What about Abby she trained as a Ballet Dancer....so your argument goes straight out of the window...

Agree. But in fairness the BBC hired her. This is why I find her boring though and Artem is hardly Mr. personality either. Dull couple who dance superbly.


Not really. Abbey had a few lessons I believe, so hardly the same.

About time someone started a thread on Natalie similar to this. Then we could have the battle of the smugs.

Apols for bitchiness but it's doing my head in that a couple of female dancers are receiving so much negativity but others, equally annoying to many, if not more so, seem exempt.

There's a huge difference between ballet lessons as a child & training to be a pro dancer which Natalie did until injury stopped her.

No, it doesn't. Sorry to disappoint you.

As Caramel Crunch rightly says, having some ballet lessons as a child is massively different from training as a professional dancer. No other Strictly contestant has ever done that.

And, at the end of the day, whether or not anyone likes or doesn't like Natalie, that's a fact. So why try and dispute it?

BIB - quite. And she is being scored so highly that it's impossible to know how she's faring in the public vote. She will get an automatic pass to the final, of course ... but will that guarantee her the glitterball trophy? Not sure. Like some others on here, I get the feeling that this may be another year in which the most technically gifted contestant does not win. But we shall see.

I agree, there is a lot of negativity out there, not just on DS.

Personally I wouldn't want a dud dancer to win but I do want someone that has demonstrably improved and turned into a lovely dancer. I'm really, really hoping Sophie can do that.

Anyway technical ability is not always the whole package.

[quote=Caramel Crunch;69852785]There's a huge difference between ballet lessons as a child & training to be a pro dancer which Natalie did until injury stopped her.[/QU

Here we go again Natalie went to Theatre School so studied in Drama, Speech, Dance everything really. She may have wanted to dance as a career but injury took over and that put paid to that, anyway that was 10 years ago.

Susanna certainly did before C.I.N. Abbie had lessons before the show apart from her ballet lessons.

Sophie's Mother let it out of the bag that Sophie had been in dance shows and had ballet training as a young girl.

Ashley went to Theatre School so had dance lessons.

Mark also and dances in Hair Spray so there we go.

Natalie should have kept quiet like Denise last year who had played the West End continuously then she would not have had all this flack and really nasty comments thrown at her.

If you don't like Natalie then don't watch her.

[quote=aimeeaimee1000;69853111]
No, you don't get it. Natalie's level of dance training and experience is much greater than the other competitions. She was hired for the show and therefore we should all accept that it is not her fault. That does not mean we cannot comment on it or for facts to affect our judgement on who is more worthy or not.

My daughter had ballet classes and was quite good but she would be no where near the level Natalie was when she first stepped into the show.

As for nasty comments, you really should go read some of the other threads.

Natalie's training isn't like that of other actors who've competed in Strictly. She specifically trained as a dancer. I know - I've met someone who trained with her (as a dancer).

As far as I'm aware, no other SCD contestant has ever come from that kind of background. Even DVO.

Saying that she's trained professionally isn't 'nasty' at all. It's a cast iron fact. And nothing to do with liking or not liking her at all.

That has no relevance to what is being discussed here.

I don't know Susanna Reid personally and, as far as I'm aware, nor does anyone commenting here.

Susanna Reid may be an excellent mother, a wonderful friend, a warm and caring human being and she may even donate half her salary to Help For Heroes but that doesn't stop the fact that I can't stand the TV personality Susanna Reid.

We're watching a series of celebrity Come Dancing where a significant number of viewers see something in Susanna Reid that turns them off. There's another contestant in this years series that's having a similar effect. The fact that so much is written about them suggests there's an element of truth in even a fraction of what's said.

I've been 'accused' of being in camp Natalie - I'm completely neutral towards Natalie but she is the one I most look forward to watching every week. I have my feet in two camps....Sophie and Abbey.

I could mention the name Susanna Reid to work colleagues or in the company of friends in the pub and she will divide opinion amongst both sexes. Some love, some loathe and the majority just don't care or understand the polarised opinions.

So, there we have it. For me it's got nothing to do mothering skills, intelligence, sporting prowess or even dancing.....

I just don't like Susanna Reid the TV personality.

So refreshing to see a bit of sanity, at long last. Excellent post

I think that's absolutely spot on. I do think it's sad when posters start an endless campaign to rubbish some of the celebs (and pros) at a personal level.

I've never seen her on tv, so judge only from her appearances on SCD. Took me a long time to warm to her but I do admire her spirit, her partnership with Kevin is also appealing to many. I think that is why she just may win SCD. Sophie is my personal favourite but I have to be realistic.

I know what you mean - I feel a little that way myself, inasmuch as I was even aware of Susanna Reid, the TV personality, before this show (I rarely see daytime TV). My impression of her is as quite a cold fish.
That said, having watched this series of Strictly, I have grown to admire the passion and enthusiasm she puts into her dancing and the good rapport she has built up with her partner.
So now my impression of Susanna Reid, TV personality, is moving from cool, detached journo woman who's not very touchy-feely, to passionate dance enthusiast who can be very touchy feely (in paso doble mode). I like this better.
Fact is, I don't have to like Susanna personally to like her dancing, and I'm liking her dancing more and more.

That's it in a nutshell. Good post.

It certainly didn't help Denise - she came in for far more negativity than Natalie has. In comparison Natalie's have been rather tame <thankfully!>

[quote=Tissy;69854659]
Yes she did! I really liked DVO and would have happily seen her win. The fact someone has dance experience isn't enough to put me off them, nor is the lack thereof. It's a whole host of 'other', and sometimes unexplainable.

I like Natalie very much indeed and if she was asked to appear, has every right to be there. However, if you look at her Spotlight page it says she is highly skilled in Cabaret Dancing, Jazz Dancing, Latin American and Tap (although no mention of ballroom).

http://archive.is/GxaCS

Sophie had become my firm favourite after last night's ITT. Strange, it's not exactly what she said and can't explain it, I was toggling between liking Abbey and Sophie and now my heart is stolen... Then again, if Brendan does bacofoil rumba, I might want my heart back. Fickle, I know...


Yes, I am liking her dancing more and more too. At first I liked her easy rapport with Kevin. In fact, I would say their chemistry was instant in the launch show (Mark and Iveta, on the other hand, was a slow burner, and now they have also established a close rapport with each other). I sometimes watched clips of her (and Bill) in the past doing her day job on youtube, and she's business-like and polite, and elicit no other warm emotions from me, which is fine, after all she's not a tele-evangelist or a chat-show host, so it's best she keeps her professionalism and dignity. There is NO DOUBT that she had made visible improvement with her ballroom dancing. Her latest ballroom (waltz) was danced with so much more polish than, say, her tango. Paso is not quite a typical latin dance though. And as many have commented, Kevin had decided to adopt a fcuk-all-I'll-show-em approach with that dance, so that may not be the best indicator of how far she has actually progressed in that genre. Samba was a royal mess, though she did give it a good shot, but we haven't seen the true test of latin prowess, namely the rumba, so we can't really say for sure if she has improved in that area thus far...

Yes, cold, hard facts. Thank you for the reminder.

An agent bigging up his/her client's CV to get her work doesn't constitute cold hard facts in my book. Yes, Natalie trained at the Italia Conti stage school, majoring in acting and musical theatre, which requires dance training. Although she hasn't learned the ballroom and latin repertoire, undoubtedly the dancing skill will help her to master the dances in Strictly.

I also have to mention again that she is not alone in having this kind of advantage. Many other Strictly contestants have had dance training, including two worthy winners (Jill and Kara).

Getting back to the thread topic, I didn't know Susanna before Strictly as I don't watch much TV. From what I have seen, I like her bubbly personality, she is clearly intelligent, is a fine dancer and her relationship with Kevin is very sweet. Does that make me want to vote for her? Well, no. I won't be upset if she wins (which I expect she will) but she hasn't fired me to pick up the phone and vote for her. I don't know why, but although I've enjoyed her dances (particularly the waltz and the paso), I haven't been wowed by them. *shrugs*

Psst. You don't have to put in there 'highly skilled', just 'proficient' will do... AND she admitted to it in the launch show (or was it week one show?)...

Get on - I put 'Good computer skills' on my CV and that ain't the complete truth.

It's more like 'Not bad, but anything new you have to explain to me a hundred times and write it down'.

This. x infinity. And I like Susanna. But your point is sound.

That's good enough to be called good I supposed. But you didn't say highly skilled did you?

Well, in that case, why is everyone (not everyone, but for dramatic, flounce-worthy effect only) crucifying DVO's lady bits when she said she 'merely sat on the chair'???

I'm not quite with you SCD O - but if it's any help. I didn't give a toss about DVOs experience either.

Just making a small point about 'resumes' 'I work well with others but am also very good at working alone' blah de blah proactive......excellent.......bollocks.