I know this is a dance competition and tv show and Artem want to win just like most of the Pro Dancers and celebs but it seem to me the reason for Natalie's Fainting maybe Artem has been pushing her too hard and taking it to the limit of what Natalie can do

I also think Darcey was right a few week ago when she said that Natalie needs to slow down and there problem with her back which won't help either I think trying to get more ten from the judges was also a factor in her fainting

Also Natalie would have to leave the show if the Doctor told she need to rest a bit longer

I don't think she needs Artem to push her as she is highly competitive within herself, is a fan of the show and wants to always improve on the previous week. The week that shows this is the week she hurt her back and she was determined to dance the dance that Artem had already choreographed with little to no changes. Also if you noticed when Darcey gave that critique Natalie looked at Artem & shook her head.

The fact she has been labelled a ringer means she is probably pushing herself harder than anyone else to make sure she doesn't have a bad dance.

I don't want to say he is bad here as he has been working with Natalie and whatever she has done has not been forced on her, but I do think his ambition has been there.

She has been given all the flak for her "dance background", but the talent she has has I believe been pushed by Artem. She said in the beginning that Artem said to her words to the effect "don't cry on Saturday if you have not done enough to cry during the week". Ouch!
Natalie must have a desire to win, but what concern's me is Artem's role in this.

I don't think Artem's pushing her too hard,i just think Natalie's body cant take the stress because of her injury,how is she going to cope in the semi's and and final with the extra dances,i don't think it is worth making herself ill just to try and win strictly.

She has had considerable dance experience, far more I think than Kara.
Maybe she doesn't have the same basic fitness?

I don't know about pushing her too hard but he, as the pro, might be expected to put his foot down and limit the training if it is too much for her with her back problems and delicate health. From her tweets as reported on other threads, she is saying the current problem is 'exhaustion', so obviously she must be over doing the training as I think she is one of the few of the celebs who isn't doing any other job. It must be a difficult balance to strike when the celeb is keen to practice as much as possible but with her talent I would have thought she could afford to train less intensively and take the rest she obviously needs to cope.

Natalie is pushing herself too hard.

I expect it's all a bit emotionally charged, she planned to dance as a career, that option was taken from her. She probably see's this as a last chance to fulfil some very old desires and is working herself as if she *is* a professional, despite not dancing for a decade and having a serious health issue.
She's got something to prove, but only to herself. No wonder she's had a freak out.

I love to watch her and Artem, I hope she can return.

The intense reflected light from fArtem's dazzling pearly whites began to give her hallucinations and she ran round in circles trying to find an oasis and suck a camel's hump before she got heat stroke.

This exactly. I just hope Artem keeps an eye on things and stops her over doing things from now on.

He seems genuinely concerned so I would think he'll be stricter in making her slow down from now on.

Artem is known as a hard tastmaster but I don't think Natalie needs any pushing - she too makes makes demands the highest standards from herself and as a consequence perhaps she punishes her body just a little too much.

I hope she finds a middle ground between seeking perfection and respecting the limitations her body can stand. I'll be devastated if she has to withdraw from the competition.

I agree one night on the daily show he said she works too hard.

It's probably a case of her and Artem being too similar - competitive and perfectionist. Usually you would have the celeb saying it's too much training or the pro saying relax, it doesn't have to be perfect.

I think they have been training upwards of 30 hours a week, which is a huge workload when you consider they also have to be there on Friday and Saturday for the whole day for rehearsal and filming the Saturday and Sunday shows.

I tend to think the other couples build their stamina gradually until they can do those hours, but Nat and Artem perhaps have been doing this every week for nine weeks. Also I imagine 6 hours training with Artem is infinitely more gruelling than 6 hours with Anton, for example.

I think this is right. It's both that they're serious, hard-working and competitive, and, going by Natalie's blog, that they're both worriers. I can see that 30 light-hearted hours of training would feel very different to 30 hours of driven anxiety, even if the physical activity was exactly the same in both cases.

One of them needs to pretend to be the slob of that outfit, for the good of both of them.

Hardly think it's Artem's fault, he could barely get Holly to break into a sweat.

I do think she is incredibly hard on herself and they are both a bit intense and so are piling the pressure on themselves. There's a certain pressure and weight of expectation that comes with being good and I think they're both feeling it.

I hope if she can continue, Natalie learns to let go and just enjoy it for what it is, doesn't matter if you win or not.