I did not recognise her AT ALL when she came on ITT... didn't realise she'd had a nose job but that makes sense now! She's got that weird "shiny" look like Lulu - too much botox, fillers and chemical peels! Gross...

She seems nice though and at least she did win DWTS.

I think they needed to choose someone who couldn't come back in a permanent role. I would love it to have been Karen Hardy, Ian Waite or Matt Cutler but they know if they did that people would love them and want them to replace Alesha probably!! (And that doesn't go with their 'turn Strictly into X Factor' evil plan...)

Exactly!
JG wil do it for a week, but there will be no possibility of her being a threat to any judge's position.

(And as someone who has also had a nose job, I understand the possibility of no longer looking like yourself)

Would have been better if they'd put Karen Hardy, Ian Waite, or even Nicole Cutler on the panel- the majority of Strictly viewers probably know and respect them, and would really value their dance input.

No I don't think so, the majority of viewers are just watching the programme for light entertainment. I don't think the views expressed on forums such as this are representative of the GBP. The novelty of having JG, star of iconic dance movie (for viewers of a certain age) who won DWTS recently ticks all the boxes in terms of entertainment. Bringing in an unknown ballroom judge or even bringing back a Strictly 'has-been' would not have the same impact in terms of entertainment value.

For one week it doesn't bother me and I think it is a reasonable choice. If they were to replace Len permanently with another celeb it would be a completely different matter but for one week only I really don't mind and intrigued what sort of judge she will be. I just hope we don't get a repeat performance of the gushing and sickly fawning that we saw from Zoe on ITT last night. JG is famous but not *that* famous

I agree that a former pro might have friends still dancing but there must have been someone other then some chick that was in a film in 1987?!

I thought the BBC had a budget - I'm sure there was a cheaper option somewhere!

I've actually never watched that one! Is it good? Or will I have to have a blanket to hide under during the cheesiness?

Except Dirty Dancing the only other ballroom dancing movies I remember are the one with Vanessa Williams, the one with Antonio Banderas (and apparently Katya) and the one with J. Lo (yes, I know, I'm very good with names of films :P). I didn't like any of them.

It's very good - reminds me of Priscilla or Muriel's Wedding in tone.


Dirty Dancing is not a ballroom dancing movie.

Personally, I don't believe Dirty Dancing is a dance movie either.


??


Take The Lead. A bit silly, but not too bad.


Shall We Dance. The original was better.

Vanessa Williams = Dance With Me

Agree about Shall We Dansu (japanese version)...miles better than the remake.

Get thee to the video shop pronto! The guy who directed/wrote it, Baz Luhrmann, was a ballroom dancer himself.

It's a great film, and since you compete, I think you'd find it particularly entertaining as it is a great send up of the competitve dance world.

actually it pokes a very critical finger at the Little Empire Builders in the world of competitive ballroom and shows them up as very nasty pieces of work

another vote for Strictly Ballroom - I like to think it inspired Aliona as well

"Barry: Where do you think we'd be if everyone went around making up their own steps?
Scott: Out of a job."

Guess who sat in for Len on Dancing with the Stars a couple of years ago

I'm just grateful that they didn't fly Carrie-Ann Inaba over with Bruno to judge.

Why couldn't we have Ian?

well said, people need to lighten up and remember this is a entertainment show

It is only one week, and so, although not ideal in my mind, I don't mind Jennifer being invited on (she does seem to have a nice personality). It could have been a chance to have test run someone with more ballroom expertise, but Jennifer is probably a bigger draw for a larger audience.

I've nothing against JG and she certainly did well on DWTS but is she really such a big draw? I'm of the "certain age" but until prompted by all the recent publicity & her stint on DWTS I couldn't have named the female lead in Dirty Dancing, only Patrick Swayze. I bet I'm not unusual in that and many of those who don't watch DWTS won't remember her readily at all.

I'm much more pursuaded by the need to have at least one "proper" ballroom judge on the panel and would have been much happier to see Karen up there

But the dance in it is still likely to be the best known to most people.

I don't understand the idea of bringing Jennifer in as a draw when Strictly (this year anyway) dont' really need an extra draw. They already have their very decent audience figures for this series and so I don't see what harm there would have been to 1) either bring a Latin/Ballroom Pro on for the night, whether previously a Strictly one or not.... or.... 2) just have three judges for the one night. Having now seen Jennifer (on ITT) I don't even recognise her anyway, so there would have been no equal harm in having an un-recognisable Profesional from the world of Latin/Ballroom dancing being on the panel instead.

Oh dear, I feel extremely uneducated now! I shall watch it immediately and report back!

Aww - I hope you enjoy it. It was a small budget Australian film that nobody thought would be successful. Baz also directed Moulin Rouge and you may notice some familiar faces from Strictly Ballroom in there.
Paul Mercurio, the lead in the movie, is great. He'd never danced ballroom before and he had to dance the finale with a sprained ankle!