No, they don't. Poor spelling and grammar is almost as much of a standard these days as people being bad at maths - it's practically a badge of honour not to be able to spell or add up correctly Spoken English, however, is another matter entirely.

There is a third reason for the accent - being in showbiz. An accent - particularly a pronounced regional accent - is much in demand across the media as it's seen as more 'representative' of the UK demographic it serves than a generic 'good' English accent. Denise and Tess are two examples of women who've worked their accents practically in the ground in the pursuit of being memorable on telly.

Obviously in other countries people are not taught English with a regional accent and so they speak more 'normal' English than those brought up with it. But that's the same with any non-native speaker. The plethora of native French and Spanish accents, dialect words etc. bears little relation to what I for one learned at school.

I love it, for example, when you hear someone non-English who has learned their English in a region with a strong regional accent speaking, like foreign footballers. I once interviewed a Polish girl who had come to Peterlee for the last few years of her education. A Geordie Pole is an experience not to be missed. Lovely girl too

I would argue against calling any one of these styles of speaking English 'correct', as I firmly believe that our willingness to allow English to change and mutate has made it the great language it is. Our willingness to include and celebrate all of these accents in our media is a good thing and one to be cherished, not denigrated for not being within the bounds of 'correct'.

*gets off soapbox*

Which I also liked. Perhaps James is copying Artem. Not a bad role model - I hope he manages to do a quirky Artem-style Charleston to go with this week's music choice

Loads of people on DS went on and on about how Denise Welch couldn't possibly win BB because she was so unpopular in the country. She won easily! Denise and James are working hard and going from strength to strength, they are clearly the ones to beat at this stage and, again at this stage - they could do a Jason and flatline whilst others raise their games - they look like likely winners.

not so much now but back in the 60/70s most German teenagers spoke English with a pronounced American accent due to the GIs and American music being played everywhere

I am noticing that broadcasters, who used to have the highest standards of grammar and syntax, are becoming very sloppy. Sometimes it's just because they don't think about what they are saying. My favourite "howler" is "the importance of this matter cannot be underestimated" and I have heard this several times.

and just sayin' is what I found so OTT, does it really mater that Denise has an Essex accent or that Alesha used poor grammar.

As I say perhaps it matters more to me that I think she dances well, is happily married and appears to be a good mother to her daughter.

Yes, I think she would have done better with Brendan (like Cherie Lunghi). James' ballroom style is stiff but Brendan is a real 10-dance man.

The views in here don't seem to reflect on how the public are voting. Denise and Lisa seem a lot more popular with the general public than they are in here, judging by them never being in the bottom two.

I agree that DS does not represent the british public at large and it is naive to think otherwise. I'm not keen on Denise but nothing to do with her previous experience, she just grates on me. I think if I liked her then I would conveniently ignore her previous experience and if I hated her would bring it up every time. I think sometimes we use these things to back up our pre-existing opinions rather than use them to form our opinions.

I do wonder about the Denise-previous experience thing though influencing things later on simply because it is much more obvious 'experience' and the fact there was the whole Chris Evans hoo-haa about it before she started which brought it to the attention of mainstream media. So in that respect the feeling that Denise's experience will hinder her may not be just confined to this forum

I actually think she has more chanches in then Louis&Flavia, cause jamers has reigned himself in. They are no judges fights. And actually she is a great dancer and they show it.
Louis on the other hand doesn't produce so much good efforts like Denise and has the more mental fans and i think Louis fans beginning to annoy the heck out of everyone else is Denise biggest chanche. And to be fair looking at all the dances i don't say this easily cause i loathe james: he cheographs well for her.
I think the dislike for Denise Van Ringer is swepped away by other storylines.

Out of interest where are the 'mental' Louis fans I'm a Louis supporter because I like him and I think he's turning out to be a really good dancer but mainly because he's partnered with my favourite pro Flavia - but I try not to foist my favouritism on anyone else - admitedly I haven't read every post on this forum but so far I haven't seen any aggressive Louis supporters on this forum.

It's not surprising that Denise is giving better performances than Louis by the way - she's had way more experience and years in show business than he has - I don't hold that against her but it's fact that she does have a massive advantage in that area.

Some of my twitterfeed and on here were going mental about the Craig 6, but convincly forgot about the overmarked 9s. Somewhere i read wanted to sack Craig for that mark. Thats when it goes too far for me.
(and i think Denise dancing touches me somehow, but Louis leaves me cold.)

Im not a massive supporter of Louis but I cant deny hes easily one of the best ones there. I dont want him to go but something makes me not warm to him as well as I do with some of the others. But even I thought the 6 from Craig was a bit ridiculous

Oh I'm not really a twitter user so didn't see that but all I saw on here is people getting annoyed by it - maybe it's going too far calling for Craig's head but I can imagine it something said out of frustration rather than someone actually wanting it to happen.

As I said before Denise has got vast experience so she should be easily be able to produce moving performances - Louis on the other hand is learning to dance, act and perform from scratch - although he does have his fit, flexible body as an advantage

Denise was at her shittest with two easy dances, the waltz and the cha-cha. Of course Louis has also massive advantages compared to for example Richard Arnold or Nicky Westlife. Someone will always have advantages. (And to be honest i engage more with Denise van Ringer the Louis dances. He seems so dead behind the eyes).

I would have put Brendan and Denise together too. I think quite a few of the celebs have been given the wrong partner this year and it's contributed to some of the lack of "wow" some seem to be feeling

I think that's a bit harsh but you're entitled to your opinion I don't think anything I could say could convince you otherwise but I find Louis quite engaging - he's got a subtle sense of humour and he's just getting used to show biz.

I don't think Louis has got many advantages over Nicky - Nicky really should be better than he is - he's had years in show biz but for some reason he's not but then he has the comfort zone of his Westlife fan base.

She can dance, that's true. I don't care that she had previous, I just don't like her personality so I won't vote for her. Yes, before anyone says anything I know it's not a popularity contest, but I find it hard to vote for someone I'm not keen on no matter how well they dance.

Louis to win.

I think that would have been a good pairing.

I'm not sure that calling supporters of Louis 'mental' makes for rational argument. Indeed I'd be surprised if such a slur is within the t&c's of DS.

I'm sure that the dislike of her on the DS forum is not representative of the rest of the public: after all, she's still in the competition, so some people must be voting for her! She's by far the best dancer, but I can never decide whether to vote for the absolute best dancer (eg Alesha Dixon) or someone who I think has improved dramatically (Chris Hollins). I suppose a lot of it comes down to their showdance, too.

It's nice to see a Denise fan taking the moral highground.

I'm very disappointed with this thread. When I saw the title I thought it meant that someone had done some stats crunching and discovered that no matter what this irritating woman does, she will never be able to win.

Very disappointed it's just more same old, same old. Some people like her, others can't stand her. Deal with it.

and me cant stand the man he has the biggest head ever

What I never understand about the people who dislike a contestant for reasons other than their dancing ability is that quite often this goes on whilst bemoaning the fact that its not treated as a dance competition but as a personality competition. Denise is one of the best dancers this year yet gets constant flack but at the same time we have people bemoaning that strictly is not treated a s a dance competition people need to decide if its a dance competition for the best dancers or a personality contest and if its a dance competition then it shouldn't matter wether you like a person or not if its a personality competition then there shouldn't be complaints when a poorer dancer who is liked stays in