I don't think Alison's health issues are my business. I don't sit at home worrying whether Judy gets tennis elbow or whether the pro dancers have years of osteoarthritis to look forward to - their bodies, their choices.
Alison has chosen to take part in this competition. Her ability to dance is certainly hampered by her size, but IMO it is not entirely responsible for her lack of ability: Lisa Riley is a large woman who took part in the show and danced far better than Alison; Mark Benton was also better at dancing. My problem with Alison's continued presence in the show is not her size but the fact that she dances very poorly and her "larger-than-life personality" cannot disguise this. That said, she's still better than Scott.

Well, yes they could be. That is the nature of science - it's moves on as more research is done. It also goes down blind alleys and can be heavily influenced by political/economic machinations. Just witness the current sudden turn against sugar with the WHO slashing what is considered healthy - along with doubts over whether dietary fat really IS as unhealthy as they've been saying for years.

Don't forget that for many years doctors actively recommended smoking, and radiation was considered a health aid!

And the point is that exercise is good for everyone. If anyone is really genuinely worried about the state of Alison's health then surely they should applaud her for dancing and being on the show and be saying "I hope she'll stay in for ages because it'll do her loads of good".

Thanks for the responses regarding obesity. Some very interesting points made.

Just like to clarify one thing though, I personally could not care what weight/size Alison Hammond is nor what state her health is at either. She seems happy with herself and appears to be enjoying her stint on SCD.

However, there is no getting away from the fact her footwork is just not up to scratch and her last dance to me was awful.

I'm actually surprised she hasn't lost weight. Tim lost 2 stone and he wasn't even that big to start with. I thought we see weight drop off her.

I'm not surprised - Alison seems to have quite an active lifestyle but is maybe just one of those people who don't lose weight easily. I can totally relate to that. I have been in a situation with a dozen other people where we were on an organised trip, all did the same trek, all had the same food and drink, yet I was the only one who had put weight on at the end of the week. Only 2 pounds but everyone else had lost between 4 and 7!

Totally agree with this, Alison has steadily got worse whilst Judy is improving week by week, if she shows no improvement and Scott goes this week (Please) Alison should go he following week.

Well said. I have no concerns over Alison's health which is a personal matter for her. My concern is that she can't dance and is on a dancing show without showing any improvement. Additionally, I find her OTT personality (disguised as bubbly) irritating and of no compensation for her lack of physical prowess on the dance floor.

II have to say the message about being overweight and being healthy is very naively and simplistically put. Allison is morbidly obese, ie has tipped from being obese to the point where is it now negatively effecting her health. For example the amount of fat surrounding her liver will cause liver function abnormalities and effect her bad to good cholesterol levels for one thing.

No exercise is not good for everyone. There are certain conditions where exercise can make people worse.

Alison's weight has directly effected her skeletal health, she has both flat feet and knock knees , both associated with obesity especially in childhood, and both of these have caused her to be unable to dance using her feet properly. and unless she looses a lot of weight she will not be able to overcome the physical limitations her weight is putting on her ability to dance well.

So whilst not obsessing over her weight, she is not dancing as well as she might be able to do so if she were not as fat as she is and part of the problem is that she is not as healthy as she would be if she were thinner.

Maybe because the judges are not being so gushing now.

At last someone with the knowledge and the courage to say what they think without making excuses. Well said .

I thought they were harsh on Saturday. It was a well acted dance at least.

Should we ignore the current findings of science because some random people once thought radiation was a health aid? Should we, for instance, disregard current views of radiation as hazardous and think maybe it's good for us after all?

That's not what the health advice / warnings about obesity are saying. They're saying obesity is a problem in itself, not just a sign of something else.

She'd probably get up and start dancing during the ceremony.

I agree with your post, especially the last bit.

I think only Scott is worse than Alison. Her supposed tango was absolutely dreadful.

I don't care what size she is, I just don't like her very much. From Big Brother to This Morning she seems to want to make it all about her

I am also very surprised that she does not seem to have lost any weight

Well you're unlikely to.

According to reports (the odd post on here ), Alison is well over 20 stone; I think 25 stone may have been bandied about as a figure.

Even if she loses three or four stone, she's still going to look pretty enormous and there's going to be little visible difference.

I remember Andy Fordham weighing in on celebrity fit club having lost a stone in a week. He'd gone from nearly 30 stone to nearly 29 and looked exactly the same.

cannot believe some of the posters on this forum some self righteous people - its no ones business re alisons weight but her own is there a health forum on here you can go and bash obesity on?????

on dancing - there are no longer any dances Alison can hide behind now those left require footwork so obv she is going to struggle - just like Judy who if she survives this week will have to do latin and her stiffness will show even more- Scott just struggles with everything

I don't understand your point. What problems does being obesebring then