I agree with this.

I cannot abide this American trend of 'celebrating Heroes' in this sickly sweet way.

I worked with a Nurse who has saved more lives than anyone I know and continued to do so no matter how ill she felt herself. Should she be on the show too?

There is a place for such things......Big Brother and DoI are not them.

Well put.

There are currently 6 living recipients of the VC.

For what it's worth, my comments extend to those people who have received the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross and Military Cross too - generally they'd rather keep it quiet and get on with their job than make sure the world knows about it by accepting an invitation onto Dancing on Ice!

A soldier decorated with the Victoria Cross and a reality TV programme just shouldn't ever mix. If people want to appreciate VC recipients they shouldn't have to put Dancing on Ice on.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for Johnson Beharry VC but would rather see him in other areas of TV.

Totally. I know someone who has an MC. I only know this because I asked what the medal ribbon on his uniform was for.

A VC being awarded to a living serviceman is always going to attract a lot of media attention. I don't think there is an option to tick the no publicity box.

That's as maybe but it is a skating competition and he cannot skate. I hope he goes out tonight and goes back to what he is best at.

I suspect that (if he's like other gallantry award winners) he keeps it pretty quiet other than when he's specifically asked about it. Most award winners are actually a little embarassed when questioned - they don't see what they've done that that others don't do every day. I guess that as part of the show he was told to push the VC as his sole reason for being asked onto the show.

Theres is also one living recipient each of the Victoria Cross for Australia and the Victoria Cross for New Zealand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Donaldson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Apiata

He did say he was doing it to show what can be done after all that had happened to him. And to inspire his colleagues.

Maybe he, and the Army, see it as a way of promoting what happens to injured soldiers, and the horrific injuries they have to face. And how well they do face them, and how brave our soldiers are.

I'd rather have a million Johnson Beharry's than one of last years disabled contestant

He's one of 6 living recipients actually and is the youngest to have recieved it and he's giving his fee for the show to Help the Heroes..

An inspirational man undoubtedly, but weak on the ice - both skating and performance-wise

I can see what you mean BUT in this day and age of reality TV where the people our youth "aspire to be" are created, then having someone like Johnson Beharry VC can only be a good thing. At least this publicises his bravery to a much wider audience and may inspire someone to become a better person because of it. Worth a try... and anyway if he wants to skate, I say let him skate, he deserves it.

I never vote week one but I did tonight for Johnson.

I think he showed promise - like the judges said he really seemed to lead his partner (who I also liked). I would never vote for someone just because they had a sob story.

As he said, he wants to show other people who have had grave injuries from war just what they can acheive.

Why shouldn't we see someone with a VC on mainstream TV? It makes a refreshing change - these are the types of people who deserve public attention,

I'm afraid I agree that if having a VC is to mean anything then appearing on a 'reality'show with so called 'celebrities' like Chloe Madeley and Elen Rives should not be encouraged.

The real issue of course is how celebrity has become so dumbed down and that the afore-mentioned can be considered as such...........it really is becoming a meaningless and dirty word that no self respecting 'famous' person would want anything to do with.

she was married to him so what else was she meant to do

It all seemed a little bit X Factor Sob story, cheap and tacky to me.

The show is about pointless celebrities with careers going downwards using the show as one last chance for fame, rather than bring the show up, I think it pulls the VC down.

I think it is a refreshing change to see someone who has not become famous/known for their drug habits, bed partners and scandals.

He deserves to be there...good luck to the guy.

I agree. My 4 year old asked what the Victoria Cross was. A much better question to answer than 'what's Nuts Magazine, what's a WAG?

The army really only employs him on a PR basis now & he is also an ambassador for Help For Heroes. If he is doing this show to raise awareness of the plight of injured service personnel then I have no objections. It was inevitable that his VT was going to focus on his expoits in Iraq but I'm sure in future weeks that this won't be the case.

Also he was far from being the worst tonight. He was much better than Stephen, Angela & Nadia and unlike Kerry he has shown he can skate on his own. Based on the VT & also reading Jodeyne's blog he wasn't a natural on the ice to begin with so they have understandably put a lot of work in on his basic skating skills and I think it's paying off. I think he has potential to improve more & hopefully he can improve on the performance side of things too. My hunch is he will improve & will stay around for a while but don't see him making the final.

I wonder how much he'll abuse his war hero status on the programme in order to garner viewer votes despite being quite average.:sleep:

Since when has dancing on ice been about promoting good causes? It's a reality skating show!

Since when has DOI been about real celebrities?

I'd rather meet this brave and hard working man then a WAG that's for sure. If someone has to 'deserve' fame then surely driving a vehicle while under heavy fire and whilst critically injured counts as something deserving of fame.

And the progress he made from his VT to the show was fantastic. He deserves to be there and he certainly wasn't the worst skater.

[quote=Eviesmum;47219074]He's one of 6 living recipients actually and is the youngest to have recieved it and he's giving his fee for the show to Help the Heroes..[/QUOTE]

If that's the case then I think it's a good thing he's there as it's only benefiting a good cause. Just does seem a bit strange to have a 'celebrity war hero'. think of a war hero as completely seperate to a 'celebrity', in the same way I wouldnt consider someone who has found a cure for a fatal illness as a 'celeb'. He wasnt too bad though, the way they were talking I thought he'd have trouble just standing on the ice but he was actually very steady - the main problem was his stiffness which is quite hard to fix, I cant see him ever being able to do completely fluid movements with his arms but I can definitely see him tackling some lifts!

I didn't say it was about real celebrities. It's about skating and dancing and is admittedly quite superficial, not good causes or charity being rammed down our throats. IMO it's about light entertainment, i don't want to hear how brave or courageous he was every time I sit down to watch. And yes I know someone is going to use the argument 'if you don't want to then switch off'