http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...us-snakes.html


Well, it is the DM, so it might all be a total nonsense, but if it's anywhere near true, then that's one team with morale right down the toilet!

And it could just put the tin hat on Ola's Strictly career.

No doubt there's at least some exaggeration...but I don't find it a particularly implausible suggestion that Ola can be a nightmare to work with just based on the short, edited training clips we see.

Yes they knew that "lodged a complaint with the BBC" would attract headlines, more so than "spoke to producers" later on in the article. Nevertheless, sounds like maybe there is a bit of a tough skin in there somewhere - there'd have to be to cope with James!

Very damaging article for Ola. I feel sorry for her because it does feel like the knives are out.

Bit shocked to read this. Wonder if it'll be the end of them this week. I like him but not her and don't fancy prolonging his misery by voting for the couple. Ola comes across as horrendously ambitious with a hard streak, not worried about who she hurts along the way to success.

It's an extraordinary story, because who benefits? Whoever leaked it must pretty much have the knives out for Steve as well, since the story must affect whether people vote for him or not. After all, don't we vote for the partnership as much as the technical aspects of the dance? The idea of there having to be a chaperone to monitor Ola's behaviour is simply... bizarre.

This must have come from someone at the BBC

Its the Daily Wail vs the BBC. Probably all created out of some innocuous tweet. Or James is having an eye kept on Ola & the story got twisted.

.....With a grudge against Steve and/or Ola and with a wish to undermine their chances today, or maybe a fear that Steve's doing better in general than his or her own favourite contestant. Hmmm.....

Mountain out of mole hill

Eagerly awaits James to take to Twitter

It's a horrible little story and difficult to separate out truth from fiction.

Dance teachers can be hard task masters sometimes, especially if they think someone has potential. I know someone who gets a harder time than me in lessons but she is very very good and absolutely thrives on it. I guess you have to know how far you can push, but surely Steve is mature enough to just say no?

I'm not sure that I am remotely sympathetic regarding the statement about impact on personal and social life. Steve took on Strictly knowing he had other work commitments and so something had give.

It sounds just like a rehash of the judges comments and things that contestants always say to prove how hard they are working and how seriously they are taking it.
Very nasty little article.

Someone from the show must have leaked this story, back room staff or even one of the pro's!! I can understand dance teachers being hard task masters, but for Steve to complain makes him sound like a wuss

It'll be interesting to see whether or not Steve says the story's not true. He could do that very easily and directly on Twitter.

I would have thought that even the DM would not print that they have a constant chaperone if it were not (largely) the truth. If that is the case it would seem to make their partnership unworkable.

But someone at the Beeb certinly has it in for Ola.

The producers are probably very concerned about the public support he's getting. I'm sure they'll mention this in passing on the show tonight.....just to damage them even further. Gathering votes for Mark is now their full time job.....they'll also continue to be down on Jake...like they have been for the last 2 weeks. it's all so transparent.

They seemed much closer and more than fine on ITT this week.

Hmm. I haven't read the story because I refuse to give the Daily Heil click traffic, but could the "constant chaperone" actually be the cameraman who's in there to record the training? Depends what sort of spin you want to put on it, doesn't it?

Wow,I am genuinely shocked by this.I hope a denial is issued by one or both of them. Wonder if Steve is getting a huge public vote and this is manipulation to get him out as presumably he won't be doing the tour.

Intersting timing too. hmmm

This backs up what Luigy? said on another thread.

Alastair Glennie is the Wail's (quite well known) TV correspondent - anyone at the Beeb would know what they were doing if they spoke to him. A large part of the info in the piece is in quotation marks attributed to 'a source close to the programme' - that could be anyone from the parties themselves to a cleaner but is likely to be someone who Glennie could believe to have the base facts true. Journalistic standards are low but, since this article is clearly defamatory (and therefore would make his paper liable to pay damages if actionable), I don't believe Glennie would contravene basic rules. Therefore the part in quotes (which is pretty lethal stuff for Ola) has been passed by him by a source knowing it will be published, so this is no tarted up tweet but a deliberately leaked story imo.

In VTs Ola has always appeared too harsh in the training room, haranguing her partners to a level that makes me uncomfortable. Its the main reason i've never particularly liked her or warmed to her.

This story though is bizarre. Her partners, including Steve, have never shown the slightest indication that it bothers them and while i don't like it i've always assumed its more a 'her bark is worse than her bite' kind of thing.

Someone is out to get either Ola or Steve and that story is not pretty!!

Boy, the conspiracy theories are really out on display there ............ or were you being sarcastic?


Now that I would agree with - they seemed to be getting on fine, no animosity, no cold body language, and very supportive of each other.

Horrible little story, don't fancy their chances if they end up in the danceoff The judges will be aware of it and if there's even a grain of truth there they will send them home. Poor Steve.