He won his series and obviously got the votes and the good comments. What has changed - do you think it is because of his skating partner? Though Brianne has always annoyed me a little I must say.

I don't see anything wrong with Sam myself and quite like him but it seems that others don't as he isn't getting the votes and I wondered what had happened to turn the public off him in a couple of years.

I wondered the same thing. I thought his skate off performance was lovely, and personality-wise I find him less irritating than some of the other contestants.

I think the showmance with Brianne did him in a bit, but I also found their partnership on ice enjoyable, more so than the one between him and Vicky, lovely though she is and genuine though it is.

I think the main problem is that in his series he was the best skater and looked as if he was enjoying that. This time he is amongst many good and some brilliant skaters and performers and is not the best. Maybe he doesn't like that? I get the impression Kyran doesn't either? I think Sam's reaction to being in the skate off has not helped either and he really doesn't seem that enthusiastic this time or even look as if he is enjoying himself.

I personally find he has little rapport with his skate partner on the ice which is strange given their relationship! We re watched the show and commented how warm a relationship Ray and Maria seem to have in their interview with Phil and how cold Sam and Vicky came across! The same warmth could be said for Suzanne and Matt and Hayley and Dan whether you like them or not. I think Sam and Vicky suffer in comparison as they don't seem to have much connection or personality.

One final thought - their initial mock wedding skate with the kids rather started them off at a low point with the public as it was so sickly?

Because you can't compare votes from a regular series where you're one of the very few good ones with an All Star series which has people of equal or better ability and their own set of voters. People who voted for Sam in Series 6 are as likely to vote for Ray this series or Kyran or even one of the girls. Sam is good, his skate offs are even better, but there's more choice this year so something has to give. It's like all three girls have never had a vote problem in their own series or this year so far, but soon one will have to.

It's why people need to get over the Jorgie thing. A runner up like her was never going to get too far. Yes it was unfair how she went but inevitably her vote was going to get lost.

Can you imagine if Laura had been in it this year? She lost out to Sam by some margin and he's struggling for votes himself so how on earth would she have faired? Bottom of the vote like Jorgie, and same with Clare - beaten by Kyran who himself has been in a skate off, so what chance would she have had?

I've said it time and time again but Laura and Clare were two of my favourites but I'm kind of glad they stayed away as I would've seen them for all of a show or two and I'd rather Jorgie was sent packing as runner up female instead of those two. Sad but inevitable.

Zaarah and Bonnie did incredibly well to last as long as they did.

This certainly didn't help but the average voter would have forgotten that by now. He's just lost in a pool of big fish.

his skate offs have been sublime at times and may have swayed it for him had they been main routines. Another sign that the usual choreography is often tired.

He does seem to have a high opinion of himself, but portrays the "ever so humble/just love being here" bit far too much.

His personal relationship with his skating partner is also getting a bit boring, every week we have to hear about it.
Although her comment to him in one of the training sessions of "Don't talk to me like that", was very telling.

On skating ability he is probably 4th or 5th , so he is where he deserves to be.

I think Sam is a good skater; in "his" series he was definitely one of my favourites. Not so with this series. Maybe it is the partnership, I don't know, but his personality seems to have taken a nose-dive.

Originally he was always one of the best, while now he is just one of many and maybe he doesn't like it? Certainly he came across as being rather sulky when first in the skate-off, as if he didn't think he deserved to be there.

Previously I never over-rated Gareth, but last Sunday I would have preferred to have seen him stay and Sam go.

There's something about him I just didn't like in his series, and now he's back I like him even less.

It's clear he's not getting the votes this time round, having been bottom two three times now, and it must be demoralising for him and Vicky to end up there when weaker skaters go through. It's a shame as he's a good strong skater with the elegance that Kyran lacks, but id agree with the comments about the lack of chemistry between him and Vicky when they skate.

He's just not connecting with the public this time round for whatever reason, and for his sake it may be kinder to let him go if he's in the skate off next week, because if they save him again - he'll just be there the next week! He's one of the rare ones who hasn't had the benefit of a bottom 2 bounce.

I think there will also be people like me, who didn't watch the series Sam won.
So we are coming to the series with (perhaps?) a fresher view and we have seen the 'mock wedding' (which I thought was dreadful) and we have seen Sam's rather petulant reaction to being in the skate offs and we do not warm to what we see, despite the fact that Sam is a pretty good skater.

I think you are perfectly correct. Sam is a good skater, but in this series there are those who are better. Also, there's more to getting votes than just being a good skater, it's also about getting the popularity vote which only comes with likeability, which is something Sam doesn't seem to be working on.

Edit:

I'm not suggesting Sam isn't a likeable person, I'm sure he is, I'm just referring to how he comes across with his persona on the show.

One of the problems is that most of the competitors this time are

a. excellent skaters (Joe and Todd excepted) and:

b. have brought their own fanbases with them,

Ray, Hayley Kyran and Suzanne were all VERY popular on their series and Beth is the most recent champ whereas Sam was lucky to be the strongest skater in a pretty weak year in his series, Sams fans probably have someone from another series they are voting for rather than him.

his mugging to the camera isnt endearing him, and Id hazard a guess that a lot are being put off by the schmaltzy fiancees stuff as well

Not only is he not getting the public behind him, which is bad enough, but last week he must have been gutted to see himself second to bottom on the leaderboard, which means the judges aren't rating him either. I think next week will be make or break for him, though with the team challenge he's probably heading for the skate off whether the boys win or lose

He lacks a likeable personality in my opinion and i felt that way in his series(i was a laura fan).

I think he just comes across a bit like he's not a nice person - he could be the nicest guy in the world really but it doesn't show.

Wasn't he in the skate off in his series at one point too?

Yes he did one week - it might have been Team Challenge week

No it wasn't - it was props week

In his first performance, he dropped the hat (trying to catch it with one hand)

Then he said it was because that afternoon, they had swapped and he had a new hat.

In the skate off, he caught it with two hands to make sure he didn't mess up again

I don't think it's a case of him being hated or anything. He just happens to be in a competition with past champions who are all very good, and many of them have above average likeability. There were also a few more skaters who were selected for this year because they connected with the public.

The competition for votes is higher than ever, and simply being one of the better skaters isn't enough.

I don't think he's had any crowdpleasing routines either, speaks volumes that his skateoffs have been well received but are all adaptations of routines he did in his previous series.

The sick-making first week routine, with poor ???? in the wedding dress, coupled with the sappy VTs and Sam's inherently sour personality, have doomed him IMO.

He was helped in his series by the Chloe/Evil Laura fanwarz, the pro-girl votes were split - he won based on Riverdance, even after the repellant showmance with Brioche. I loved his Bollywood and Freddie Mercury routines, though.

His visible pissed-offness is a joy.

Have to agree with the other replies in this thread. The people who voted for Sam the first time around are probably just voting for someone else this time. Did anyone see his face at the start of the skate off off this week though? Looked really annoyed to be there again!

I would say part if the problem is his arrogance. Him and Vicky not come across well in their VTs. They think they are better than everyone there but they aren't and he thinks he has an entitlement to top the board and vote. His face during the votes says it all. The 3 times he's been in the skate-off he has had a face like thunder and somehow he thinks he doesn't deserve to be there. Vicky hasn't come across either and I think that Sam's rubbed off on her. She was a nice girl last year but its clear that Sam's arrogance and behaviour have clearly rubbed off on her. He wasn't a nice guy the last time. Faking a showmance, thinking he's better than he is but due to the level of skaters he got away with it. Not now and the others are more popular. He can't handle that. He probably a shoe-in for the skate-off this week despite the potential inflation lot scores with the other boys.

If the girls win, we're likely to get a Kyran/Sam skate off. If the boys win, Sam will probably still end up there and I think it might be time to send him home this week.

He is a good skater but, at this stage, he's not standing out above the others and he does come across that he thinks he's better than he is.

That fake romance with Brianne and hearing about his relationship with Vicky every week probably isn't helping him though!

I'm not sure he even thinks he's better than everyone else, but does seem to think that as one of the past champions, that should translate into getting loads of support. He seems to forget that there are other past champions there, and their popularity isn't a direct reflection on him.

That's how it comes across though. His face at the scores week on week and the scores of his rivals show you everything. He doesn't look happy when Christine talks to the contestants before the breaks. It looks like he believes he the best which isn't always a bad thing if you show it in the the right way as it can bring out the best in you because you believe your the best and you show it. But with Sam it comes across as arrogance because he isn't shoeing it in the right way. He clearly forgets it a competition and thinks that because he has won it automatically he is guaranteed the final. He thinks he shouldn't have to work for it. As the others have shown they are really trying to improve but to me Sam hasn't really improved much since week one to now and he's the weakest left due to this.

What's all this with referring to Vicky as ????? - I have seen it numerous times in posts and don't get it.