Erin doesn't get slated because she at least makes an effort and doesn't dismiss Latin as rubbish. There was one VT with Anton & Laila for one of their Latin dances, where he kept saying throughout it was rubbish. It was very clear that he wasn't referring to Laila before anyone suggests that might have been the case but rather that he hated the dance.

Anton seems a nice enough guy but there's no doubt that Latin dances just don't interest him. It's very obvious that he and Erin are always carefully placed at the back in the pro dances with Latin content because their Latin simply isn't up to the standard of the other pros. Remember Natalie is also a Ballroom specialist but her Latin is far better than that of Anton & Erin.

To say the least! My biggest gripe about Anton is that he just doesn't seem to try any more. As well as that, quite a few younger, better pros have been axed and he's still there - why???????

Because, irrespective of his ability, he's too popular to lose - apart from Brendan, he is probably the only pro any of the public who only watch casually could name off the top of their head. And he has quite a following amongst the more mature female viewers of the programme.

He's one of the most recognisable, but not necessarily one of the most popular. Maybe with the casual viewer, as they probably don't even know each of the pros by name. He wouldn't be much of a loss IMO.

How do you know this?



Well he would in my opinion, I think he has the best personality and regardless of what you think of his dancing, I always enjoy whatever he does. Folk go on about his Latin, but it really is not anywhere near as bad as they make out. It's an entertainment show based on a dancing competition,I regard it as such and enjoy it enormously.

His partnership and the performances he did with Widdy destroyed any respect I had for Anton.

LOL you make it sound as though he had a choice.
Ann insisted on partnering Anton, and maybe Production thought she's be a controversial figure and therefore a popular subject on the Forums ie publicity for the show, and this is exactly what happened. I hated this particular partnership, but like her or not, she probably helped to pull in the viewers. I think the professionals get blamed for all kinds of things that in fact are dreamed up by the Production Team in order to cause a stir of some kind - good & bad is all good in their eyes.

I can't take to Anton and I don't find him funny and often cringe at his attempts at humour! He's not my idea of a gentleman either, the way he treats his partners, but maybe that is in the script, who knows for sure!

It always has to be about him and 'look at me' me, me!

I just looked on the BBC Strictly website and noticed all the other pros had their age on their profile, except Anton - I don't think this omission would be an error!

I'll second that.

I really wish they would give him Brucie's job. At least the little dance at the beginning of the show wouldn't be such an embarrassment if it was Anton doing it.

I third that, but as I have already mentioned somewhere before, only after Sir Bruce decides to retire.

Once upon a time, in 2004, Anton came third in the competition with opera singer Lesley Garrett, who enthused about her partner as "a perfect gentleman, and I do wish everybody could get the chance to dance with him".


A pity that the phrase "perfect gentleman/gentlewoman" could in no way be applied to Anton's detractors now. He hasn't even got to the first show yet, and there's already blood on the floor.

Too much vinegar and ammonia in the air .. I'm stepping outside for a breather.

Have to agree with you - I wish they would bring back Matthew Cutler or Ian Waite. Both had very interesting choreography. I do feel for Jerry Hall. Don't think she has been given much of a chance.

Matthew and Ian are both very tall for ballroom dancers and they could have helped Jerry cope with Latin - which is difficult for tall people.

Somehow I think Anton will squander his chance to progress in the show - after all, all the programs Anton was host aren't shown anymore.

Well said for Anton, I'm a fan of his too

That was the cruelest cut of all.

Anton and Jerry's first dance is the Cha Cha Cha.

He said this in the Radio Times feature about SCD out this week.

Not such a bad thing, it means ballroom will be in week 2 for them and bound to be a vast improvement on week 1! That's when we lose the first couple, so this is a good thing for them.

I absolutely agree with you.

Hyperbole and melodrama overload. People are entitled to their opinions. You don't agree with them, which is fine. No need to label them as savages - kind of against the rules of the forum.

[quote=Rotationbl;61324519]Hyperbole and melodrama overload. People are entitled to their opinions. You don't agree with them, which is fine. No need to label them as savages - kind of against the rules of the forum.[/QUOTE]

erm...... can't find anywhere in Kommentaighter's post where he used the word savages, or accused anyone of being a savage. As you say, he too, is entitled to his opinion.
I do find it difficult to understand the animosity from some quarters, against Anton as he seems to be a pretty nice person to me, but popular people do tend to attract detractors.

[quote=daisydee;61325725]
The poster said that we weren't acting like gentlemen and that there was "blood on the floor". The poster is fully entitled to their opinion, but they are NOT entitled to say negative things about other posters.

Anton tweeted this earlier:

"It's great to be doing some 'real' dance steps finally. Jerry is doing so well. She has got some great pins on her! Perfect for the Foxtrot!"

I can't work out if he's pleased to finally have a partner who can perform "real" dance steps or whether he only considers Ballroom as "real" dancing because he mentions this in the context of their Foxtrot?!

Either way, the Foxtrot should suit the pair of them well. Jerry says she's a huge fan of old movies so I'm sure she'll capture the elegance and glamour of the dance.

It's her great legs he mentions in the context of the foxtrot, not the 'real' dance steps.

Because it's rubbish? I mean, genuinely rubbish. And after 10 years on the show, you'd hope that he'd have, I dunno, tried to improve his dancing or something. Being a, reportedly, professional dancer and all.


A/ I'll put my AT against Anton's at any time, any place. Hell, I'll also put my salsa against his, and I've not danced salsa seriously this millenium.
B/ So what? Yes, again, he's a professional dancer. If he's not obviously massively better than the average person, what on Earth is he being paid for? Does that mean we can't criticize him because we're not professional dancers?


Such as?

To be honest, I can't think of any of the other pros who are so exceptionally weak in half of the dance forms.


Any 10-dance professional, by definition, has to be good at all 10 dances.

And what annoys me about Anton is that he doesn't even try to improve. It's like Jessica Ennis saying "Oooh, I don't like this javelin throwing much, I don't think I'll bother trying to improve on that one.

Thanks for that Sid I didn't see that Anton tweet. I'm pleased that Anton is enjoying his time with Jerry, I'm sure his wide range of dancing skills will ensure that Jerry will be able to capture the elegance and glamour of the old movie style foxtrot, I'm very much looking forward to it.

Unlike some ballroom dancers Anton is very modest about his wide ranging abilities on the dance floor, its refreshing that he doesn't suffer from the over inflated sense of self importance and over inflated ego syndromes that afflict so many other ballroom dancers.

This is from the RT

"Ann Widdecombe was very good at walking. If I asked her to take four steps in a certain direction I could guarantee that she would take four steps and stop. She was also good at repeating that, so we called that choreography."

About Jerry

"As long as I can make the dance floor feel like a catwalk we'll be fine. So this week it'll be more of a strutting posturing cha cha cha."