I think Natalie said on breakfast that they train for about 6 hours.

saturday is a 12+ hour day - I remember when I went to the Shepherds Bush studio to watch the show with friends, we arrived a little before 9am (yep, crazy I know) and the cars that the celebs/pros etc came in started to arrive at around 9am

Didn't Artem say, on ITT a little while ago, that Natalie had a better work ethic than he did and that was saying something!

Would love hearing him whinge in Iveta's voice...


nah... nobody can say anything different from the 'truth' about the chosen one.. ...pitstop....
Even the woodwork would come alive...

I was going to post the same . That is absolutely bonkers .
I mean fgs they're not rehearsing for the UK championships but a piece of plastic.

Maybe Artem was the wrong partner for Natalie . They are both far too intense, driven characters, striving for perfection. I think Pasha would be a better choice or the wonderful Ian if he was included.

Wow so she is not only seeing the voting breakdown but also knows the gender breakdown of calls and online voting. Must have picked that trick up from Bond ...

Think even the Friday before is a long day too, with a lot of hanging about waiting to rehearse for cameras etc.

I'm not surprised that Fiona & Susanna were not best buddies. Susanna probably doesn't suffers fools gladly and there was something about Fiona that made me want to slap her very hard & I only had to watch her on TV.

Susanna was the first one on the dance floor on Sunday to hug Fiona after she was eliminated, so I wonder whether Fiona is being misinterpreted.

Fiona said on ITT that her two favourites were Abbey and Sophie, but she wants Sophie to win.

Tweet Natalie and ask her what hours she does then. I'm happy to be proved wrong, but the numbers simply don't add up.

Natalie has already said she does 30-40 hours training a week, and that since she fainted she'll make sure she has a day off every week. That implies that she was already training on Sundays, so disregarding Fridays and Saturday which are taken up with the live show and rehearsals, 40 hours split over 5 days is 8 hours a day. I'm not disputing that she's working extremely long hours when you factor in that she has all the media stuff to do too as well as the Fridays and Saturdays, but it's not 12 hours of training a day, every day.

That's what I thought edy.

I reckon Fiona's got Susanna spot on - she does come across as ambitious and very keen to win. It doesn't have to be a bad thing though and I don't think there's reason to suggest Fiona meant it negatively anyway. It was just her being quite perceptive and frank.

Susanna certainly didn't get where she is or survive the environment she's in by being unambitious and meek. She'll have needed a gritty determination and a strong desire to succeed and she's now channeling those qualities into Strictly. That Paso was the perfect example. We'll see it again in the Cha Cha. Even if the technique isn't there, she won't let that defeat her; she'll sell the dance like her life depended on it. It's kind of admirable really.

agree Sid wanting to win is not a bad thing - Abbey will be just as determined too she is that type - she always does things full on - why enter these things if you dont want to win??

Lovely. *sigh

I was about to write something similar- but you've put it better than I could have. Nothing wrong with ambition- it's usually what Brits are accused of having too little of- as long as it's not at the expense of others.

I get the impression that beneath the façade Artem and Natalie hate each other intensely.

Most definitely. I think Susanna and Abbey want to win the most. And good luck to them.

Natalie has a different type of intensity which I also admire. I think she's more concerned with competing with herself and not letting her pro down. She's a perfectionist. She wants to get everything JUST right for her and for Artem and I can totally relate to that. I'm not sure it makes the best partnership from a viewer's perspective though. It's coming across a bit too job-like for me. They're like a pair of machines. But I think that's partly down to expectation as well. When you're so good, people expect a lot and are waiting to pounce if you mess up. The pressure Natalie and Artem are under is immense and at the moment I feel it's stifling their performances slightly.

Yes, in her latest blog (about Blackpool) she said:

I agree. The problem is when ambition is mixed with lack of talent and lack of moral/ethic parameters (which I dont think is the case here).

I dont think Susanna is a good technical dancer at all. She is not an elegant or beautiful dancer either, but as you say she sells the dance as best she can.

Not a clue if your right or not but it made me laugh.

Are we talking about the cricket here?

I like a bit of goss.

...and tonight on ITT Susanna said how sad it was that Fiona had gone because she was so into the programme.