Was it just me or were the other pros and celebrities rather sour-faced when Matt and Aliona were being interviewed by Tess after their last two dances? The contrast with their reaction to Kara and Artem was quite marked.

I was a Matt supporter but am not unhappy with the final result as Kara was always my second favourite.

Gavin and Ann said they wanted him to win and Matt is good friends with Kara.

Let's hope they like him as a few are going on tour with him

Jelluz hatahs!!

i don't know, I think it was a couple of things - Matt probably spent more time away, maybe the others met up but Matt was working.

I also think a lot of the others felt quite maternal/paternal towards Artem and Kara and so they were more supportive and I just think Kara is the type of person that inspires that sort of feeling in you.

Matt was older, quieter, more self-contained. less needy but that's the wrong word. I don't think Kara means to be needy and needy's not the right word, but you feel protective of her.

I also think Kara and Artem had more drama going on around them with Artem's injury, how uncomortable they were with all the showmance stuff, how sweet and kind she seems and maybe it's easier to gush over her.

I don't think the others disliked Matt though.

NO.

It was so obvious after they came off of the dance floor, far more whooping and banter for Kara than for Matt from all of the other dancers. I think his desperation attempts to win (cleared my calender etc), mixed with his weepy emotional pleas lost him a lot of support.

I didn't really notice, but I always got the impression there was great cameraderie between them all, especially between the last 3 men in the competition.

Maybe it was more marked after K & A because it was the last dance, Artem was getting emotional so there was teasing about that, there is the mickey taking about their 'relationship' and possibly they were relieved she got through it with her injury.

I don't think it was anything out of place if there was a difference

ETA I think Artem may be closer to the other Pros than Aliona though, but thats just my opinion

And Kara fans are complaining that Matt fans are bitter

Several celebs have quoted over the years (Tom the most recent) that a lot of the camaraderie (sorry for spelling) is fake and just playing up to the cameras anyway. I saw no difference in the reactions myself but of course Kara got more whoops, she'd just won for pity's sake!.

It was before they won, I believe the OP means when they came off after dancing the AS.

ETA I do think MrsArmitage is right though and Artem was really close to a lot of the men, both celebs and pros. He seemed particularly close to James and Gavin and obviously lives with Robin.

She hadn't just won. This was the reaction at the top of the stairs after both of their dances in the second half of the final. I just sensed that the other couples seemed unusually subdued and unsmiling after Matt's performances.

Ok, thanks for that. I still didn't notice much of a difference though. Maybe they just preferred Kara's dance It was more of a 'wow' type finishing dance than Matt's VW and it was the very last dance as well.

There may also be a bit of tall poppy syndrome - Matt is successful, self assured with a career mapped out - his commitments probably did not leave him much time to play with the boys and as a result he was a bit outside the group.

Well judging by that rumba they are very close indeed

I'd be happy to see artem close to James and Robin ha ha

Maybe it was just me. I didn't get the sense that the other couples overreacted to Kara and Artem, just that there tends to be a good atmosphere after all the dances throughout the series but after Matt's final two dances the other couples didn't even raise a smile which is strange for Strictly.

We do know that Matt and his wife get on very very well with Kara and Artem, that's been confirmed by an external source. Matt also appeared to get on well with James and Scott from the boys. Aliona and Robin seem to get on well on twitter as well.

I loved Artem and James rumba

I forgot, I spotted Aliona and Robin holding hands on the show one week, think it was the week before Blackpool

Gernally though there always seems to be more cameraderie between the male pros than the women although I know from Twitter that Erin and Camilla are very friendly

I noticed the difference in reactions alright, but I'd say all of the above is pretty likely.

Maybe it's just as simple as Artem and Kara moving all of them in the same way that they moved a lot of the rest of us. It must be electric to watch them live.

Sometimes Matt gets negative comments from the judges which must be really awkward as you don't know what to say to him, whereas Kara tended to get mostly brilliant comments and so they were swept away in the Tesspitt too.

Matt had three problems: Aliona, Aliona, Aliona.

I did notice that too. Maybe they knew Kara was injured very badly and was dancing through the pain. So the extra encouragement for her. And she did marvellously despite her pain. She could have nailed that waltz, but couldn't extend her arms to finish the lines and I saw her wobble. So those tens were 'eh?' for me even as I speak as Kara's supporter!

Thank goodness I managed to throw some votes in Kara's way after the phone lines reopened. When I tried before 8:30, I couldn't even get through!

There was clearly a lot of support for Kara and Artem from the pros and the other celebrities before the final. There are several possible reasons for this, the most obvious one (Occam's Razor) being that the consensus of opinion is that they were the better dancers and deserved to win.

That's particularly likely for the pros, who are unlikely to give a toss about 'journeys', or whether they have fond memories of Blue Peter; they would be more inclined to make a judgement based on pure dancing ability because that's their own area of expertise. I don't think many would deny that Kara is the best technician among the celebs.

But, if you'll forgive me coming over all Doctor Pam, I think there might be a psychological reason why Kara's fellow celeb contestants favoured her. They were all (with the exception of Pamela) eliminated by a combination of judges' votes and public vote. Their own self-esteem would require them, however subconsciously, to want to believe they had been eliminated not because the public didn't like them, but because their dancing wasn't up to standard (not their fault, in other words). Therefore, they would have a greater respect for good dancing rather than 'niceness' in order to justify their own elimination. The only exception to this is Widdy, who has made no secret about her preference for Matt, but the only reason she stayed in for so long was because of public support, so she is psychologically bound to think that popularity is more important than dancing ability.

Btw, I read that Gavin has said in other media that he wanted Kara to win, but was 'pressured' by the BBC to support Matt publicly on TV.

It did seem a bit weird
Every other week there has been loads of support for Kara and Matt. They both seem to be well liked, and this series there was a lot of cameraderie, which seemed genuine to me (and usually I am quite good at spotting fakeness).

Maybe they were more subdued for Matt because he was quite quiet and didn't show a big reaction himself. Also, I am sure they sensed that Kara was going to win.

Kara and Artem did the last ever dance, got really emotional and had the whole "romance" thing that they always got teased for

I know for a fact Aliona gets on with a lot of the pros so I don't think it is anything to do with that.

But even if some of them did dislike Matt, it wouldn't changed my judgement that he is a nice guy. In life, there are lovely people who are unfairly hated and complete arseholes who are liked by nice people. It is odd

I think if there was an atmosphere it was probably like people say Matt was hardly ever around. It seemed to me that him Scott and Gavin got on very well!

I agree the pros probably will have wanted Kara to win.

Also I think because Kara was streets ahead of all the other girls their was female solidarity behind her whereas with the men it was much more competitive!

I don't think there is anything sinister going on. I also would think that Aliona gets on with the other pros very well as she seems lovely, she's not uppity or false, I imagine she makes most people she meets laugh and have fun! You can tell this from all her interviews!

I have to say that as a huge Kara fan and a not so keen on Matt person I thought it was my imagination but I re-watched my recording last night (as I never enjoy it until I know the result) and in the second part of the final when it was just Matt and Kara the reactions in the Tessanine were very very odd........Matt got applause and was greeted at the top of the stairs but then they soon went back to just sitting and listening. When Kara and Artem came up they were almost mobbed and the pro/celebs were calling out and giving verbal support. I dont personally think this was because of any anti Matt/Aliona feeling but perhaps just a lot of love for Kara and Artem, but it was very noticable. She had also injured her arm and was obviously in a lot of pain, so this could have also been a factor in trying to spur her on.....I wonder how close she came to not being able to carry on.