http://www.dailystar.co.uk/dancingon...hances-ruined/

The Star has an excellent record for accuracy in these things ie they are the favoured choice for press office "leaks".

Kind of obvious he was going to top the votes when it was revealed he was taking part.

I would say Denise is probably 2nd in the vote too

Assuming this is correct - and of course we have no way of knowing if it is or not until the figures are released - it doesn't really surprise me.

If you look at this year's front runners in terms of ability they would not have come into the competition with fan base as they are not as well known as the likes of Hayley and Chris (soap "stars") and Ray and Suzanne (reality TV singers). This year we have

Chloe - started with a mountain to climb as a lot of people were a little resentful that she is only famous because of her famous parents

Sam - a short forgettable stint in Eastenders, not a big personality and relying on his fauxmance to raise our interest

Laura - completely unknown to the majority of viewers. She was the stand out skater in her first week but still ended up in the skate off. The OTT kids presenter persona probably didn't help but I think people have warmed to her since.

Then you have the "personalities"

Jeff - cannot put into words how much I loathe Jeff after his stint on the show, having previously thought he was a decent guy. Scripted "banter", ridiculous stories about how he can lick his penis and now suddenly deciding to talk to the media about his kids (the ones he wanted to keep completely out of the public eye) and some sour grapes about not being invited to go on the tour ... oh look I managed to put it into words after all!

Comedy Dave - a skating (badly) oxymoron

Denise - poor skating and lots of preconceptions about her as an attention seeking lush. The Loose Women vote will see her doing quite well but unlike the saccharine sweet Colleen she has probably attracted enough negative attention to stop some people voting for her

Vanilla Ice - I love him but again he would come into the competition not particularly well known (apart from "that" song) - he's the one who best combines personality with competent skating but the skating probably isn't quite good enough and the personality not quirky enough for him to run away with it

That leaves Johnson - although he's not a celebrity, his achievements are more worth celebrating than the rest of this year's nonentities. The only really big name he was up against was Kerry and she is more infamous than famous. He is overcoming his disability to put in competent performances (and is not a national hate figure like Heather Mills). Throw in a few negative comments from the judges (all deserved) and some outraged reactions from Karen. I'd hate to see him win as I'd rather it was about the skating when we get down to the business end of the competition, but I can understand why he picks up votes and don't really think a potential winner has gone at his expense. Yet. If the bottom 2 was Vanilla Ice vs Laura then I might feel a bit differently but Denise and Jeff should go before him.

I would agree with that.

Johnson won't win, he'll go in the quater or semi final. People see he is training, not making excuses and not holding anything back, that's why he tops the votes. Heroic in more than one sense.

All credit to Johnson. He's done very well on the show in more ways than one but I'd be sorry to see him knock out one of the top four (Laura, Sam, Chloe, Vanilla). Unless, of course, he improves so much he reaches their skating standard. I doubt it tho.

I get the feeling as well that Johnson is only competing against himself and the limitations caused by his injuries (if that makes sense!) - rather than looking at the programme as a way to kickstart or resurrect a media career. And that makes him massively preferable to the rest.

As Heather's achievements would have inspired other amputees (and I think she had a very good run on the show considering how much people despise her), Johnson is inspirational and that is at least as good a reason to throw a vote his way than voting for Denise (for example) because you like her on TV.

Theres nothing like the sympathy vote, is there?

what a kick in the nuts it must be for him to know he could only win through getting it

and this may be the reason why he's on tour

Any idea who may have stopped him topping the vote the week he didn't win? I imagine he has been comfortably top since Jason & Karen's row, he probably won the qualifier with the 'you're a hero' comment and Jason's harsh words. That leaves either week 3 or 4..perhaps Sam?

I'm surprised Chloe has avoided the skate off so far, he public support must be higher than a couple of the others. Then again, last week was the first time she was in real danger since the qualifier and Kerry and Jeff were below her on the judges leaderboard.

I thought maybe Sam's Musical week performance, but if the Star is right, his votes aren't too hot. Maybe Kerry one week, for er to have avoided the S.O for so long?

How depressing. Obviously we don't know for sure that these figures are genuine - but I somehow suspect that they are.

That said I have no sympathy for Sam at all, serves him right for being such a plonker! I just hope some of the people who were supporting him have switched to Laura, Chloe or Vanilla as I'd be quite happy to see any of those win.

The thing that makes me wonder whether this is the case is that for the last 2 weeks Johnson has been left until very late in the list to announce as "safe". Now I know this is supposed to be "no particular order" but if he is miles ahead in the voting, then I would have thought the producers would announce him fairly early on. I would expect that despite the claim it's no particular order, having your favourite announced as through to next week so near to the end would inspire people who vote to pick up the phone even more so why not mix it up a bit more?

Agreed. But the fact he was supposedly beaten one week according to this leak suggests to me that he is beatable & also that he's likely to get to the quarter or semi final but no further. One of the top skaters will triumph in the end I am sure.

If Sam has lost support no sympathy from me - silly boy should have let his skating do the talking.

Hear.hear.
hes likeable but utterly boring.
shame on the people voting for him and Denise Squelch.
i do agree that Sam is coming across as desperate and a bit unsporting so im not surprised hes not getting the votes.

Some of us regard it as an admiration vote and I'm sure Johnson knows this.

I'm sure some voters could find negativity about any skater left in the competition - your own favourite included.

Do you feel any shame about the support of your chosen contestant?: I certainly don't feel any embarrassment about casting a vote for Johnson and find the suggestion that I should do so extremely offensive.

People assume Johnson will be bottom 3 as he is bottom 3 with the judges - doesn't mean he is though.

The producers may actually want him to win - as it gives good publicity to the show!

Its peoples motives for voting that i question,,,its not like its a "joke"vote as in people keeping in Coleen Nolan or Ann Widdecombe or Wagner.
this is however a skating competition not a Mr nice guy contest..i like Johnson the man but not Johnson the skater..he just doesnt excite me to watch.
people are entitled to vote for who they want of course but i think some peoples reasons for voting do make a mockery of the show.
its a moot point anyway because i cant see him winning.
by the way if he was in a final 3 with Sam and Laura hed get my vote at least hes modest and not over competitive.

There's more than one skater left in the competition who don't engage me but I wouldn't question the motives of their supporters in keeping them in and I certainly don't think they should feel shame.

I don't think he'll win though I'm hopeful we'll see him for at least a couple of weeks more. Of one thing I'm certain when he does go it will be with the same dignity and modesty he's shown throughout the series.

I agree hes very dignified and seems modest.
and thats a nice quality,i have no problem with him being in for a couple more weeks..in fact aside from Vanilla and Chloe hes probably my third choice,because hes a likeable guy.

You say that it's a skating competition and therefore people's vote should be based on this? Yet in a final you'd vote for him over Sam & Laura who are undoubtedly better skaters. Not being consistent there are you.

I think he will - from what I have heard he has a very good tango routine - and a massive manouvre at the end of it - that only Chris and Jayne have ever done on the show. I hear he is confident about nailing it as well. He may well outscore Denise who has the Samba and Jeff who has the Viennese Waltz

Any predictions/inside knowledge about running order tonight. Can I take a guess

at this

Sam
Denise
Vanilla Ice
Laura
Jeff
Chloe
Johnson

The big unknown is Denise. Doing better than Coleen and improving, plus a similar ITV fan base might add up to a vote.

We know Jeff is in trouble, Vanilla has been . According to this, Sam has 8% which is less than an average of the vote shared between 8 and means hisother 8% has gone somewhere else along with the vote for anyone who has gone. .

We could have Denise beating everyone one week or high up - or, if the report is true and true about Sam, we could have Laura's vote reflecting her performance and her already beating Johnson once.

You might for example have Laura, Johnson, Denise, Chloe, Sam, Vanilla, Jeff as the voting order 7-1 which combined with a judges points score of 7, 1, 2, 3 ,6,5 and 4 would give Laura 14, Sam 9, Johnson 7, Denise 7, Chloe 7, Vanilla 7, Jeff 5 . That might end up in a semi where Johnson goes out or not.

There's a lot to play for between Chloe, Jeff and Vanilla as their mark order is crucial. There's also Denise in there complicating things if she is anywhere in the top 3.

Week 1 Abigail said on here that Jeff topped the poll that week. Since then he has run into trouble- and so now has Sam. This is what I think the vote is going like

1. Johnson
2. Denise
3. Laura
4. Vanilla Ice
5. Sam
6. Chloe
7. Jeff

If this was the result who would go into the skate off with Jeff?