Wasn't it in week 9 she walked out on him?
Week 7 she was in tears.

Indeed and she frequently appears at his studio shows

I don't really care about Rob because the final is really between JR and Ricki, but Hope's attitude stank and I'd have begrudged her a place over Rob who was good on the night.

I thought Kirstie did threaten to quit, but she patched things up with Maks and they got on with it. They are certainly friends now, but whether that's more for work purposes or not, I don't know. Maks squabbled with Brandy the whole time and think that is the main reason they were voted off in the semi-final. Also, Hollywood is all about knowing people and I doubt you will get many celebs who won't call someone they worked with a friend, so I'd take it with a pinch of salt that Maks is still friends with Denise and Debi - not sure about Tia.

As far as I'm aware he does still socialise with Kirstie not just in a work sense and the same goes for Brandy, Denise and Mel B,I've also seen pictures of him out with Tia.Debi still tweets with Maks whether that can be called a basis for a friendship is admitedly up for debate I can only judge that by my own standards and know if I disliked someone I wouldn't bother. I know he has said (after the Kirstie season) that he was lucky in that he retained contact with (at that time)7 out of his 9 previous celeb partners and that there were some partnerships on the show that never wanted to see each other ever again (and not necessarily the ones you would imagine)

Hollywood is about knowing people ,it also about gossip and rumour mongering. Maks ,whatever his faults,usually strikes me as being pretty honest(perhaps to a fault)about things.

Yes I am a Maks fan so I'm likely to defend him but I also don't like to see reputations being judged on so little a basis.I would defend Derek/Mark (and you know I'm not keen on him at all)Karina (who if you judge by whats out there has an awful reputation in relationships with partners..personally I don't buy that but thats a whole different argument) in the same circumstances.

Yes I think he has been a bit of jerk this series,he hasn't gelled well with Hope imo,whether or not they remain in contact after who knows,I think she brought the worst out in him.Think he should take a break from the series,he doesn't need it(and to be fair the show doesn't need him)

JR for the win (and I'm certainly feeling more passionately involved with this show!)

(Ps hope that didn't sound too sharp as we've said before we all come from different perspectives and I respect whichever direction anyone is coming from...unless they are motorway related of course )

Just dared to go US boards and found this quite interesting I hope the person I've quoted is ok with this,just felt it offered a different perspective which we don't always see

Not sharp at all (I hope you didn't get that from my post either because it wasn't intended) and if I were a a fan, I'd be right there showing a different side too!

Maks definitely seems to me to be is a 'heart on your sleeve' guy and what you see is what you get. I have no doubt that Derek and some of the other pros play a smarter game on the show than Maks too. I might be moaning like mad about the SCD producers stage-managing the competition, but on a show like DWTS where big money is involved, it must be at least 10 times worse.

Derek and Kym are up there amongst my favourite pros on DTWS, but maybe they wouldn't be if I posted on the US board you quote from, because the examples you give are pretty awful. So the producers are doing a great job at stage-managing on DWTS and I should remember that!

It's such a shame that there is no ITT equivalent for DWTS, but this season I have started following a YT subscriber who up loads all the clips from just after the show and TV appearances. These have been quite eye-opening and I wish I'd done this before.

Every year I want to see Maks do well and actually win because he is such a fantastic dancer and he pulls out some fantastic routines, but I get the feeling this is his last season and that's such a shame.

He's portrayed as the bad boy of DWTS and it's too late to change that now, no matter how bad the other pros might really be. I so wish I'd seen Tony pass Carrie Ann the rule book.

PS I've given up on motorway driving why SDC is on.

***Now back to the actual dancing folks**
This weeks semis were truly fab.
The hot favourite, JR, (imho) has suddenly gone back to 3rd place.
My favourite, Go Rickie, has gone back up to numero 1.
But the shock for me is the great dancing by Rob this week.
His Samba was a true delight. I was actually jumping around (I can't dance) the tv room.
I look forward to DWTS far more than Strictly.
So looking forward to next weeks extravaganza.

I don't know what the original post quoted was responding to, but it seems like some of the claims being posted around the internet in an effort to show Maks is being persecuted, and sadly some things are getting misstated and misrepresented. For example, they did show tension and arguments between Derek and Brooke on the show - as they've done for just about everyone over the seasons. Also, while Derek and Jennifer had their moments of tension like they all do, I don't remember anything like what is claimed in this post.

As for the claims about what Brooke has said, it seems this person only read (or only wanted to discuss) the publicity excerpt for Brooke's book. That wasn't the sum total of what Brooke had to say about Derek, and it didn't tell the whole story at all.

I read Brooke's book; not just the sensational publicity excerpt used to generate interest, but everything she wrote about Derek and her time on the show. According to her, she told Derek she wanted to win and he took that and went into high gear, but he hadn't yet really learned that hardcore competition mode wasn't really totally suited for a competition like DWTS. She also said she herself was a equal contributor to the friction because she was overly sensitive and emotional. Still hormonal from having recently had a baby and breast feeding. She said they had to really work on their relationship, but they were both really committed to doing that and they even went to counseling together to learn how to communicate and work together better. She said it ended up making them even stronger and closer and they both learned a lot of valuable lessons about relationships and communicating. She also said she is really proud to see how he grew and took what he learned working with her into his relationships with his other partners. To this day, Brooke and Derek are quite close.

I actually thought the person who posted that was illustrating that all the pros could be demanding and on occasion tempramental and that none of the partnerships were necessarily as shown on th VTs rather than singling out any one of the pros as being guilty of nasty behaviour.

And you are perfectly right it is the test of partnership/friendship if it continues after the show. I personally don't believe that Derek is all sweetness and light all time or that Maks is the big bad wolf all the time when they are training,they are people who have competed all their lives and are bound to have shades from both sides it makes them human and more interesting as people.

On the subject of the final though what are we expecting to see,freestyle of course but which dances are they going to be doing in addition?(just trying to kickstart in more a dance direction as I think I may have derailed this thread a tadge )

Final rehearsals!

It hadn't clicked with me that Derek had won every final he reached.

Vids and interviews are up on the Blue Room. Rob Kardashian is ahead on judges points at the moment but two more dances to do tonight. I don't think I could bear it if one of the ******* Kardashians won. Fingers crossed for JR!!

I haven't watched the show yet, but I couldn't help having a peek in here - what a shocker! Amazed at Rob being ahead!

Looked at all vids now,very surprised Rob being top (and disappointed I can't stand that family)

Based on first dances however I would have said he did the best one(still a bit flat footed though) I would have placed them Rob,Ricki and then JR on that round

On freestyles though I really thought Rob was overmarked,I know its personal preference here but I really didn't like it. I thought JR rocked the freestyle,it was brilliant stuff. Karina did a better job than Derek who'd thought?! On freestyles I would have rated them JR,Ricki,Rob. So I think its anyones game. I'd like to see JR win (still),I think it depends on fanbases...will JR get it because he is a war hero over the reality show and talk show fanbases?

I didn't like Ricki's - they didn't seem to cover any ground, and he seemed to have a bit of trouble lifting her (as Karen Hardy always says if the lady doesn't want to be lifted you're going to struggle to get her feet off the ground!). Was it my imagination or did Derek tell Ricki to 'shut your face' in training?

Go JR!

Just watched the videos, thanks FT.

It must be a taste thing because I actually preferred Cheryl and Rob's freestyle best... It reminded me of Tom Chambers' show dance which I think is the best ever....

It made me start to think that if Matt and Aliona had done that sort of ballroom based freestyle rather than the gymnastic crap they might have won..

Anyway this is DWTS and I thought the scores were about right. (Didnt really like Ricki's FS that much and although I did like JR and Karina's.... it was verging on the crazy. I wish they had done something based on their wonderful quickstep).

Id like to see Cheryl win it again although I agree, Im not much taken on the Kardashian family... (although I think Rob on his own is ok).

I like rob getting sick of his family but he's ok. Wouldn't mind if he won. Personally I dont mind as long as it's not Rikki I still don't really feel her dances.

I thought Rob's Waltz was overmarked, his turns were not good. Flat footed. Lost posture. However, I really liked his freestyle. Cheryl played to his strengths.
Ricki was overmarked on both dances. Didn't like the freestyle. But that was to be expected. It showed her limitations. Americans want razamataz in the freestyle, something she can't bring as good as the others. Derek should have left out the lift at the end. I'm with Bea-Bopp on this.
J.R. was properly marked on his first dance and overmarked on his second.
Still think J.R. is going to win it.

I believe he did

Rewatched all the dances still prefer JRs freestyle but will conceed that Rob was better than Ricki (even if I didn't like it and still think Ian & Zoe was the best showdance ever)and do think Ricki will be third

I didn't care for Rob's freestyle, to me he's still doing more walking with the odd dance thrown in with Karina dancing around him, he just hasn't the light-footedness that JR has (is light-footedness a real word?) and some of the lifts and was there a John Sergeant moment there?

JR's still my favourite, loved the freestyle.

I don't mind Ricki, but I've not liked anything quite so much as her psychotango, I notice she's been saying how much weight she's lost; 20lbs, I think she looks great in the training vts, but I reckon her claims of being a US size 4 (8 in the UK) are a tad hopeful.

Just watched the show and what a turn up for the books!

Ricki & Derek -
CCC - okay, but a bit boring tbh
Freestyle - Derek blew it by trying to be too clever with his choreography! There wasn't enough WOW stuff to please the voters and the mistakes meant they didn't get high marks from the judges. And if that huge photo of Ricki was meant to show how slim she is now (and she is), then Wardrobe should have chosen a better costume for her because that dress was not particularly flattering! Gobsmacked tbh.

Rob & Cheryl -
Waltz - That was a Waltz? They were hardly in hold and his posture was awful. In fact, the whole dance was like a week one Waltz and really showed his weaknesses. Very disappointing.
Freestyle - - It wasn't perfect, but it had the right balance of WOW for both the judges and the voters. I really enjoyed it and loved some of the moves.

JR & Karina -
CCC - It was a weird CCC, but I still liked it and it was better to watch than Ricki and Derek's, which is all that matters now.
Freestyle - I thought Karina outdanced JR throughout and the routine was full of WOW moves, but in between those WOW bits it was just okay. I'm sure the energy in the studio would have blown the roof off, but I'm not convinced that the voters will be sold on that dance. It was the only risky freestyle out of the three and I loved it. It did cross my mind though that Karina has an amazing bum!

I'm sitting on the fence right now. I think Ricki and Derek have blown it and need their huge fan base to get them through. At the moment I can't decide who is the front runner between Rob and JR. I thought JR would be amazing in the final, but so far I'd say his best performances were a few weeks ago. All his beautiful lines and flowing movements seemed to have disappeared though and I hope that's what we will see in part 2.

Exciting.

It would be a shame for Ricki to finish third since she's been better than Rob throughout the season but neither of her dances impressed me.

J.R's freestyle was the dance of the night but I didn't like the ending section, standing on a box shaking all around doesn't require a lot of skill.

Derek is talented, but what a complete k**b.

I wasn't very impressed by any of the Freestyles - all very messy. Rob has to be one of the most overmarked celebs ever.

JR really can't do the Cha Cha! His relay attempt last week wasn't good either.

I don't think any of them are very good. I hope Rob doesn't win.

Coming in third. Ricki and Derek.

In second place Rob and Cheryl.


And winning the mirror ball trophy is J.R. and Karina.


Make sure you catch Carson Kressley's return dance. You don't want to miss it.