Can Ann Widdecombe do the unthinkable and win this year's Strictly Come Dancing?!

Does she deserve it for her enthusiasm and good humour or is her performance a joke too far?

Let me know what you think and vote in my poll! http://twtpoll.com/kkk8jp

I'm finding her a total joke to be honest. I don't mind a variety of abilities amongst contestants, I'm not even that bothered by a bad dancer ocassionally outlasting a better dancer, but I resent her attitude to the show and how the producers are trying to manipulate the viewers by falsely recreating "The John Sargeant Phenomenon".

I honestly don't thin she will win, and genuinely hope for the sake of the show that she doesn't.

I am now switchin channels when she is on ,I am finding her increasingly smug and unwatchable to be honest .
But if by any chance she is in the final and the Lord only knows why , I will tape it and fast forward her dances .
No more please of the clumping about and Anton looking silly and daft .

I actually closed my eyes during her clip on ITT earlier

No.....

The joke is oer it is not funny and she is so arrogant that she is coming back. Please we are now losing people who can improve, she is no longer funny but a joke that has gone on too long, at least JS was humble

Christopher Parker didn't win, neither did Julian Clary or Kate Garraway.

Ann will eventually be given her marching orders and one of the better dancers will ultimately win. They always do (and yes I include Chris Hollins in this as he was reasonably good).

Yes, I know how you feel, I now turn off and I have never turned off ITT before .Its making me cross and I actually cant believe people find it remotely funny to watch it .

Hopefully sooner than the final though as to miss out on having two good dancers do great dances will for me be shame .

Oh I think/hope she'll be out well before then Abba!

There are some seriously talented dancers this year and they have engaging personalities. This should be enough to keep the final a Widdecombe free zone.

I reallly hope so . I was astonished yesterday to talk with a friend who , like myself , is a big fan of SCD and loved the pro tour and loves the better dancers ,.She is loving Ann and finding her so entertaining and would vote for her .! How many more are there of that train of thougth ?

Add my dad to that list (and he's NEVER voted on reality shows before!!).

But I'm convinced the support will eventually die down, or at least won't be sufficient to keep Ann in the contest when she is just competing against couples who are good and popular too.

She won't win - my hunch is another 3 or 4 weeks and she'll be gone.

Ann will go before the final and maybe a few weeks before it for one of the following reasons:

Folk will get bored of the routines and just not bother to vote (however if there is a concerted effort to alter the course like a campaign then that may change)

As the number of contestants start to reduce their fan groups may switch allegience bringing votes up close to widders levels. My guess here is that Kara may claim some of Tina's base. Scott/ Jimmi / Matt /Gav may gain if one goes out. Pam/Felicity.

There may be some horse trading with the leaderborad nearer December that will mean that Ann's chances are more likely to go into the dance off- that is my conspiracy theory Which I think doubtful.

Honestly, people take this Saturday night entertainment show far too seriously, and I hope she does win because I find her entertaining.

I think Ann has a very good chance of winning the show as a lot of people find her entertaining to watch.

No, don't think she'll win but you never know.

I only vote when the couple I support need it, and I suspect there are a good number of viewers with a similar mindset.

I think Bigears is right. As contestants leave - particularly those with potential / that are already good, the public could put more backing in the other reasonable dancers.

(If) Once we lose a good dancer, such as Matt, Kara, Jimi, Pamela or Scott, I imagine their fanbases will either give up completely, or they'll switch their votes to a fellow stronger dancer, very much in the hope of cancelling out the votes for Ann.

Neon_Toaster, as has been proved the hundred other times before with the debate, not everybody looks for "entertainment" in characters like Ann that can't dance, but are amusing. There are many people that find good dancers, that can give us a reasonable performance, and have fun with it, more fitting with their suitability to an "entertaner".

I don't think Ann will win it, but I'm not ruling out the possibility. We've yet to have a (reasonable) bad dancer win the competition. Even Chris last year. He may not have been the best dancer of even the final 3, but he wasn't a terrible dancer.

Whilst I don't have a favourite (I'm loving quite a few this series), Matt, IMO, ticks the boxes I'd like for a winner. He's a great performer, capable of pulling off a reasonable dance, and seems a genuinely nice guy that's enjoying the experience. Likewise Pamela. Unfortunately, because both have peaked so early and are (more often than not) praised by the judges, the pubic turn against them.


The only reason she's (possibly) deemed more enthusiastic than others, and has a "good sense of hunour" is because she's the "entertainment factor" of the series. Kara, Matt, Pamela, Scott, Jimi (and everyone else for that matter) all seem to be enjoying themselves and aren't coming across any worse or better than Ann.

I don't think she'll get anywhere near the final, either. (She may well do. I've accepted that. It's what happens.) I think, at the most, she'll finish 6th/7th. We may lose a potential winner or two before then, but since there can only be two (or three?) in the final anyway, which order 7th/6th/5th/4th finish doesn't matter. What matters is they'll be gone, and there's nothing we could do, except hope the final two (or, dare I say it, the winner!) are/is reasonable enough a dancer.

Personally, if Ann does win, then I'll accept it, knowing that the public voted for somebody they found entertaining (even if I did or not) to win what they class as an entertainment show.

Whoa, I typed an essay. Sorry.

If Ann wins then I don't honestly see how they'll be able to do another series, who on earth would want to spend 3 months in a competition learning how to dance only to be beaten by someone who has consistently been at the bottom of the leaderboard?

And makes next to no effort either.

If Ann is the future of entertainment, I shall not bother watching Strictly in future. And I'm not even a dance purist!

There is a very real threat of her knocking out better dancers and even winning, thanks to the BBC hype machine that is running at full tilt and will get progressively worse, the longer she stays in.

I'm sure Simon Cowell and James Murdoch must be rubbing their hands with glee ...

No, in short. I don't think that her enthusiasm is entirely virtuous because she is being enthusiastic about being deliberately comedic. Of course she should be commended for trying something new and at least putting effort it, but she should not be commended for using every gimmick in the book to try and gain the comedy vote. The other contestants are just as enthusiastic (in fact I think many of them are more enthusiastic) yet they are genuinely trying to be the best they can and push themselves to the limit.

It may be an entertainment show, but it's still Strictly Come Dancing, so for the sake of the little credibility the show has left, a decent dancer needs to win. Doesn't have to be the best, but they have to be reasonably competent at both technique and performance.

No . , I dont take it seriousley as such , but I do tune in to Strictly Come Dancing for a dance show .If I wanted comic entertainment I would tune in to a comedy show or game show . If I need light comedy I could find it on an other channel . For example Dawn French does a great piss take on dances and I find them hilarious on a comedy show .
I absolutely love Downton Abbey for example and tune in for what it is , period drama . Its advertised as this and so I tune in expecting that . I dont really expect the cast to suddenly have a eastenders type fist fight .
Alot of people love Strictly for the glam , glitz , costumes and the expectation of half decent dances , improving by the week till we get some really great dances . Which is why I and many others are getting pissed off that the show is now something else and not what we had expected and not what is advertised as being .

Oh and I am far from and anorak or dance or dance purist , I have only now figured out which dance is which , so cant have that thrown at me ,

Yes, she can win it but I hope she doesn't as she is so not entertaining

Someone put this question on the POV boards and said that when others are voted out the spare votes might go to someone other than Ann, thus reducing her numbers. I agreed with this but another poster said that if she has more than 50% of the vote at the moment, nothing the others can do would make any difference. Someone please let me know if this was right. I couldn't bear it if she did win - the show would be ruined.

Thinking about it, surely the judges' votes would also count for something.

There are plenty of "wannabees" out there who would sign up. Let's face it the current "stars" are not exactly top rated and some of them need the publicity to re-launch fading careers.

As to Ann winning, I think it's unlikely but if she did I would be more than happy to see the judges faces not too mention reading the anguished postings here from dance anoraks. Yes, that is evil but fun!