Hi all, just wanted to pop in and add my support for Gareth. I'm a huge rugby fan, and must say, I was kind of expecting a disaster, like Jason. However, I was really touched to see him doing ballet in the opening VT - that's a man who's committed to doing the very best he can!

I remember him on Born to Shine too - he did well

I prefer Gareth to Matt too - I found Matt a bit messy & a bit cocky too.

The votes in the duel will be interesting - imagine Jason & Ashley will vote Matt so it will be down to how Robin & Karen vote.

I didn't like Matt at all. Agree that Jason and Ashley will vote for him though, unless Gareth really pulls something out of the bag - and he's a rugby player, so we shouldn't discount it! Will Robin have the casting vote, though?

Can't see how else they will do it - he has the casting vote in the skate off though it's not come down to that so far.

I remember him on that. He came across so well and you could tell just how close the two of them had become.

Really good. Go on mate. Hope you do well here.

Ouch poor Gareth

Cant see Gareth being voted out yet

Am certain Gareth will be safe.

That was a close one. I'm going to throw a few votes Gareth's way next week.

It was a shocker and I thought for a moment 'will he go' given the whole dramatics before hand. However he is one of the strongest which is getting mentioned a lot. Are people not voting for him thinking he will be safe being so strong in the contest.

I think a few things conspired against Gareth this week.

I don't think they did enough to inform people this year that everyone was at equal risk of being in the skate off regardless of judges comments & that it was solely a public vote. Last year they really laid it on thick & T&D were virtually begging for people to vote for Jorgie.

Comedy vote went to Joe. Luke as well as being a pretty decent skater with real potential if he can nail the performance probably got a lot of votes with Jason being unnecessarily harsh with him.

He was on firt & has been for he first 2 weeks. Particularly odd they they put the best duel on first. Time for a pimp slot next week.

Maybe people thought he was safe - I voted for Oona (not that it did her any good) as I thought she would need my votes more. Maybe others did the same?

Having said all that perhaps I have overestimated his vote. I do think he'll get a vote bounce & I don't expect to see him in another skate off for a while but this does lead me to question whether he can win overall?

I think Gareth could be another Sebastien sadly - someone who's really exciting to watch with great potential, but who struggles to compete with other stars who have more fans. I hope he does really well in the competition though, and as I've voted for him twice tonight, I'm really glad he went through!

Not sure I'd quite go that far. Gareth has in theory more advantages that Sebastien. He is quite well known whilst Seb was virtually unknown, non Brits generally do badly in the phone vote on these shows whilst gareth should have a strong regional vote also. And whilst Seb was good he was probably about the 4th or 5th best skater last year whereas Gareth is in top 2 so far.

And finally as we saw tonight...Gareth didn't have a meltdown in the skate off.

I do think it'll be a few weeks before we see him in the skate off again if at all.

True - but let's not forget that Seb went out in a particularly challenging skate-off. The point about being unknown is probably a fair comparisan though, although to be honest I didn't really know who Gareth was before and I'm supporting him now. Hopefully he'll win over more fans in the weeks ahead.

I hope you're right He is a good strong skater with the same *concern* (I'm not sure that's exactly the right word ) for his skating partner that Matthew Wolfenden had with his. If he could nail the performance aspect, I believe he could go very far.

Hmm, this thread seems to have slipped a little...

Any chance we could resurrect it and show our support for Gareth?

Beth's my favourite but I wouldn't mind Gareth winning

Love Gareth, he's my favourite.

I'd like Beth to win, but I'll still be happy if Gareth does

Will be very disappointed if the winner is anyone but Beth.

I would like either Beth or Gareth to win

Me too to be honest.

I'll be happy if either Gareth or Beth win. Anyone but Matt.

Gareth or Beth need to win if not just to show up that producer manipulation and biassed attitudes from the judges and coaches do not work! , no matter what happens Matt will be in the final because even if he ended up in the SO, the judges would just save him as he is 'golden boy'