I thought about this when people were accusing Aliona of doing Matt down in the choreography stakes; who else would he have fit with, when you consider the partnerships of the other celebrities?

Well Lorelei, you've caught me out there because apart from watching a few shows casually over the years and knowing the old pros I am a relative newcomer to watching Strictly seriously.

So, I'd answer your question by saying that of course it's all subjective, for everyone who doesn't think Aliona and Matt are a good match there are those who love them together. He certainly seems to have a large fan base, most of who presumably think they are great together.

I can only say that for me, I like them both but she seems too overtly sexy for him. In fact I suspect that that's why they were matched, he has a somewhat staid image, which may not be true I know, but perhaps the idea was that she sexed up the partnership a bit. The result is that they dance very well together but at times he looks very slightly uncomfortable with her, and I don't find that easy to watch.


I don't know all of the dancers well but I think that I'd like to see what Matt would be like partnered with Natalie.

I too liked their dance,but didn't watch his emotion keenly,after Alesha's comments only i watched his emotions,he showed emotions,but didn't work. Judges could have said that "you show emotions,but you can improve" somthing like that rather than being so negative to him,so that he can boost up his confidence to improve his emotions. Having said that,i thought M&A are overwhelmed and believed that their performance was flawless because of standing ovation and their confident on their performance. Thats why Matt was so shocked to hear judges comments i believe. I know Judges could have encouraged him like they did with Scott. But i would say that all contestant should perform and enjoy and always be prepared to take any suggestions or criticisms or whatever rubbish coming from judges without being over confident about standing ovations. Otherwise it will knock your confidence if you have to get any negatives from judges.

It's called editing - drama for the sake of drama. If they were having a pleasant conversation all the time it wouldn't make good TV. If you take every VT at face value you're always going to see something that's not actually there, that's how all the controversies start!

And of course all the other VTs showing them having a laugh in training, all their interviews and their general interaction together - like in the Tesspit on Saturday while they were being scored - mean absolutely nothing because Aliona swore once on camera.....not to mention she's not the first to do so....

People swear, that's life. If you don't like it, you are free to tell them not to like Matt did. Doesn't mean Aliona is a lesser person for doing so - she may be by some people's standards, but there's no law against it. And we've seen her swear once, that's not indicative of her attitude towards Matt. He is not compelled to say nice things about her (he could just say nothing) but he does, is that not worth anything?

And to go to the OPs question, maybe dance teachers shouldn't swear, but I think it makes no difference either way - one of mine does, one doesn't. Do I dance any better or worse for either of them? No, the only difference is that I'm genuinely better at one genre than the other.

Selective editing no doubt - who did it serve to show that clip?

Good post.

Where's the applause smiley when you need one?

Thank you Mystical. You've saved me thinking and typing!

Quite agree.

I don't take notice of the VTs any more as they are skewed to show people in a certain light by the BBC.

As for the clip of Aliona 'swearing' and Matt asking her not to, I found its inclusion to be quite bizarre. What purpose was it supposed to serve aside from turning people against Aliona (or Aliona and Matt)? (I do realise that sounds a bit 'conspiracy theorish' but I am genuinely puzzled as to what this section had to do with the actual training of the dance).

And from some of the comments here, it seems that it has served its purpose (or 'a' purpose, anyway!).

most sensible post of the whole thread!

you are right. That is not the indication of her whole attitude towards Matt,but for me and some other people it was a confirmation for our previous doubts about her attitude. We may be wrong,but that is how we felt. And we are not purposefully think that "Oh Aliona is not a good teacher,she doesn't deal with Matt....". We have seen all other couples and learnt about them and realized there is something wrong between M&A. Why do we have to talk about only Aliona's teaching abilities? why not Katya or Robin or someone else? It is because we know that Matt is a good dancer and Aliona is a great pro dancer,but still they don't get the recognition they deserve. This might be the reason i could come up with. As i said earlier it is just my opinion and i may be wrong and i hope i'm wrong and hope to see M&A comfortable with each other and come up with powerful performances and get the recognition they deserve.

Quite right.

It's not about one isolated incident, it's about a general vibe couples give off. After watching numerous interviews and dances, we've built up a fairly good idea of how we feel about the various couples and how well we think they have gelled.

Another good post

Thanks

I don't think that it's unreasonable to show that sort of incident in a clip, so long as its not the only thing which is shown. Every week they are looking to show something of the journey that the couple had to get the dance on air and if it happened, and it's significant and somewhat interesting you can't blame the directer for leaving it in. I also don't think that many viewers who previously liked the couple are going to then say 'oh that's it, she has sworn I don't like them now' are they?

We've seen enough of Matt and Aliona by now to get an reasonable idea of what they are like, both seem pretty fun loving most of the time but I am sure that they get into arguments too. Showing that makes me think more of them actually, I like that they're being honest, in contrast to the 'it's all SUCH a laugh' false joility of VTs coming from ceratin other couples rehearsal studios which if anything, are making me think that it's anything but .

It just depends if this is language he is used to hearing or using, believe it or not some people just don't use it and more so at work, its not mandatory. I was never keen on her and believe she has not brought out the best in Matt. Being a good dancer does not mean your a good teacher. If she was comfortable doing that on camera in Matt's face, what on earth is she comfortable with off camera.

Aliona isnt the first to say something or do something like this in a VT

Remember Lilia loosing her rag with Dom Littlewood? James has had 'words' with Pamela and walked out of training sessions, Ali did the same with Brian and I am sure there are countless other occassions where this has happened

Its cleverly edited by the BBC

I can understand wanting to show a journey, an argument, etc, but that particular clip was just weird and uncomfortable, to me. It looked like Matt was picking an argument, I guess? That said, I've seen similar clips on DWTS that were even weirder and more uncomfortable, so I know where the thinking is coming from.

I don't know.

I mean, Matt is my favourite celebrity in this thing by a good stretch and I'm not one of those people who needs my favourite couple to have a sunny, smiley relationship but I don't like it when Matt looks upset

Incident one happened in VW week because Matt was asking questions and Aliona got very frustrated with him. Second was this week and while I do feel it's more of a cultural difference, I'd still like her to treat Matt with a bit of respect.

Maybe she does and it was just edited like that for drama, who knows.

I found it uncomfortable to watch as well. I am not in the least offended by swearing but I do understand some people are. If you don't like it them having it said right to your face when you are probably trying you best with, what we since found out, was the weirdest piece of choreography since Flavia and her bandages.

It didn't affect how I feel about Aliona but it did make me like Matt more. I like a man that stands up for his principles. Pity he didn't put his foot down about that dreadful Cossack shirt they put on him as well.

We don't know what she said and in what context or whether it was a one-off. Also she is speaking a foreign language and so could have just said the wrong thing by mistake. I think if she regularly swore at him then his comment would have been different.

Many people don't like swearing and particularly from women, I would not be surprised if Matt is like that.

I can only assume you know these people intimately, or are in fact joking. How do you know they don't swear in "real life"? Or are you just guessing so that you can strengthen your case for disliking Aliona because of an edited VT with half a story in it.

I'm certainly not anti-swearing at all and think the odd curse word is par for the course. However, I was certainly very surprised and felt uncomfortable at the swearing. I don't take offense at the odd 'shit' or 'fcuk' but didn't Aliona tell him to 'shut the 'fcuk' up'? (this is going off memory if this isn't what she said fair enoughski). There's no need for that getting spat in your face, no matter how frustrated or fiery you are!

That's how I see it.

Matt certainly didnt accuse Aliona of swearing at him (I think that point needs emphasising), he just told her not to swear "like that" and Aliona replied "Like what? I said *bleep*" as if whatever was said, she herself didnt consider it to be severe, perhaps not even a swear word by her own standards. They then carried on dancing the routine, quite calmly.

If anyone came off as the narky one in that edited exchange, I'd say it was Matt, unlike the previous occasion when Aliona was stroppy with him for needing something explained over and over. Either way, it only shows they are both human.

And I write that as a non-M&A fan who doesnt swear (often)

Indeed, I felt sorry for Matt that he felt he had to beg to ask her a question and her dismissive attitude.

I've said many times not every dancer will make a good teacher and I don't think Aliona has the right attitude to be a good teacher.
Good teaching is a skill which not everyone possesses.

Oh well, Matt just brought this thread to an end with his comment on ITT I think .