Apart from the lack of grace and over-dancing/general over-everything - I can't get a grasp for who she is. She seems to put on what she thinks is the required personality and this is what can lead to accusations of being "fake".

rather a sweeping statement Monky, but I thought I would confirm your prejudice in a single case. In fact one of my favourite insults is bonkerhead, which I happily send your way with much affection.

Yes people .. myself included .. made up their minds about James over his treatment of Georgie .. terribly unprofessional. And he has given us plenty of the same attitude ever since .. not this time directed at his partners but at the judges, public and the show in general. Watching him on BB further cemented my opinion of him.

I'm not sure about Karen ... I'm still getting to know her but don't believe the bullying allegations one bit .. at most it was a spat .. which the Jordan's made much of.

I like Karen, I don't like her shrieking her head off when her and mark get through, but other than that, I like her.

It is of course said with much love. Now PASHA fans on the other hand...

OH!!!Its that the inside scoop! were you there??

BTW I have not liked Karen from her first appearance, both her look and personality are a huge turn off, I have only recently learned she is fiancée to Kevin, another who I don't warm to, not a patch on pro couples who have been and gone!!

I have noticed that in a couple of their Latin routines kind of reminiscent of John Wayne (that's my CLEAN reference)

I'm glad you started this thread as I was going to ask the same question. There doesn't seem to be any real reason for such widespread negativity. I can appreciate she isn't to everybody's taste - we all have our favourites and not such favourites amongst the pros - but I thought there must be something that I'd missed.

Interesting on the "bullying" story that fans believed it of Karen yet this year won't hear it of Ola. I think I'm firmly in the "tabloid nonsense" camp and prefer to judge the pros on their dancing and the confidence they manage to instill in their partners.

I certainly wouldn't say "believe", whether in reference to last years claims or this years, personally I think there a tad truth in both but most probably a huge exaggeration by the press, still cannot stand Karen though but that pre-dates allegations of bullying anyone.

I've never heard much more than normal bitching about Karen. She's great.

There's a lot of unpleasantness directed towards her in Twitter, mainly from fans if the Jordan's. But I suppose like attracts like doesn't it?

Well said! I don't understand the hate for Mark and Karen. I think that they have a really great working relationship, and like you, I would love to see them in the final.

I like James, he is my favourite of the Jordans certainly, but I think last year's bullying allegations against Karen were exaggerated and faintly ridiculous.

It is possible to like a wide range of different character-types, even though they may hate each other.

I thnk she's great and is doing an excellent job with Mark who's come a long way.

I don't focus on the personality of the pro or the celeb.
I focus on the dancing, the choreography, the connection between the pair, the musicality and quality of movement around the floor.
There is too much attention paid to the perceived personality of every pro and celeb.
All rather irrelevant and petty from my point of view.

I like Karen

Karen replaced Katya, who was very popular on forums.

Unfortunately Katya was a "pointless" answer on Pointless, with the question "Name a Strictly Pro Dancer" - she was the only "current" Pro at the time who scored zero.
I can guess that is one of the factors as to why she was not re-hired.

Probably similar situation with Anya - if she came up as "Pointless" in a survey then she would be out.
Joanne is her replacement, and luckily she got a no-hoper, so garnered a lot of sympathy, but there is still a lot of "unlove" for Joanne in some quarters.

Karen is also in a stable relationship with Kevin, so there is no chance of "showmance".

I assume Janette gets a lot of "unlove" for being Aljaz's other half.

Her lack of confidence and the fact that she is so humble annoys me in the same it does with he Dance partner.

The things that gets me is that these people were all too quick to belive that Karen bullied Ola, but now the boot is on the other foot and Ola has been accused of doing the same thing their fans are in uproar.

I dont pretend to know exactly what happened, I believe it's entirely possible that Karen and Ola may have words, but to call it "bullying" is ridiculous. Likewise I believe Ola and Steve may have had a disagreement in training that's been blown out of all proportion by the media, but no actual bullying took place. Bullying is usually sustained over a longer period of time, I personally wouldn't call a minor disagreement or the odd bitchy remark bullying.

I know that James thinks Ola is being forced out. Really he needs to look at his own behaviour in that case, because he has behaved in such an unprofessional way over the past few weeks. I can't see Ola coming back next year now, although had James kept his trap shut maybe thinks would be different.

I didn't realise people didn't like Karen. I think she's ace.

Who knows

I like Karen.

I like Karen and couldn't give a flying 'fudge' about her so-called 'spat' with Ola last year.
I also like Mark.

However, I do have a bit of a problem with Karen's choreography.

I thought that her choreography for Nicky was a little lack-luster and I do feel that sometimes that also shows in her partnership with Mark.

Last year with Dave, Karen had no real problems choreographing a 'people-pleasing', supposedly funny routine, and her choreography for Mark's Paso seemed to be on the same lines. But that does appear to be her forte. When she gets serious, she seems to run out of ideas.

I can't judge on the Charleston this week as that was not choreographed by Karen (it was pretty boring though...), but Mark and Karen's quickstep was a little 'samey' as was their American Smooth.
I worry for Mark that Karen's choreography doesn't have quite the 'oomph' he needs to get him into the final.

Shes the female pro I'd most wanna go on a boozey night out with, haha. I think she seems really nice and has a really quirky sense of humour.

I like all of them tbh.

She has rather unconventional looks which I'm sure doesn't help in a world of frilly sparkly femininity.