I do appreciate the ‘Journey’ contestants, this year think that could be Sunetra and possibly Jake, however I'm more of a good choreography and quality dancing viewer. Could barely watch Gregg and some of the others.

Never really subscribed to the aversion to people with previous dance experience. Some of the best and most memorable (in a good way) strictly dances have been performed by what most FM would consider ringers; DVO, Kara Tointon, Natalie Gumede, Jill Halfpenny, Rachel Stevens, Alesha Dixon and Kimberley Walsh.
[We need a male ringer list too I’ll start: Matt Baker he was good but was he a ringer? ]

Pixie had plenty of show but she fluffed the side by side section, she has an obvious flair for dance so if she can master the technique her dances should be good. I wouldn't call her a ringer based on that jive though.

The so-called ‘dirtiest ringer’ of them all would be Nicole Scherzinger, she won her season on DWTS. If you want to see true ringerism in all its glory watch her week 1 VW, week 2 jive (2 10s) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M95eKV9GnrA and her Argentine tango (perfect 30). Her '1950s' style paso was ridiculously good too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf4_Zc-HBkE

She could rival all the strictly pro females for performance and dance not technique though hers was good but obviously not professional standard. Most people on this forum would have despised her on Strictly. But for me her excellent dancing more than made up for her lack of journey. It didn’t hurt either being Derek Hough’s muse.

Without celebs capable of dancing well for the first few shows strictly would be a bevy of Judy Murray and Scott Mills performances. They gave it a go and performing live in front of an audience and millions at home is nerve-racking. However, their routines and dancing didn’t appeal to me.

Also it’s hugely beneficial for the pros to be given a ringer so their talents can be showcased too. Kara brought the best out of Artem in terms of choreography, their tango, rumba, American smooth, VW were sublime. I know their relationship brewing off the dance floor gave their dances an extra edge but for me a partnership with someone like Rachel Riley, young, attractive and clearly not a ringer couldn’t have produced similar results.

This series I’m wondering if Kevin’s Latin routines will be less frantic. There was content aplenty but there wasn’t the finesse apart from the Paso, which was very good. Frankie's waltz is better than anything I saw from him last series yes he does have a contender but Susanna finished runner-up and was by no means a poor dancer.

Anyway, whether your preference is for the ringer types or someone like Tim it’s a mixed bag so there’s someone for everyone to like/vote for.

I thought that Jennifer Grey was more of a ringer than her. I know she was older, but still.

I agree with you - the stand - out dancers make the show for me. Rachel, Kara, Natalie and Alesha were just so fantastic. The clod-hoppers just have me leaving the room to put the kettle on or something, I'm just not interested in them. This year I've already predicted Frankie, Pixie and Mark as ones to go far and from what we've seen I reckon I'm right ! Not much bothered about the others yet I'm afraid, we'll just have to see if any of them improve much.

Now you see,I just didn't enjoy that

The 'clod-hoppers' that made me giggle. I'm usually hiding behind a pillow, I can tell by about 15 seconds in whether I can watch a whole performance. I seriously can't watch people making a show of themselves on the dance floor especially when they're trying to dance but failing miserably.


This was a themed week; there was also a futuristic cha cha I bet you'd like that one. I know a lot of people dislike dances like this but the choreography pushed the creativity envelope. Incorporating a 50s style into a paso which still had recognizable paso steps and making it look that good was pretty impressive to me at least.

I was so so ready to hate that 50s Paso but by god, it looked fantastic!

Why Mark? I do like Mark but of the males I thought Simon (who I am not particularly keen on) might do better. Don't forget Caroline btw, she is one to watch and Jake.

It's so left-field but it worked, Derek Hough is a one-off.

I like there to be people who can dance, and i never care if they have previous experience or training. But they dont always make for the best performances, and thats where strictly is truly a level playing field. People like mark and iveta can be more entertaining than the better dancers, some of the time.

Personally I would be bored rigid if we had a group mostly made up of those with previous dance experience.

What makes if for me are the unexpected joys like Mark Ramprakash and the interesting combinations like Katya and Gavin Henson

All I really want to see is people putting the effort in and improving, wherever they start. I agree I like to see different abilities, it wouldn't be interesting if they were all promising at the outset. I do enjoy those who are, or end up being, quite good at it though.

Mark could move so I wouldn't put him in the same bracket as someone like Dave Myers who didn't appeal to me at all. Mark's MC Hammer cha cha wasn't the car-crash it could have been, he actually did an ok job.


I agree, varying levels of dance ability is good for the show. Most of the time you can spot a 'journey' contestant e.g. Caroline, Sunetra, Jake right off the bat. But while some dances will suit them others won't, the ringers most of the time will dance well even if their technique is iffy.

I suppose the question is what does make a ringer? Female celebs who went to a stage school get the ringer tag without a thought but didn't Jake go to one or the other of them ... Sylvia Young? ... so if applying the normal girl celeb rules - doesn't than make him just a litte bit ringery?

just going to post that aggs would put jake as a bit of ringer and Caroline a full on ringer danced as a child (though not ballroom and latin) and took part for england in the wheelchair ballroom dancing comp

I did write in my OP that we could do with naming more male ringers but people tend to focus on the female celebs for whatever reason. The point of this thread wasn't to single out the female so-called ringers over the males. It was more about how people like Kara and Jill are good value for the show whether they be ringers or not. In terms of dance ability it can never be a level playing field and I'm not too bothered about 'unfair advantages' bc it's a talent entertainment show not a real dance competition.

The Strictly Celeb Booking Elves are always going to go for a combination of the adept, the average and the hopeless. The hopeless more or less get picked off immediately but give the average time to improve and the adept time to let people forget they started out as adept

It does seem unfairly skewed towards the female celebs to being outed as ringers, though. Any of the girls who has so much as set foot in a dance lesson is given the side eye where a guy can have actually gone to a stage school and yet their ringeryness remains unrung

Personally, I'd have the absolute beginners this year down as Judy, Scott, Gregg, Steven and maybe Jennifer and Mark.

Like in those help support groups I'm going to stand up and admit that I am a lover of great dancing, I AM, I LOVE IT!!!!!!

Sometimes I feel like have to be ashamed of preferring good dancing celebs while struggling (sometimes) to gravitate towards early beginners or complete novices. I appreciate that some viewers pref to watch just complete novices, so why can't they likewise appreciate I have an eye for people that have a great ear for music and a born talent to move really well (sometimes with no real effort). Different folks and strokes, you like what level you like, and I'll happily like what I do. Sure I can have a laugh at the likes of Ann and Nancy and John and will always credit their efforts (if they actually try), but I don't have to like their attempt to dance if it doesn't naturally appeal. If the likes of Kara, Colin, Abbey or anyone else appeal to my senses then that is entirely fine, just as it's fine for people like my mum to enjoy people that plod around the floor.

The more I think about it the more really appreciate Mark. Every week it was another silly theme but he always brought so much charisma and commitment to each dance it just worked! He didn't once look embarrassed or out of place. He had a great sense of rhythm, a commitment to learning the dances and improving and an amazing stage presence.

I still watch their dances back all the time. Iveta choreographed some amazing routines that both of them off in the best light and really made the themes and costumes work.

Too early to say but Mark>Thom.

There's a lot of talk on here about whether the show should recruit people with previous dance experience and I never understood it. I really do have a low tolerance for cringe performances, however Michael Vaughan's jive entertained me in ways I never thought were possible. He put so much effort into it but it was all kinds a wrong. Then I remember how good Scott Maslen's jive was which had good choreography, acting and dancing.

You know sometimes even I, the big dance snob that I am, can also find some people (like Michael or Mark Benton) funny at momentary occasions. It can shock me. I giggle, look around to make sure no one sees and hold that moment of amusement for a smidge, but then I usually snap out of it as soon as one of the judges says it was really good (even though it clearly wasn't) and then I revert back to my old self.

I welcome all levels of dancers on this show, as I tend to personally judge them on their own level rather than against each other's (as that's really the only way that makes sense when they are of different abilities). I don't judge good dances against bad dancers, I judge all the good dancers against each other and judge all the bad dancers against each other, almost like a two tier comp. I appreciate the lesser dancers for their smaller achievements, and appreciate the better dances for their talent and feel their challenge (unlike the lesser dances challenges) in the show is to learn more, do harder stuff and actually become a dancer (as opposed to attempting to be one). But sure, I can see the amusement in Ann Widdy being dragged along the floor, sometimes, just not all the time, as then you're not even trying, and I don't appreciate that. I think it will always be hard to find total dance novices from especially the singing, dancing and acting world, all those mediums lend themselves to each other with dancing thrown in there too sometimes, so tricky to not find some experienced dancers of some degree there quite often.