I thought Aliona was perfectly pleasant with him. Not standoffish, but respectful. They weren't performing at that moment, there was no need to be overtly tactile, and as someone stated above she was probably setting boundaries, which is more than understandable and justified.

He was being very enthusiastic about her, "very nice, very nice" is what he was saying, I think, or something to that effect. Maybe Aliona was uncomfortable with that. If she did a little spin or curtsey, she'd be considered arrogant.

I have to wonder at the people saying "poor Gregg". He has got a lovely woman to dance and spend time with, so what if she is not all over him for his or viewers' enjoyment?? That's not her job. She is not contracted to treat Gregg like a cuddly teddy bear. If a female pro naturally has that rapport with their celeb fair play to her, but come on. Aliona's job is to teach this guy to dance. Hopefully they will get on. I wouldn't want either to be unhappy over the next few weeks.

Hey Pet

Yes she did a bit (and people here and elsewhere noticed her reaction too, so I don't buy into the idea that she's being picked on just because she's Aliona). That said, reading back my post was maybe a little over the top! I do think she could have made more of an effort though - I'd say the other pros manage to on the whole and I can't remember a pro ever criticised for being too enthusiastic or anything like that.

You're right I think we would judge a male pro more harshly if his reaction was 'off' but I reckon that's tied up in chivalry etc

Whichever way you look at it - it was abundantly clear from the female pros faces that every single one of them was thinking "Please, God! Not me!"

The look of relief on their faces when Aliona's name was called was if anything even ruder than Aliona's poker face. Each and every one of them would have settled for anyone else and I'm sure they were all relieved when he was paired up first.

I didn't like Aliona in her first series (thought she pushed Rav too hard too quickly), and didn't like her sometimes wacky choreography. However - loved her with Matt Baker and harry Judd - and thought she was sweet with Tony. Cant comment on johnny ball as we never really saw her with him.

That said - having had a duffer last year - and coming to the rescue when natalie had to drop out, I thought that she would be given a mid ranking/ better celeb this year. She has instead been given Gregg - who is probably the least popular male celeb, or at least one of the most marmite characters in the cast.

Personally - I loathe Gregg - he comes over as a slimeball and gives me the creeps, so I have every sympathy for Aliona who now has to spend at least 20 hours a week with him pawing her as she tries to teach him to dance.

I agree - If you remember she did the same last year when she was paired up with the golfer - she is REALLY rude - they should get rid of her.

Like you, I've never liked Aliona - simply because of her bad attitude.

From the first time I saw her with Harry, I couldn't abide her smugness. When she is not being smug, she seems to think the whole world revolves around her and when she doesn't get her way (like last night) she stamps her petulant little foot.

I thought we'd seen the back of her after she talked to the papers and was disappointed when they bought her back.


No disrespect, but Tim could easily have been seen as the booby prize.


They won't be alone - there will be at least a cameraman and a producer/director there...

I noticed that too - she spoke to everyone else except for Gregg. I love Gregg, I hope he does well.

So rude to Tony of course that they are great friends and she and her husband were guests at Tony's recent wedding anniversary.

Aliona got on well with Johnny. Raised his training from 5 hours a day to 8 hours and said dancing came naturally to him. Things were going very well until she got injured.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e-irLgmVyw

Well she was RUDE to Tony initially, regardless of what followed.

I would award her a medal for being as enthusiastic as she was.

Imagine how you might feel as a professional dancer being landed with a duffer like Greg. If she had been enthusiastic the complaint would most likely have been:

I hate Aliona she's so false!

And clearly Tony getting to know Aliona and become good friends is more of a reflection on what Aliona is really like, than the over the top reaction on here just because she wasn't leaping up and down and screaming with delight.

If you think this is being rude, you must meet a lot of rude people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0b8hHCHWoo

Aliona and Tony at their first training session.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01hd807

I wouldnt bother tbh teeswolf, some people have clearly made up their mind about Aliona without knowing her

She is the least rude person I have ever met, I know what she is like and if small narrow minded people want to think she is rude and smug, then let them, I know different, as I am sure you do too

I would much rather have Aliona's muted reaction than the whooping and leg throwing of the likes of Kristina and Janette. They are embarrassing to watch imho.

As for reactions my 13 year old son and I nearly died laughing at the look of sheer terror on Kevin's face when he thought he might get Alison!!!

Love it! I remember watching that non-stop last year. Not that I am especially an Aliona fan. And I'm not at all a golf fan. But there was something so charming about them together. I love it when SCD throws up those unlikely couples that make you smiiiiiiiile like an idiot.

(Incidentally, it was the judging panel last year which I thought rude. Tony was clearly not going to make it through to the end stages. The judges didn't have to be harsh to eliminate him. A bit of encouragement and acknowledgement of his stage in life would have been appropriate)

I agree with this post - I didn't like Aliona in her first year, but I grew to really like her with Matt and that is one of my all time favourite partnerships. I thought she was good with Harry but if I'm honest I started feeling resentful - not so much towards her but the producers for favouring her so much and overlooking the other pros when she got Harry - I also thought winning the glitter ball with Harry went to her head a bit & then her outspokenness put me off her even more. However, IMO she redeemed herself with Tony - I thought she was so sweet with him. I would have liked to seen her this year with - not a contender but a likeable celeb that had middling potential - I wouldn't have minded seeing her with someone like Mark Benton or Russell Grant - I notice from her twitter feed she really gets on with Russell, so think she would have worked well with those sort of personalities - or if we're talking about this years line up I think it would have been interesting to see her with Steve.

Unfortunately she got Gregg - yes someone had to have him but I'm not going to condemn her for lack of enthusiasm - I would have felt sorry for whoever got him whether they can fake enthusiasm or not. I don't care if the BBC have made him famous to me he's always come across as an unsavoury character.

A nice smile in Greg's direction, why should she do more? I thought Aliona was actually quite reserved and given the reputation of her partner, I think I'd want a chaperone in the training rooms!

Unfortunately Aliona is not liked by DS and nothing she does will ever be right.

I think Aliona was quite right that they wanted her out week two - hence giving Tony a Charleston for week 2 when he was struggling for fitness with a Waltz for week 1.
Made me think of this:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvs4bOMv5Xw

I noticed it too at the beginning of the pairings - they were rather deflated I think and Alionas, Jakes faces were so obvious not pleased. I thought this hasn't started well - no wooohoooos but it livened up with the other pairings.

I agree, I really like Aliona and she was probably disappointed to be given 'the dud' after going out first last year. At least Natalie got Tim who seems like a lovely gentleman and they will probably have a fun time training together, whereas reports on Gregg suggest he is less pleasant!

I agree too. Dunno why he was so annoyed. Very rude

PJ

I said to myself yesterday, that Aliona isn't very demonstrative or effusive, which I compared to myself. I might be really happy on the inside, but don't always show it on my face, if that makes sense.

People may misinterpret Aliona's facial expressions as rude, when she just holds her emotions back a little.

Still waiting to see a link to this so called rudeness.

Just like the video clip with Tony last year showed, it never happened.

Maybe Gregg has been having dance lessons for years and this is a betting scam, and Aliona is in on it !!!

Yawn. The Aliona hate is so excessive.