of the other contestants.

That doesn't really bother me though. I think it will make for a more interesting contest. Matt seems to be hugely competitive - I think that could well be his undoing. British people don't seem to like that at all.

LOL. I didn't know about Konnie doing Fame Academy.

I liked Zoe in DOI, esp. her partnership with Matt. Ray was the runaway champion without a doubt, but Zoe was very, very determined. Bizarrely, I was quite put-off by Ruthie Henshall's (sp?) overt biasing towards Zoe and her obvious distaste to one of the soap starlet who took part that season whose name now eluded me. I thought that was so unprofessional for a judge though she like Zoe, as I did!

He was quite competitive. In the Blue Peter clips, he made Zoe cry, because apparently Zoe kept trying to lead him in the dance, and he was coping with it, and coping with it, and he blew up once, and it was sad, because Zoe said she didn't even try to 'lead' Matt, she's just trying to keep up with him (yes, Matt was THAT good even then).

Roxanne? I think?

I have to admit, Ruthie's bizarre girl-crush on Zoe was one of my favourite things about that whole series. When she was pulled out a 6.0 for a fairly decent, but not spectacular dance, and then justified it mostly by just going "I LOVE YOU ZOE <3 <3 <3" it sustained me for at least three weeks of Colleen's miserable almost-falling-down-but-not-quite.

Let's all like who we like. My faves so far are Matt and Pam. I'll have 2 new faves to add to my collection tomorrow. I choose my faves (Matt on paper, Pam by personality), when I see them dance