Pasha Kovalev replaces Jared.

Dance troupe axed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pre...strictly.shtml

I said this all along that Pasha would join!

I knew it!

I wonder whats happening to dear Ian Waite no place in the pro line up and no dance troupe this year so looks like we have lost Ian

Pasha seems to have a decent dance pedigree this time thankfully. BUT whilst he is certainly pretty to look at I stillcant get past the loss of our two beautiful blonds! I miss Ian but mostly miss the class, and talent of Matt! Oh and the fact he is just plain hot!!!

Good news that the hardly-used dance troupe won't be returning. Such a waste of money ! And I think it's good that the BBC are making these announcements early this year.

Jared staying wouldn't have bothered me but I can understand how his presence in the line-up might have grated, especially with fans of those axed last year.

Both decisions appear sound: almost no-brainers really (assuming Pasha is up-to-scratch).

Pasha videos:

Pasha & Anya's audition for SYTYCD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31uBh...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DBJR...eature=related (Burn The Floor)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYwce...eature=related (dirty boogie from BTF)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E81hcQQRm5s (his AT with Lauren on SYTYCD)

Not bad.....

Better than Jared certainly.

and a video from DWTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xurxn7Xpf8s&feature=fvsr

Pasha is great. I watched that series of So You Think You Can Dance and he has a lovely personality, a lot of flair and a cheeky smile.

woo hoo Brendan's back

Would sooner have had Ian or Mathew instead of Robin ..... won't miss Jared. I suppose this new guy is the BBC's atttempt and "sexing it up" again....

Do I detect a hint of cynism there Horwich?

Gutted for the dance troupe. I would have loved Ian, Darren, Lilia and Matthew (I know them two quit) back. Although it's good they kept lots of the pro's on. Jared really didn't make much of an impact so not surprising he's gone.

Just a little bit .... it didn't work last year, and it won't work this year, but hey-ho!!

I don't understand why they haven't asked Ian back. He and Natalie make the best pro couple imo and are still doing shows together. Also I thought Anton & Erin were struggling to keep up with pro dances last year so had expected it would be their time to go.

In your opinion, I supposed. Artem was lusted by many, many forumites here and he won last year's series. I hope Pasha has a good personality. He certainly danced very well (the AT was amazing) and will give Vincent Simone a run for his money.

quite annoyed they axed both jarred and the troupe as jarred was quite fit lol but im worried for scd this year neway as like bb before it change sister show host loses appeal .

Yay, someone who's actually hot. Never got the Artem fuss. Speaking of Artem, hope he gets someone quite weak this series to see what his patience is like.

Happy to see Aliona, Ola, Katya, Vincent, Flavia and Robin returning! Pity about Jared, I liked him. And Darren, my fave pro of all time, being completely axed is sad but not unexpected and probably better for his dignity.

Anton, wtf.

I've not watched any of the new guys videos yet, but most sound pretty impressed with him I'm so glad Vincent and Flavia are back most of all, but like everyone else, sorry that Ian and Matthew aren't included


I am looking forward to another series kicking off though, and with this pro line up that we are quite familiar with, am hoping for lots of good pro routines each week

So that means that there's now 2 male pros who participated in the US version of SYTYCD - Pasha is one, Artem the other; neither of them won.

Wonder if in the future they might get some of the participants from the UK version? Doesn't seem possible, as I can't remember any dancer who was trained in ballroom (think Stephanie from the second series was a Latin specialist) - would be nice though.

What have people on here got against Robin? I thought he was fantastic last year.

Yeyy happy Pasha is joining us, i've watched a few of his videos on Youtube before from SYTYCD and he seems a lot like Artem, i really hope he gets at least a half decent female in the first series like Artem got with Kara

This is by far my favourite dance Pasha did on SYTYCD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX6Om...eature=related

I'm not I can't raise much interest in the new pro's, all the judges bar one got right up my nose last year- as did Brucie and Tess - and I have a violent aversion to all the props and faffing abaht that rendered an awful lot of the routines last year unrecognizable to me...

Oh, and I haven't even got the consolation of Clauds on ITT this year either...It doesn't leave me a lot to look forward to, does it?

I'm reserving judgement and waiting for the celebrities.

I'll be honest, I watch mainly to see the celebrities dancing.

If Sue Perkins signs up this series will automatically be the best series ever.

I still can't get my head around Matt and Ian being dismissed the way they were. They have always got the best out of their partners and have remained popular. I'd swap James/Anton/Brendan for them in a heartbeat.

A warm welcome to Pasha though. I'm excited to see what he can do