In Strictly theres always males and females in the finals.

I presume it'll be a 2 female, 1 male final. But which male?

Forgetting Mark - thats unlikely, will it be Ashley or Patrick?

At the beginning I'd have never guessed that Patrick would have such an impression on the show (he is over 50 after all!) but he really has shown he is a strong dancer.

Yet Ashley is also a strong dancer, and the younger male (who are always at an advantage)

Which do you think will be in the finals?

There are four couples in the final this year. And I don't think any of the men left will necessarily be in it if TPTB really want a female winner - Patrick's still got that dance-off lurking in the memory and hasn't had a test of his public vote since. And Ashley still has a punishing work schedule with two dances to fit in from next week.

If you're asking based on their dancing, then Patrick.

No there's not. Series 7 was just Chris Hollins and Ricky Whittle.

Anyway, regardless of what's happened before, there is no guarantee that there will be a male celebrity in the final, especially as there are 4 very good female contestants this year.

Probably none. The more weeks go by, the less effective the judges' technique of hauling the unpopular ones to the top of the leaderboard is. I reckon even if they try that, we'll see either Abbey or Patrick pushed out in a dance-off by Natalie, or Abbey vs. Patrick. So it depends whether the judges decide they need a man in the final, or they want a new angle (the first all-female final). My prediction would be Mark out this week, Ashley out next, and Patrick out in the semi-final.

Also series 4: Mark vs. Matt.

How do you know there will be four? It may not follow last year's pattern. They might have two couples leaving in the semi final, like they did two years ago.

I think it will come down to the judges having to choose if they want Patrick or Abbey/Natalie in the final.

No, actually they had three in the final that year, including Emma Bunton.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/pro...ults-show.html

Emma was out the week before the final. They were one elimination ahead of schedule that series because of Jimmy Tarbuck's heart problems.

They'd be idiots to go back to the old way. Last year was one of the best finals in a long time - Denise and Louis did well in all of their dances, and Kimberley in two of her three. Dani kind of ballsed it up, but I reckon the others did well because the only new dance they had to learn was their showdance. Plus if one person cracks under pressure, it's more noticeable when there's just three couples.

Why? Because a precedent was set with Denise who they couldn't bear to leave out because she worked for the Beeb?

IT STINKS LIKE A SKUNK!

Nah she went out in the semi-final - check wikipedia.

Aljaz, Kevin, Brendan and Artem.

They're men, right?

Denise definitely danced out of her skin in the final, but her presence made the final week pretty miserable to be honest. After sitting through a solid week of nothing on It Takes Two but discussion of her previous experience, I wanted the whole thing over with. I still say it should have been a three person final and they should just have let her go in the semis.

Yes, I think you are right, although it does say on Wikipedia that she was in the final on the 23rd of December.

I think four couples is too many for a final. It should be two or preferably three. I also thought it was really stupid last year that we never knew who exactly was second and third.

Not to mention that they are better dancers than the supposedly celebrity males.

SCD is one of the few programmes I watch regularly on TV so the professionals are better known to me than the "celebs". I suspect by now that applies to most of the forumites here every new series.

Ditch the celebs and just have the pros so I want a final with the likes of Karen & Kevin vs James & Ola vs Janette & Aljaz

Ahem! So no Brucie nor Davarch neither?