Even though she is the best dancer by a mile, there seems to be so much hatred towards her (due to her previous dance experience) that this predjudice will prevail in the end......If the producers are aware of it (and I am sure they are) will they ease her out in some way to avoid a boycot of the final, or esure she remains to the very end (for the sake of controversy) !?!

I don't hate Denise, I wouldn't really mind if she won, its Nicky I don't want to win !!!!!!

Calm down dear, it's only an entertainment show!

Of course she'll be there till the final - as you say she is one of the best dancers so the judges would keep her in even if she did fall into the dance off. And of course the producers are aware of it - why do you think they asked her to do it in the first place? Almost every series there is a contestant that has some previous experience in one or or another - some viewers don't care, DS posters seem to hate it with a vengeance!

There will always be controversial figures, the judges will always have their favourites and the viewers will never agree on who should win *ChelseeandAustinwozrobbed*

Sit back, watch it for what it is and shout at the TV when someone you don't like comes on. Failing that - drink lots of wine - I find it helps the show to go more smoothly.

There may be some illogical antipathy and hatred on this forum, but is that reflected in the wider viewing public? I am not so sure

I would be quite happy for Denise to win. Theres a few I like but shes one of them

That made me laugh.

Me too

Don't you just love it when threads get titles like this one has: whatever happened to accentuate the positive.? I think Denise is the best dancer but the public will choose someone else. Why? the answer my friends is blowing in the wind

This made me smile too.

Me too. I don't see this Denise hate anywhere but on this forum.

I was talking to a friend yesterday and we got on to Strictly. She is very anti-Denise due to her previous dancing experience and she has never been anywhere near DS.

Her words were 'Oh she has no dancing experience at all, all she did in Chicago was sit on a chair and cross her legs over a couple of times'. There was deep sarcasm in her voice

She will make the final but I just cant see her getting the vote to win

Initially I was very 'meh' about Denise - didn't like her brash personality and the fact that she had previous experience, but I was completely wowed by Saturday's performance - loved their Paso

I's James I can't stand and he would put me off voting for them rather than Denise.

Hatred? Maybe at the beginning - or maybe I'm not reading the right threads - but Victoria, Louis, Lisa, Nicky and Michael seem to get much more reaction, good and bad, than Denise at the moment. I think she's too guarded and used to reality TV to give anything away and if they want to controversy they're going to have to look to other couples to get it. Denise is delivering very good dance, but she's also delivering exactly what people expected her to, so there's a lack of drama. Imagine the judges saving Denise in the dance off against anyone - mild eye-rolling at most from any in the audience who didn't agree. Now imagine the judges saving Victoria over almost everyone except Richard...

(ETA: Nothing against Victoria myself, sorry if that came across wrongly to anyone, but she seems the most controversial figure at the moment.)

She could win if people vote on the best dancer and as for Denise dislike I see a few posters who post the same thing over and over again, with muti quotes and enough reseach done to impress a degree board.

Some would say they were obsessed I think frankly just bashing their head against a brick wall.

A lot of people enjoy her dancing, some don't, if Dani and or Loius can get that final polish to their performance they may be better than her, if ,however people feel that those others are missing that final polish they may well vote for Denise instead, despite her ringer status.

Also Kara had those 2 weeks where she just took off and was a dance goddess after that. If Denise can do that, there will be no stopping her. However Denise is dancing withJames so I am not holding my breath.

Except for the entire internet melting, it would have been fascinating to see what Artem coul have choreographed for her.

I quite like Denise but i'm not keen on James.
I think James will actually hold Denise back as I think he is very limited in his choreography.

Dennise has done good dances and I believe she has better to come. I think the audience will respond for her rather than The others.
I'm not a fan of James but that doesn't mean I hold this against her. I think she has a very good chance to win. I prefer her dance than Louis. She has more musicality and better connection with his partner.

1. This forum is not representative of the general public
2. People with just as much dance and/or theatre school experience have won before (Jill, Kara and Alesha)
3. The judges like Denise so they'll save her in pretty much any combination of dance-off
4. Of course she CAN win - she's still in the show, so it's still factually possible at this moment in time for any of the remaining couples to win.

I don't care about Denise's previous dancing experience. It his her dodgy grammar that grates. Surely we cannot have another wewaser so soon after Alesha?

On the other hand, that sweet nice girl Dani knows how to speak properly.

I care more about the dancing than the grammar, but, hey I suppose I care more about whether people are interesting, and generally good eggs than whether they can speak proper like.

U know, wharever!

Thanks. Interesting comment to my provocative very OTT post.

But don't people learn grammar or care about it anymore? Is English grammar, which I would have thought much easier to learn than the tango, now officially irrelevant - in Britain.

Hey this is a personality show so somebody who does not speak English properly either does that for customer effect or because they themselves could not be bothered to learn and use English grammar correctly.

Many of the foreign dancers speak better English than the British celebs. Isn't that shocking?

Just sayin'

Ordinarily I'd agree that James's routines are usually some of the dullest, but I've liked most of what he's put together for Denise - even the VW, which I normally find the most tedious of dances.

Perhaps he's learning how to work the judges and the public a little better when it comes to the more interesting partners. I loathed everything he choreographed for Zoe, for example, and most of his dances for Pamela, who were both pretty good (although even Pamela wasn't in Denise's class).

Either that or we should be giving Denise more credit than we thought for managing to make James's choreography look interesting

I don't see Denise hate anywhere at all. I see Denise dislike, just as I see for other contestants, but no hate. This phenomenon of branding people who don't think the sun shines out of someone's backside as 'haters' is largely a media invention that has been latched onto by the public. It is possible to dislike Denise without hating her. It's also possible to like Denise, but still be critical of her perceived dance experience/advantage. Both things I've seen on here.

Personally, I don't see how anyone can know that Denise definitely won't win. She could be doing well in the public vote and be popular with the public. We don't know and won't unless she ends up in the bottom two from a high position on the judges' leader board (a la Kimberley). So it's daft to be deciding that she definitely can't win.

I thought that routine was very, very similar to Kara's VW.