Len did say it Asti was and probably ave her and James a reality check. He knows she was getting the most PR or of it so just reined them both back in. Having said that it was the best dance the others were not so good

personally, i think its a good thing to have a few people that can dance a bit.

an entire series of clodhoppers slowly improving would be dire.

I thought her dance was good, but neither she nor James seemed very happy at the scores; I thought James would have been delighted at Craig's scoring

Not my favourite by a long chalk. I remember how bitchy she was on Lloyd Webber's shows. I think there's a sense of entitlement coming across already from both of them which will get worse.

Training vid was hilarious, giving out her problems and then she does perfect turns and arms extended just so...gissa break.

Even if Sid turns out bad, I really hope he stays in longer.

I could understand Denise missing some heel leads, but not them all. Even Michael was doing heel leads.
Her posture going off perfect at times is consistent with her first ballroom dance, but her footwork was a bit too bad, and its easier to deliberately do no heel leads than to do some.

Suspicious.

I like Denise.... I like James.....I hope they win

Completely agree - the difference is Kimberley is paired with a far more popular pro dancer and isn't being singled out for it.

I don't mind Denise, she won't win, but she's okay and way less annoying then Snowden so far (I reserve the right to completely change my mind as the series progresses )

I can like Denise and James. I just want them to get on with it and dance to Denise's best ability.

The standard of dancing from Fern, Nicky and Victoria was poorer than I expected, so maybe Denise thought it would be better not to look too good, but I think she is just going to have to accept the 'ringer' tag and get on with it. She should just stick with the 'Yes I have danced before, but this is a completely different type of dancing - so it is still difficult.'

BIB - I disagree. I wasn't keen on her prior to her being a judge on the Lloyd Webber shows, but I liked her on those. She came across as knowledgable and articulate which (pleasantly) surprised me. It's a shame that she keeps playing up the 'Essex Girl' persona, because that always comes across as really forced and annoying. I prefer her when she's being less showy and more natural. She's actually a decent TV presenter and a talented Musical Theatre performer, but a lot of people probably just think of her as a loudmouthed Essex Girl. Sad, really.

I'm not sure how I feel about Denise..don't like James at all so trying not to let that influence me, however her face pulling and gurning is a total turn off. Wish she'd stop it

I am not a big fan of Denise, but I am a James fan, imo it was the best dance of the night and I will be willing them on...

i cant help but like denise she seems very down to earth but i can see a ruthless drama school streak in her.

Their dance is the one I have watched back the most so far. I can't decide if it was good because of her background or because of James's choreography - probably a mixture of both. It reminded me of Pamela's first Waltz and you can't deny that Denise looked stunning in hold with James. It wasn't deemed perfect and the score wasn't overmarked so that all helped but agree that their personalities together aren't appealing.

Denise is the same as she has been since the Big Breakfast shows. Fun, bubbly and Essex.

Yes she went to stage school but I too wonder why she has had more stick than Kimberly who has been dancing with Girls Aloud for years and years whereas Denise has just done the odd theatre performances inbetween all the TV work.

Cheryl Cole is a great dancer and performer after all those Girls Aloud years and Kimberly cant be far behind, if at all.

Unless they corpse, I'm expecting Kimberley and Louis to start off dancing at somewhere near Denise's level, so if Louis can fulfil that hope, then that should let Denise feel she can dance at her best level because she can be compared to a beginner who is very good.

BIB It looks like without a script that's all she has. The common-as-muck Essex geezer bird act, is her TV persona. Apart from that I thought her dress was lovely and she danced well to a very nice song.

Having followed a link I see there were some pictures of her in the bath with James' trainers! Yuk.

Of course Denise is a dirty ringah, but I don't mind that at all. I like the mixture of good and bad dancing among the contestants, seeing how the bad dancers progress and getting to know them all a bit better (insofar as the editing process allows).

Not for nothing are we exhorted to vote for our 'favourite' dancer, not the best dancer, which is why the best don't always win. She is clearly a bit of a Marmite personality, so she will divide voters, I expect.

I think that's the problem - Denise is still trying to project that 'fun, bubbly, Essex' image, but whilst it was fine when she was presenting the BB, it's just tedious and annoying now.

I think the issue with Denise's dance experience isn't so much that she has experience but that she and the Strictly bods have tried to downplay it and, worse, keep mentioning it (and trying to downplay it). What's wrong with just being honest and saying "Yes, I have dance experience, but not in ballroom/latin." and leaving it at that? By continuing to harp on about it and making excuses, they're making the situation much worse.

You'd think TV talent show/reality show makers would realise this, but they do it time and time again with contestants and it tends to backfire. I remember the series Any Dream Will Do (in which Denise was a judge), where there were two professional actors (Lee Mead and Daniel Boys) amongst the contestants. Both got a lot of flack for being pros as I recall, but whilst the ADWD bods admitted Lee's professional background, they played down Daniel's, portraying him as a humble filing clerk at a cement company (they even had a VT showing him doing the filing). It came across as if the ADWD 'powers that be' were trying to deceive the publc and it reinforced the 'nice, safe, geeky' persona that people associated with Daniel. Whilst Lee went on to win ADWD, Daniel came 6th, going out in the week of the 'Doing the filing' VT!

There will always be people with issues about any contestants who are perceived as having experience. However, as was the case with Lee in ADWD, if the makers of the show are open about contestants' backgrounds and allow the contestants to be, it ends up being much less of an issue to the viewers.

I am trying to remain open minded about Denise. Hers was the best dance of the evening, and although I know it's a different style of dance, she has had experience of dance on stage, in a musical no less. While this does give her maybe a tad of an advantage, I am not sure how much. I find it a little difficult to be objective as I dislike James so much, so my judgemet may be off a bit. I think those with no dance experience will have more opportunity to improve, and it can be a vast improvement, which in turn can be an advantage. I shall just wait and see what the coming weeks bring

I do think James is talented for his choreography in the romantic dances and this was reflected once again last night. I'm sure her Rumba will be outstanding too and again with mainly credit to James who is the Rumba God! I really don't think the producers would sign up someone who had an obvious unfair advantage so I trust they have done their research on Denise in that she fits the suitability of the show. I will take her dancing for what it is but as said before the partnership could become unbearable once they open their mouths.

I like Denise. She's always come across to me as someone who is nice and genuine.

As for her having an unfair advantage, I could name a few on this series and many, many more from previous series that also had the advantage of having some form of dancing/performance background behind them.

Sometimes it will work to for them and they will excel (Kara, Tom, Jill to name a few) and for others they never get to reach the heights that is expected of them (Claire, Louisa, Gabby, Tina - who I believed would have gone further with a better partner).

I'm glad they have a mixture of different kinds of celebrites and especially those with a performance background as it make the first few weeks of the show a bit more interesting and exciting than if there was not to be a decent dance from any of them.

I think with the likes of Darren and Mark and most definitely Colin winning their series, just cos some of the celebrites have a bit or some experience in any form of dancing doesn't mean they are gonna run away with it and be the winner.

I do hope she does well and is in it til the end as I expect there is so much more to come from her.

^^^ I agree. But methinks the 'lady' hath protested far too much! Just get on with it love!

But - BIB they already have by all accounts - on Twitter.

I don't think its an image, its just who she is. I don't find it tedious at all but then my personality is similar (and I'm older) so I would say that.

I'm with you two about Denise and think her and James are well suited.


I don't remember her like that at all and she certainly wasn't the 'nasty' judge on any of the shows. I'm not a Denise fan or anything, just saying I don't remember her being as you do.

This, this, this.