James and Pamela on BBC breakfast show. James has just said that it's Anton keeping them in, that Anton has been very clever with the routines. Pamela was toeing the party line, and James when asked said he wasn't enjoying it any longer or words to that effect, then "I'm very honest," followed by the above.

Good for James.

Yes, good old James has at last said what we all think - or the majority of us at least. He won't be walked over and I thoroughly admire him for that.

Good for James - perhaps others will follow his lead.

Good for him.

Well done James. Guess he knows he'll be out either this week or next and so has nothing to lose.

James is clearly heading for a career in the diplomatic service. He was on 5 Live this morning and was asked if he thought Ann winning would be bad for SCD.

He said - without any hesitation - "No, as it's up to the viewers to decide." Good so far.

He then added - again with no hesitation - that personally, he would prefer it if the viewers decided based on dancing and slipped in that Chris Hollins winning was OK as he was entertaining, despite not being the best dancer.

I was nodding in agreement, despite knowing that the "It should be decided on dancing but Chris winning is OK because he was entertaining" argument is completely flawed as you can't logically and objectively distinguish between degrees of not being the best dancer.

Well done James. Perhaps he should have headed up the 2018 world cup bid...

why does have lots of mafia/oil money with which to bribe FIFA - allegedly of course

then it comes full circle back to what people consider entertaining. Chris wasn't the best dancer but he tried really hard, clearly loved every minute of it, took the criticism on the chin and I don't think expected to be voted in week after week as a matter of course. I found him entertaining. BoD doesn't try to dance but focuses on being intentionally "funny" (depending on your sense of humour), and as her VTs increasingly shows, is rock solid confident that because she's so hilarious, she has no fears of being voted out. It makes me want to eat furniture that so far of course she's being proved right

Ann said herself it was all down to Anton and his comic genius. Ann is a hopeless dancer, a laughing-stock, and Anton has exploited this to perfection. John Sergeant was a better dancer than Ann. In his last dance before resigning, if I remember right he got 5 from Craig, 7 from Len, 6 from Arlene and 7 from Bruno, making 25, a score beyond Ann's abilities (their highest was 20, I think); and Bruno said John's last marked dance was "surprisingly appealing." A 5 from Craig; and Ann has got a 3 at the most.

Yes well done James! imho it's only the people that have no interest in dancing that are voting for the immovable two, plus our own WUM's.

James is consistent and fearless. He did not invoke the Nuremburg defence "I was just following orders." Democracy and the silent majority need the fearless to speak for them.

Bravo James.

Chris was more than entertaining in the charleson showdance, he had good musical timing and the spirit of the festive showdance to a tee. He was uncomfortable and constipated in the slow and graceful ballroom dances. But champion Mark Ramprakash came apart in his foxtrot and danced the quickstep like a Chieftain tank. Finalist Matt di A ended his foxtrot in meltdown. Tom performed a rousing showdance perfect for the occasion but his earlier latin was as scrappy as his gurning. Very few celebs have been all-rounders, and Chris made more progress starting from low down than Ricky did starting from high up.

James speaks his mind. At the time of his fierce opposition to John Sergeant staying he did not mind revealing on ITT the info that his wife Ola was for John. You know where you stand with James.

Chris might not have been the best dancer but he wass appealing in his nature and also he could dance. His rumba (the first dance) was excellent. He got 26 from the judges which is great for the first week. Several of his dances got good marks although some were a bit lack lustre!

Soulmate / Gill,

I fully understand the "rightness" of Chris winning, but James' argument is a bit simplistic. What he really means is that the viewers can vote how they like but they shouldn't vote for someone whose dancing skills are below a certain acceptable level.

This seems entirely reasonable, but how do you define the minimum acceptable level of dancing skills? Ann has some - she seems to be able to remember her (admittedly limited) steps and interacts with her partner, for example - although not many. If she just stood in the middle of the floor and ignored Anton, I doubt many would be voting for her.

The balance between dance skills and entertainment is far too subjective to make a robust comparison between two couple who are clearly not the best of their year. Thus, ultimately you have to conclude that the right result (or the least definitely wrong result) is the one that the public votes for. Personally, I find Anton dancing round Ann more entertaining than Chris trying to dance well with Ola, not that I've voted for her I hasten to add!

Surely that's quite simple - people who actually bother to try! I don't think it's so much about achieving a minimum level of dance quality (and to be honest I don't think James necessarily meant that either), it's about someone who has respect for the show as a show about learning to dance ending up as the winner, which would not be the case if (god forbid) Ann won. She doesn't even try to correct simple things like her posture or her footwork in the basic steps, which most people could do after a few dance lessons with a teacher as competent as Anton.

James, like the rest of the professionals, has a vast knowledge of dance, and to them it's an art as well as a career (Ola said something to that effect not so long ago), so what they respect is people who respect their art, and their experience and knowledge. Ann does not do that, otherwise she'd dance proper steps and actually attempt to improve, as the vast majority of contestants do.

Well done James, when the Mail and Sun pick up on his comments, she will be pretty much guaranteed a place in the final.

He just played straight into her hands. ' Bravo James'

Which all sounds perfectly reasonable until you remember that James threw all his toys out of his pram 2 years ago over JS....

But Ann makes JS look like Ricky Whittle ...

Kenny made JS look like Ricky Whittle, but he didn't have a word to say about his wife's dancing partner that year.

It seems to me that 'James speaks the truth' when it suits him.

Hmm..

James may now get "the gypsy's warning" from the BBC. He and Ola are probably as popular now with the public as was Darren and Lilia "and looked what happened to them!"
The BBC don't like the pros outshining the "Z-listers."

They could be gone next year.

Hence my suggestion of a career in the diplomatic service!

Completely agree with that! I like James, but when he was with Cherie, it was "about the dancing" then last year it wasn't, then this year it is strangely is again!

John actually tried to dance, he just really wasn't very good at all, that doesn't invalidate what I said. John is in a whole different league to Ann, he at least had some respect for the dance!


Kenny was a lot better that John - his American Smooth for example. That has nothing to do with the fact he was partnered by Ola.

His opinion means nothing considering he was quite happy for the less than excellent dancer that was Chris to take the trophy.

And you can read minds too.How do you know what James meant?

The difference with this years duffer is that she is not trying to dance at all.

Until the week he left Kenny had only been dead bottom of the leader board once ... and often wasn't even in the bottom 2 ... and on his only trip to the dance off in the first week, he was saved by the Judges. He managed a highest score of 30 - that puts him dizzy heights above Ann.

Well ofcourse he is completely correct it IS Anton thats keeping them in because I cant stand her but he makes me laugh every week (not voting for them before you all jump on me and want them gone THIS week please) Anton also has a media company working for him that are pumping the stories out there.

I do think James has a bit of a problem with his dancing v entertainment theory because of Chris last year but as a Chris supporter I absolutely refute that Chris was in anyway the same as Ann or John or Chris Parker etc he could dance and dance quite well as shown in his Rumba and Tango at the beginning of the show, he then had a complete nightmare for several weeks but he could dance he just wasnt the best dancer in his series. However he did have the humility to think he perhaps shouldnt have won a dancing contest over Ricky but thats because the public took him to their hearts. I am not convinced that the voting for Ann has quite the same love behind it.

I like James always have done so good on him.