I look forward to seeing them in the next few weeks and think they will really relax into their partnership. They are very sweet to each other on Twitter and appear to be having a good time in training from all accounts. They have good chemistry when they dance and I look forward to more to come from them.... I don't need to see them holding hands when getting their comments from the judges to think they like each other, although can see why others might have to if they aren't following their press interviews or tweets etc.

I don't need to see them holding hands off the dance floor. Completely unnecessary. I do want some emotional connection when they dance though. I love Flavia and was excited this year as I thought 'Here is her chance to win!'. Then we had last night

That's how gymnasts centre themselves to control their nerves isn't it? You always see gymnasts put their hands on their hips, breathe deeply and raise their arms to signify they're about to start.

I thought they did have good connection when they danced though. I've rewatched loads of times since last night and while Louis is concentrating a lot, there are lots of smiles too between them and they had a nice hug afterwards. I definitely think they will relax more through time, but for now I'm fine with what I am seeing from them although for their own sakes know that a little bit more interaction would go down well with the audience in general

Have any of you ever met anyone who has ADHD?

People who have this can find it difficult to trust and don't find it easy to get touchy touchy so this might be a reason why the body language once out of dancing song mode is of the non tactile variety. Let's face it, for the last 19 years he has been totally focused on training for his gymnastics and it's definitely not a team sport. Now he has signed up to do this "team sport" for want of a better word and some adjustment is in order. It's just taking a little longer to make the transition than it's taking or taken the others.

I thought they were ok during the dance - yes he needs to start smiling and relax a bit more but for a first dance it was ok and I think Flavia is doing the right thing not to be in his face and giving him time to become comfortable with the whole touchy feely thing. I will be interested to see how they are together on It Takes Two and in their training footage for their ballroom for next week.

There was no emotion at all for me. I was quite sad as I like Flavia so much. It was all a bit cold and flat. I am hoping something clicks with them though.

I thought so too I was really happy with their dance and didn't see anything there to make me think there was no connection. I can see why some don't think they had any connection at the judges etc, but am surprised to see the comments about them not having any connection when they dance.

I guess we all see things differently though and I see things in others dances that some don't and vice versa. I saw ZERO chemistry from Karen and Nicky but think that will improve in time too

Must admit they've never seemed keen to be partnered together. The chemistry is important especially with the closer dances & I hope they don't suffer because of Lewis' seriousness. Flavia could convince an eskimo to buy more snow so don't see she'd have a problem.

Through her own actions, to be fair though. It's not as if they made it up, she has had relationships with three men on Strictly.

None of my business and I don't care as long as she gives her best to the celeb she's partnered with. If she can't do that then it's time to leave.

I think it will be fine over time. He's very reserved and he comes from a sport that where its a weakness to show emotion, you have to lock it down to perform so its going to be weird at first.

I also think he'll be better at the intense -rumba/tango/AT than the cheeky -salsa/samba/charleston, they just don't suit his nature.

But the emotion does give him somewhere to go, if you're perfect right out of week 1 the public will get bored

They don't have to be best of friends, forum, they can just be a bit cold with each other.

But it is her problem because its her job to make him feel comfortable and she's obviously failing quite badly on that one. It's only the first dance though and now they know how he looks dancing live in front of an audience and they can work it out.

Ahhh yes- now that you say it... Maybe it's like a comfort blanket kind of thing? It sounds ridiculous I know- but maybe because he's in a world so far away from what he usually does, standing with his hands on his hips helps keep him calm.
IDK- I just feel like week 1 is way too early to judge. Much rather someone who is a little reserved who has obvious talent waiting to be nurtured, than someone over-confident with no dancing skill whatsoever. The world he's come from is very disciplined- it's going to take time for him to adjust... I only hope the public give him that time. I think his ADHD may be a factor- he's probably spent a lot of his life trying to keep controlled etc- not let go. It must be hard to just throw that out the window.
Anyway- IMO- he did OK. During the dance there was eye contact and smiling from what I could see.

The funny thing is that Flavia seemed to be having more fun with Russell last year, who was limited in his ability - this year the reverse may be the case. Someone with talent - but something is missing

'LIFESTORY' but yeah im glad others see it, well what i thought was you know when they were practising a little before they knew who their partners were, well he was paired with kristina right and by looking at that they looked like they got on very well and when colin was paired with her and then he got paired with flavia later he looked really miserable and then when they did the group dance there was one bit when he went a danced back with kristina and flavia had to go with someone else, i think thats right anyway so yeah think louis wanted kristina but could be wrong...

They're too similar. Russell brought Flavia out of her shell and we saw a different side to her. She's not naturally exuberant, so she needs someone larger than life to punch through her reserve.

The same for Louis, he needed someone far more like Kristina who could break the ice.

I think it will come, it will just take a while with these two. But when it does, they'll be amazing.

I couldn't agree more

Oh come on? Is everyone really so naive? Russell was a middle-aged openly gay man who would be no threat to any man in a relationship with an attractive woman and perfectly 'safe' to be physically intimate with (in a friendly way). Flavia is a woman with form (x2!) for leaving one partner for another during the currency of previous SCD series (one a younger man) and being subjected to largely unwanted publicity as a result. It doesn't take much imagination to realise that (even if totally unwarranted) signs of physical warmth between these two given her history, could be misinterpreted and lead these two to be very awkward around each other. Add in his relative lack of experience in media handling and I find the apparent distance between them on camera totally unsurprising.

Or if she was still part of the show someone like Lilia

Doesn't surprise me at all. Flavia comes across as the dullest pro male or female, I've seen. Even with Russell it was only his personality. It's not even that she's quiet Kristina and Natalie are quiet, she's just boring.

I agree with this. They're both quite reserved individuals, but I think when they've done a few more dances together, grown to be more comfortable, it will come.

I think that is very unfair - Flavia is just quiet by nature - what is the point of her being anyone but herself

I have to say that the thought of a Kristina/Louis partnership isn't one that appeals at all.... I think she's almost too OTT- that may have been intimidating for him. I actually think Flavia will turn out to be a very good partner for him. It's only week 1 after all.

I don't necessarily agree that anything is 'missing' so to speak. Russell was (a) a naturally ebullient character and (b) expected to be a total duffer, so for one thing there was no pressure, no expectation that he was going to be any good. His charm on the dance floor came as a complete surprise This year the expectations for Louis are massive in comparison, and that automatically creates pressure on both him as the celeb and Flavia as the pro.

Flavia and Jimi seem pretty happy and secure in their relationship as far as you can tell from tweets/photos/interviews etc so I can't imagine she is paranoid about the whole 'potential romance' angle

I do agree that both are simply quite reserved - as someone has said, some of Flavia's previous partners have been more outgoing and bubbly (Matt D A, Jimi, Russell) - and so perhaps they complemented her own quieter character more easily. That's not to say that Louis and Flavia don't have a good partnership - they do, judging from tweets etc - it's just that they are not forming an instinctively outgoing partnership at the moment, and because there are some big characters on the show this year this seems all the more obvious and is leading to people thinking there's no rapport.

But at least that gives them something to work on I predict a big breakthrough moment at some point, it may take a few weeks but it will definitely come...

I couldn't agree more with all that you say here and you have said it so much better than I ever could.

I've heard from a very reliable source that Louis has been behaving like a bit of a diva, thinking that he's the star of the show and making all sorts of demands - perhaps this goes some way to explaining Flavia's apparent ambivalence?