Yes he did kind of put his foot in it though if that was the reason Clair was voted off I am not sure.
John was the consultant to the BBC for the show and did a lot more work for them than he got credit for. Still did the consultancy work for a number of years. He didnt return for series 2 as a pro because he had his school to run and Jane had just had a baby.
He wrote the notes for Craig when he was on ITT doing the training clips as Ian Waite does now. That was to make the public think that Craig knew what he was seeing.

I cant remember at what stage the show changed from being really good to gradually becoming awful as it is now. The BBC have gone too far with the tweaks etc and although I watch it I coldnt care less who wins or who gets voted off. Would be interesting to find out what Brendan thinks as he is the only original pro still there.

Poor Anton

Awww shame though. John (and his wife Jane) are great personalities and give so much to dance. I sometimes go to his beautiful studios (recommended by elizabethjo) although not my main dance school. I see him and Jane teaching some of the young dancers and they are wonderfully encouraging. Some really good dancers there as well.

I sometimes wonder if he would have made a good judge on Strictly. Quite outspoken, good dancing credentials (both as a competitor and adjudicator) and camera friendly...... However I doubt if it would be good for his dance career and so he probably would not have wanted to do it.


Hannah K was my favourite female latin pro on the show.

Would be lovely to see clips from this series again.

The sister show with Justin Lee Collins was very funny, think it was on BBC3?

Though series 2 (later that year) still remains my fave.

I mentioned the embarrasing moment to John today and got the real story.
That bit of the show where he likens the pros to Robbie Williams was filmed a while before the show actually started. John didnt know that it was intended to be broadcast. He said he cringed when he saw it on the TV. When it appeared in the paper they gave him the paper to read the next day when he went in to training and waited for a reaction they could film and put in the press again. He was livid that he had been stitched up and put the paper down and left the room with no comment then he gave the producers the benefit of his anger.
He thinks Clair being voted off had something to do with the personal problems she had at the time which were being plastered across the papers as well.

The BBC can be very devious finding ways to get things in the papers.

I can believe that. Thanks for putting the record straight.

Before it started, I don't think anyone really understood what was going to happen with the show, or how it was going to be run. The way it was put to my pro partner and myself we said we weren't interested. And quite a few top names from the dance world were linked, Donnie Burns among them, but he walked away before it began.

Trouble is, as I've always said, the BBC don't appreciate what dance is about. It's a bit of 'funny' to them, certainly nothing to be taken seriously, or with any sort of respect. They actually had some of the best amateur dancers (John & Jane among them) in the 'old' Come Dancing, but because of the dreadful way it was presented, ballroom dancing was given, what Len would call, "A-twinset-and- slippers" reputation, all fuddy-duddy, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I love Strictly (warts an' all) but I'd love to see dance proper shown occasionally, and as with other countries, shown as the SPORT that it is.

BTW you have lovely teacher in John. He and Jane are lovely people.

Kaycee I know that John is a lovely teacher, he has been teaching me for 8 years and he is very patient and amusing . Just got back from my lesson. My Fridays are never complete without it.It takes me 2 hours minimum to get there and 2 hours to get back. a lot of people think I am mad but those are people who have never met John.

elizabethjo, didn't you used to take lessons from Ian Waite? Did you change to John when Ian's time was taken up with the show or do you still have lessons with him aswell?

Ian stopped teaching when he was in Strictly. I realised very quickly that I wasnt going to learn to dance in the few months he had available.I dont think he teaches at all now.
John is a full time teacher and he is better for me size wise.Ian was 1 foot taller than me!
John is my only teacher now and has been for 7 years, out of the 8..

Only people who have never danced think that 2 hours each way for a lesson is mad - for the rest of us, it's quite normal! At our studio we have people who come from Holland and Belgium each weekend, and they think that's quite normal.

It is quite normal isnt it! I have got used to the journey and learned how to get round any travel problems. I get up at 5.30am on Fridays and that is quite normal too.! I manage to get there even when there is snow on the lines when local people call in and cancel their lessons.

That's dedication!

I loved series 1. Here's an article on it I found this week -

http://showbizgeek.com/what-ever-hap...ictly-line-up/

The video at the end really captures how fun the series was.

That was really funny, I must get out my dvd of the series and watch it again.

That really was a fun clip!

It was all on the one night wasn't it? Show, results included, then turn over to BBC3 for JLC and guests. I remember he kept calling Dermot Murnaghan "Murnahurn" in his Bristolian accent, and making Ian Beale laugh hysterically!

Chris Parker the Law graduate?! Who knew? Not me!

By the way, I've mentioned this before, but for those who don't know, CRH was never the original choice as a Judge. The BBC asked Matthew Bourne first, but he declined, as he didn't think he could fit it in with his busy career running his own Dance-Theatre Company, so CRH was invited instead. But Matthew loves the show and has been in the audience many times, he attended last year's Final with his Partner, Arthur Pita, they were the couple referred to on Twitter as: "Who are the 2 men in suits and specs in the audience?"

Len Goodman wasnt the original choice of Judge either. They had a woman but I am afraid I dont know her name offhand will have to ask John that. Apparently the woman couldnt manage to get into the studio for the date they had chosen for the run through so they just sacked her and got Len instead. She wasnt happy and pointed out that she had a contract and they said ok well sue us.

Just typical BBC attitude.

One day someone should write a book or make a documentary about how Strictly came to be, and all the shenanigans that went on in it's creation in the very early days. That would be very interesting!

And also what the pioneers of the first series thought about it all at the time, and in retrospect.

I know Bruce and Tess did a docu about how SCD has gone all around the world, but it was the sanitized version!

One thing that surprised me about Series 1 was that Martin Offiah, who was partnered with Erin, just missed out on the final (finishing 4th if I believe?) I can't believe Chris Parker got more votes as Martin was a far superior dancer.

Chris Parker couldnt dance at all and his comedy dancing was what was amusing the audience I guess so they kept him in until the end.

Do you remember the silly newspaper stories of Erin & Martin's *relationship* at the time? That was probably BBC inspired too, looking back to how things are done.

I wonder if Chris getting so far was a good thing for the series in the long run as it was more of a talking point and also got people interested in voting.

I think Chris Parker has just got his law degree this year. He had a bit of a rough time after he did the show and had to leave East Enders, so I'm glad it sounds like he's doing well. It was great seeing him on the Friday Panel last night.

Jason was huge and so soft like an enormous teddy bear! I still think he was voted out because he was so camp.

Hanna K was really sexy, and wore even less than Ola sometimes (or was that Hanna H from Series 3?)!

Funny I don't really remember John, but Claire was the one who got all the flack for having dance experience. She went too soon.

Martin Offiah just couldn't pull off a good routine, surprising really. He got on like a house on fire with Erin.

Lesley and Anton were SO funny to watch. Definitely one of the best partnerships on the show.

David was just an awful dancer and really not fit and I couldn't wait for him to be voted out.

I'm sure nothing 'happened', but you could believe that there was a romance going on between Natalie and Brendan. She was all practical and nervous at first - and then fell in love with dancing. I'd never seen anything like Strictly before and it was so romantic to watch a beautiful woman in the arms of a handsome guy dancing around the floor.

Funnily enough I don't remember anything in particular about the judges.

So much water under the bridge since then, but lots of good memories.

Possibly. It certainly was very divisive.

I voted for Christopher Parker all the way through series 1. As it was the start of Strictly, and we'd never seen anything like it before, it was seen by me - and I suspect many of the other first time viewers as a bit of froth, but fun .

The more the judges railled against Chris being there, the more I voted for him, I still vote for celebs who are unpopular with the judges now from time to time,

It was only from series 2 that I got serious about the voting

Buddy Hanna K was Paul Killick.s partner at that time though she did change partners a year or two later and danced Adagio. She wore very little for that as well, but she is a lovely person.