The eyes were filling up, the lip was trembling, the throat quivering and the voice wobbling. It looked like Matt was about 3 seconds away from a good ole waaaaaaaaaaaaah last night. So......a cynical piece of acting designed to induce the maternal sympathy vote or genuine emotional distress?

If acted, does the end justify the means?

If genuine, was this somewhat of an over-reaction?

Would be interested to know what people think.......

Well I for one was gutted for him. I'm supposed to be going out early tonight but am going to wait for the voting to start before I go so I can throw a vote or 2 in for him.

P.S. Kara is my favorite, so need to vote for her as well.

But did you think he looked like he was about to burst into tears?

So basically, negative thread title and two negative outcomes whether it is genuine or acted.

I'm adding an option 3 - Genuine and absolutely acceptable.

Boo hoo hoo is neither negative nor positive it is merely the noise one makes when crying.

Yes I did.

He seemed so shocked and disappointed, that I felt really sorry for him. And I don't even particularly like him.

Yes he is desperate to win so I think he is ruthless enough.


If you are a fan well I suppose so


I dont think Matt has had much criticism in his life. It came as a shock that the judges dont see his greatness.

I think the severity of the criticism was completely unexpected, and actually quite unusual to have all four judges turn against you - usually if one says something severe the next says something a bit more upbeat.

How would you feel if you were subjected to some quite harsh criticism which you felt was unfair on a live television in front of millions of people?

I think his reaction was completely real and completely justified.

I agree with option three.

I found it difficult to watch and turned my face away he was clearly upset.

Wasn't he a gymnast before going into presenting?

I'm sure he's had plenty of criticism in both spheres. TV is a very harsh world.

I'd be more inclined to get the teeth and claws out, but I'm a vicious bugger.

Surely the entertainment biz is quite cut-throat, aren't performers usually quite thick-skinned about criticism and rejection?

I think it was genuine but we are not habitually on TV: he is. Contestants have had far worse things said to them so he should be a bit more resilient given his involvement with the media. It'll swell the sympathy vote though.

I thought Matt looked genuinely shocked and upset. And his reaction was understandable because although the judges were quite right in what they were saying, they were relentless (purposefully in my opinion to cause an extra stir amongst viewers and get us talking and sympathising).

The trouble is, I don't think the judges have been critical enough of Matt in the past which sort of created a false sense of security. And on occasions when they did impart advice, Aliona just chose to ignore it. If the judges had been more honest and Aliona less stubborn, Matt's dancing might have progressed more and he might have put in a better performance last night and avoided such a barrage of criticism.

I think his reaction was real and not 'acted'. However I do think he should have taken it better, the judges have said some vile vile things to people over the years so its really nothing new and most people just suck it up and shrug their shoulders which is all you can do really. Aliona should have said something but didnt not infront of the judges and not infront of Tess , but the judges comments should have been directed at her anyway.

Matt is I am afraid taking this all far far too seriously, everyone wants to win but its not life and death is it. I dont think he is used to criticism by the look of it but the fact that he got such criticism is down the Aliona not him she left him exposed to it and frankly I am suprised it didnt happen a few weeks ago, in fact I think it should have.

Agree with both Sid and Jan: spot on.

I think it was genuine and I feel sorry for him

Goodness knows how he'd have reacted if Len had said: "You hated it; I hated it; we all hated it" as he did to Gavin after the jive.
Last edited by ilovesooty : 11-12-2010 at 16:30

I agree with you there Sid, I however saw anger from Matt as well as sadness and as you say it was suprisisng time for the judges to be so hard on them

It would have been better if they could have been a bit more positive to all the contestants , who after all have got to the semi final whether on dancing or popularity

Instead of which we had the same old over praising of Pamela and Scott and the over pickiness towards Gavin , Kara and Matt

Matts dance wasn't the best but there was no need to go at him quite so badly , Gavin had very good hip action and this was not acknowleged and Kara was denied the 40 about a foot off floor instance ( which really when you think about Ann flying is farcicle ) not to mention the fact that Pamela stumbles last week and still got 40.

I dont know what the judges are hoping to engineer but this year it has been so obvious that some can do no wrong and others can do no right

Hello gorgeous xx


I feel sorry for Matt. She is talented & works hard but is up against Aliona.

I think you (and others) are reading too much into it.
He was surprised at the judges reaction, and who can blame him ? Aliona had probably been telling him all week that he had "cracked it". I don't think he was near tears, just genuinely bemused..like the rest of us.
I think it's more interesting to question the judges' motives. Len started, with a face like thunder. I wondered what the hell Matt had done, sexually molested his granddaughter or something ? The others followed like sheep, it's rare to see the judges so unananimous in their disapproval..even rarer to see their marks coincide uniformly. If I didn't know better, I might suggest there was a "cunning plan" involved.

He was the frontrunner and bookies favourite from week 1 and carrying the burden of expectations. He did everything asked of him then 4 judges gave him unanimous disapproval in front of 13 million. At this late stage with very little time to regroup and re-arm why shouldn't he be surprised and dismayed? In that kind of situation standing in front of the world, I cannot recall any previous celeb who wasn't supported by a protective partner with a warm cuddle.

Emotionally exhausted, it was to the credit of this couple that they then came out and gave their all in the physically shattering swingathon, nearly winning.

If there's a "cunning plan" it's to whip up public outrage/sympathy to make sure the show remains high in the ratings. And it's working.

Yes, because Lord knows this discussion isn't absurdly ratty enough without bringing the rape of children into it.

Len was a grumpy sod, Matt was a bit whingy, calling either of their reactions particularly ridiculous after a cursory viewing of the Internet seems a bit silly.

I honestly thought he was going to start crying at one point in the Tesspit, perhaps that was just my perception of it but there was definite quivering going on.


But how unneccessary if so. He was already the bookies favourite, why try and engineer a sympathy vote? Not exactly as cunning as a fox who's been to Cunning University and done a Phd in cunning?