She's just a total hoot.

So we can't ask non-white people where they come from?? If that isn't racist I don't know what is. Until reading this thread it never occurred to me there was any other way to interpret the question other than, you know, actually where he comes from. As he had just said 'where I come from...'.

Very, very bizarre.

I wasn't a huge fan of Claudia before SCD but I find her a great addition to the show. I think she creates a great atmosphere in the Clauditorium and she makes dreadful puns a lot more funny than Bruce ever managed to do. She's a keeper in my opinion.

But I bet all the younger kids watching thought it was hilarious. Nice to see a little bit of family humour on what is after all a family show.

And I just sound like an old fogey.

please BBC get rid of them both and put a bit more class back.. that false teeth routine is really not funny..

Class??? In SCD????? When was that, then?

I don't think Claudia meant anything by her comment. I am afraid a steady stream of stuff just gushes forth - mostly it works, but sometimes it trips her up.

Judging from the comments on here, Claudia appears to be the typical Marmite character.
I've always thought she's great, her exchanges on Film Night with Danny Leigh are frequently amusing and that's a live show. She's obviously not to everyone's taste, but I can't think of many other female presenters with her sharpness and wit.

Tess and Claudia are a terrible pairing, they both make me cringe. Autocue reading, patronising Tess is bad enough but when coupled with "I'm so wacky and kooky" Claudia, who is just so embarrasing to watch - oh no thank you! I hope that if Strictly comes back next year it's with two different presenters.

You're right. I was wondering (but didn't like to ask) what ethnicity the people who were apparently so offended are.

Well said. When the old ffool tried to be ffunny there was always the ffeeling that the 'laughter' was more in response to a floor managers prompting rather than as a genuine response.


Genuine laugher is always more infectious than sympathy laughter.

At least Claudia never has to growl "that's not funny!" - that really used to get on my wick

Please don't get rid of them BBC. The fake teeth routine was funny. I think I've got a girl crush on Claudia.

Oops, I thought the ghosty sheet and vampire teeth were funny

I'm from Manchester too, and I didn't appreciate Simon saying that either. Of course we just dance in our clogs and flat caps in these parts.
Claudia said nothing wrong.

Absolutely- if you were to read on paper what she says, it's all pretty lame. But her comic timing and facial expressions make the puns 100x more amusing.

However, humour is always subjective. With the exception of Morecambe & Wise and Billy Connolly I can't think of any type of humour or comedian that is universally liked, so trying to make others see it your way is a futile exercise.

All that matters is whether the producers think a drop or rise in the viewing figures is down to the presenter- which are also impossible to pin down to one cause.

It's obvious Claudia was making a joke with Simon when she asked him where he came from, he just didn't get it, he really doesn't have a very good sense of humor, if he had been sharp enough he could have answered the moon or mars and played along for the laugh, but he wasn't, also noticed about him when he speaks to the judges and they are humorous with him he just stands there looking angry, very poor sense of humour imp.

Me too!

I didn't think there was anything untoward in Claudia's remark to Simon - just an exchange that fell flat.


I agree about Tess. Was a little worried at the start of the series as she seemed quite stilted and uncomfortable (more so than when she'd stood in for Bruce in the past). She seems to be settling in and finding a way into her own role, rather than as a Bruce replacement. Love Claudia


Me, too .

Loved her aside after Thom paid her the compliment ("It goes on" or some such )

still don't get why people like Claudia, I much prefer Tess. I think the programme needs a star performer to be the lead and it's neither of these two.

So did I. And I'm older than most of the dancers.

Claudia remains as irritating as ever, with her constant 'look how random and quirky and natural I am' act, which ultimately ends up making her look anything but cos it always seems so very, very forced. She's essentially a female Timmy Mallet.

Having said that, with the outpouring of praise for her from some people here, I did consider the possibility that I might be wrong about her. But then I saw an article in yesterday's Daily Mail, saying that she's doing a great job.

So it turns out I was right all along.

Well, as people have said, taste is subjective. If we all liked the same people, life and TV/film would be terribly boring!

I adore Claudia and the sheet/teeth thing made me howl with laughter. I think Tess is coming into her own now as well, relaxing more into her role. Whilst she was undoubtedly delighted to get the main gig, she can't be impervious to the criticisms that every TV performer gets and I imagine it has been a little nerve wracking knowing that you're responsible for this behemoth of a show for an entire season. She might be a seasoned presenter, but she's still human.

I find the show runs much better now although I could do with proper training videos and not the invented stuff they have masquerading as TVs every week! I also laugh a lot more and that is down to Claudia

The newspapers are hardly going to rubbish the female Timmy Mallet when her Mum is a former editor of several tabloid newspapers.

She plainly didn't intend to imply any such thing within the context of his initial remark.

However I have heard people imply just that with similar questions and I can understand why he took it the wrong way.