I suppose once they appointed Karen they then decided which female pro was surplus to requirements and Katya best fitted the bill - similar height, dark hair. Also Katya's marriage may have gone against her at a time when the exec prod wants to spice up the show. If they had found a tall blonde girl then Natalie may have got the axe and Kristina may have been in danger if they had signed a shortish blonde.

With many of the pro partnerships already established ie Anton and Erin, Vincent and Flavia and James and Ola there was a limited choice of who should leave once they had decided only to sign Karen.

It's a bit of a lottery for the pros in the reality tv world. I think Katya was just the unlucky one.

I agree although I'm looking forward to seeing Karen - I'm sad it was at the expense of Katya - I would have liked to seen her with at least one good partner before she bowed out.........still I think people will remember her most for her entertaining partnership with Gavin..........to me she was one of the pros that least deserved to be axed!

I'm sure Karen Hauer will be a fine addition to the team but I'm sorry to see Katya go. Saw her and Pasha on their tour and they were very good together. It's a pity their partnership has been busted up so soon. Also, I'm disappointed that the big shake-up never happened. I would like to see some new blood but I think they got rid of the wrong person. I wish they'd get rid of Bruce too. Tess always seems stressed out worrying whether he's going to read his lines properly.

Hasn't Tess allegedly said that when Bruce leaves she will leave too

it seems to me that they have just replaced like for like.....

I know nothing about Karen Hauer apart from she was in Burn The Floor (not seen the show either, I googled and that is what came up)

To replace Katya because she "wasnt high profile enough" (she has been in movies, done the Strictly Tour, been a SCD pro for 3 seasons and done her own highly regarded tour with Pasha) for a lady who, as far as I can see, has only done the Burn the Floor stageshow (please correct me if I am missing anything else that Karen has done) seems, to me, a little odd......

I am going to reserve judgement and just wait and see what Karen Hauer is like, I am sure she will be great, but I just dont understand the logic behind the BBC decision to replace Katya....

I am not entirely sure I am making myself very clear in what I am trying to say - sorry!

that made me laugh out loud Topaz! Love it!

she sure is Vikki. I hope she can too. She's the first dancer in a very long time (since my Matt and Nicole) who has made me feel really excited to watch her.

Don't forget Natalie is a ballroom specialist as well. Her ballroom dances with Ian Waite are incredible. She doesn't show to her best advantage with Brendan as he's more of a latin boy.

noooo Brendan is OUTSTANDING at the ballroom! I think they don't fit as well because she is a bit too tall for Brendan - it's their respective heights that spoil it there for me. She fits Ian best because he's taller. I'd love a constant and good pro partner for Brendan - he is a beautiful ballroom dancer.

A video of her Tango-ing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XADtNjCeLpQ

Not impressed with the like for like shuffling of the newer pro dancers , I'm sure Karen will be fabulous but it shouldn't have been at the expense if Katya

BBC should have been much braver and replaced some of the older lack lustre IMO pros

Yeah I wasn't a big fan of hers but as I recall he did some great ballroom with Kelly Brooks - although I remember he twisted the rules in his AS I agree with you about Natalie - she's a wonderful dancer but not the best fit for Brendan - they really should have kept another tall male pro on! Brendan worked well with Katya when she was his partner.

Having checked out a couple of videos - I'm not impressed. I'm a ballroom fan rather than latin anyway; but why swap someone who is capable of doing elegant ballroom and great latin for someone who appears to be good at nothing more than gyrating to music?

completely agree! Some of the older ones like Brendan and Erin are wonderful for the balance between ballroom and latin and it's lovely to see. Agree about the tall pros - tall men look so much better dancing !

I think that's a bit harsh and I'm annoyed that they've got rid of Katya too but Karen's won a few titles and her CV seems good - the few videos I saw of her last night I was impressed by - ok the jury might still be out on her ballroom but I'm willing to give her chance - I don't have much choice really

When they say Katya wasn't high profile enough I read that as not pictured in the papers in your bikini or been luck enough to partner a good looking boy band member who can dance that creates column inches. Poor Katya if she had drawn anyone other than Desparate Dan last year I reckon she would have been safe.

Maybe harsh, bit it's only my opinion, and it's not so much about Katya leaving (after all we don't know for sure that it wasn't her choice) - more about the replacement not being as capable in all the disciplines that SCD demands. Or is SCD going to be more latin bling (yuk) and less ballroom elegance? If so it'll be for the worse as far as I'm concerned.

Yeah perhaps she should have tipped the papparazzi as to exactly where and when she would happen to be exercising in the park and turned up in full make up made sure they got loads of flattering snaps and then told them when and where she was off on her holidays and made sure they got loads of staged gatuitous bikini shots to fill the online tabloids with - now which pro would be desperate enough to do that


Well that's the way it seems to be going - more towards 'entertainment' than dance content - lots of the dances last few series have just looked like show dances. I'm not happy about that either but what can you do - I think there are a some pros already who are more Latin specialists than ballroom and as I said earlier Anton's Latin leaves a lot to be desired!

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought SCD was always slightly more Latin-oriented in terms of the pro's specialities.

Concerning the current pros (details taken from Strictly website):

Aliona - Speciality is Ten Dance
Anton - Ballroom
Artem - Not stated
Brendan - Latin
Erin - Ballroom
Flavia - Ten Dance/Argentine Tango
James - Latin
Kristina - Latin/Mambo
Natalie - Ballroom
Ola - Latin
Pasha - Ballroom/Latin
Robin - Latin
Vincent - Ten Dance/Argentine Tango


Katya - Various

I think Vincent and Flavia also count as Ballroom specialists- I know it's mainly the Tangos but they did that fab American Smooth on last year's halloween show, and often did Quicksteps and Waltz's in previous series with Ian/Natalie/Anton/Erin And Brendan seems a bit of an all rounder compared to the others.

Aliona- debatable based on her choreography! I think hers is "unclassifiable"

I would put Vincent and Flavia as more ballroom than latin too, and they are more often than not involved in the ballroom group when the pros are split into two for ballroom/latin group dances. I love watching them ballroom dance and would put them above Anton and Erin these days.

Vincent and Flavia were 10 dancers so they were equally split in terms of ballroom and latin as to what they specialised in and danced at competitions, hence they will also get picked for ballroom demonstrations. In the history of Strictly there has always been a tendency to have pros who have specialised in latin. The notable exceptions are Anton and Erin, Natalie, Izabella Hannah (series 3) and Hazel Newberry (series 2). I've forgotten what John Byrne (series 1) specialised in but it could be ballroom.
Many of the others will have danced ballroom up to a point before they specialised in latin, and as professionals would be expected to teach ballroom in the 'day job' so are capable of dancing/teaching reasonable ballroom.

Anyway, Dancesport has always been made up of half latin and half ballroom so to say it's going towards "latin bling" is a bit unfair. The extra dances they have added in over the years don't occur in dancesport competitions and most of the pros aren't expert in them. I agree showdance latin can be OTT and unpleasant to look at, but proper latin also has the ability to be elegant.

I agree, if they want to continually refresh the programme its time to get rid of the pros who have been there the longest.
Completely unfair to Katya who was an excellent teacher.

Kristina win many awards in ten dance but she did specialise in Latin later in her career and was a mambo champion