I can't see Denise and Louis being in a dance-off together, they may not be in a dance-off at all, but voters do get apathy and expect those at the top will be safe, look at Alesha it was a shock when she was in a dance-off.

I always think SCD needs a range of dancing ability to keep viewers interested. It would get boring if it was a bunch of total first timers learning to dance and anyway what is stopping the first timers getting some dancing lessons once they have signed up to appear, it's been done in past years by contestants. It they want to start completely from scratch it's their choice.

I still don't get the people who find her 'fake' or loud - she seems nice and not at all like the Essex Girl name tag that she came with. She's just as warm and friendly as any of the other women; more so than Victoria or Kimberley.

Matt vs Penny is the obvious example, although only if we're talking "high marking" in general terms, given that Penny screwed up royal in the week she was cut (although Matt wasn't exactly shining in that week either). Also possibly Ricky Nipple vs Laila, although again, Laila was so transcendentally awful that week she couldn't feasibly have been saved.

Frontrunner male vs frontrunner female dance-off are rare anyway. It's basically those two and Austin vs Lisa. I think it would be tight in a Denise vs Louis dance-off, mostly because they'd be rewriting the intended endgame of the entire series on the fly. I think Louis would be safe though, probably on Len's Deciding Vote.

I absolutely agree - Denise has a certain warmth that Kimberly, Victoria, Nicky and even Louis don't have.

I am curious about the amount of hours the celebrities put in. I'm thinking Denise can train more than Kimberley who seems incredibly busy. I'm not at all sure why Kimberly escapes the professional dancer tag that Denise has. Kimberley just seems to be on a promotional tour that SCD is just a part of and I find it a touch irritating.

Did you watch her in the 80's/90's?
The Essex tag is one she herself keeps perpetuating (in the hope for extra votes), they should fine her every time she says it imo. It's like a bloomin catchphrase.

I disregard the training hours stats because the celebs all have varying degrees of time they can devote to training, so the stats don't give an accurate picture by themselves.

Ramps and James are two of my favourite Strictly men and I completely agree with the bib


Denise/James and Louis/Flavia are my joint favourites this year so I hope this doesn't happen or I shall be a nervous wreck

Thanks for that. Really interesting. Penny I remember as not being much good at all, but maybe that's not fair. Ricky v Laila I'd forgotten about completely. Perhaps it's just Austen v Lisa that's scarring me. With Denise v Louis (which I really hope never happens) I don't think gymnastics is a sufficiently manly sport for Len.

Penny was your classic "good at ballroom, bad at Latin" contestant, and she got a stinking dance-draw to go with it. She got two of the salsambcha trio AND Tall-Person-Jive in her first five dances. Poor girl was doomed.

I've come to a similar conclusion about Kimberley. I found Bunton similar as she was doing the Children In Need single the year she did SCD. SCD seems/ed like a tie-in for both of them and I thought it was the reason the judges/BBC fought to keep Bunton in.

It is Denise rather than Kimberley who is better known for West End work and stage school training. I think the presumption that DVO is a dancer pre-SCD and then the high standard of her dancing by right from the beginning of the series have drawn even more criticism and suspicion. The pre-show denials have made Van Outen look false and insincere. Van Outen not a dancer - my *rs*!




She must think it's popular with the GBP! I think it was in the cheeky/tarty Essex girl days of BB. But it's so out of date now and I would have thought not popular with the SCD demographic. Perhaps that's the limit of her personality and why she no longer gets any TV work.

Yes, her Waltz was just perfect

Is it me or just James not seem as happy this series?

Has Van Outen, the professional dancer, actually had a bad dance with low scores yet?

Kara and Alesha both never had a score under 30. Denise had that 2 times.

Including a 25, which is very average. Her Cha Cha wasn't great at all either.

You can't totally compare scores across seasons, especially since the judges were obviously told to be quite harsh this year (early on anyway). Even so, I don't think Denise is a professional dancer.

I agree. He and Alex had a lot of fun, last year and seemed to get on really well. Perhaps James thinks that he ought to win with a good partner so he's stressed. It's strange.

His wife hasn't had the best time of it so it's probably affecting him too.

she narrates TOWIE as far as I am aware and so has a weekly show on the tele , she also has recently done a film and theatre

But ask any female TV personality about growing older and maintaining their presence on the television, I don't think it is so much that she is stale as she is no longer as young as she was

They are voting a little harder this series . So you can't compare. With sterner marking even a 25 isn't that bad!

I know she introduces and closes TOWIE. But that's not the same as being on the TV. I think she wants to get her face back on the telly and hopes SCD will helps her achieve that.

You may be right about her age. I hadn't considered that. So the image she projects might not fit with her age. I hadn't heard she had done any film or theatre this year but you could be right.

so it doesn't matter that she gets bad scores because it is the judging or scoring that is different.

despite the fact that it was after Alesha's series that the general view was that the scoring had eased up.

OK fine love the logic

Well, Biggins *shudders* was on about what a pro she is on ITT. And she IS a pro. She positively oozes pro. Fine. But she shouldn't be on this show.

I know there are grey areas. Anyone in acting can probably do a bit of sword-play/riding/dancing/singing to a decent level. But Denise goes way behind grey into the BLACK zone. She's the pro-iest pro from PRO-land who has ever been on SCD. I wish we could do without the thesps altogether.

But DVO? No.

Denise is good fun and dances well, she has as much chance of winning as anyone else and more than most. Stage/theatre dancing is hardly the same as ballroom and Latin. I hope Denise gets to the final, she deserves it.

BIB That's your opinion! Logic?

Even Denise & James were still 4/14 on the leaderboard!

Try telling Michael & Natalie who have had a 15 that 25 is a BAD score. 62.5% versus 37.5%.

Yep DVO's definitely an old pro.


PS DVO and the term thesp together is a step too far.