I'm almost tempted to say 'what paso dobles?' There's been so few "proper" pasos over the years! Likewise the rumba. It seems a case of "the celebs can't dance 'em, so hey lets just make them look as daft as possible!'

I nearly gave up on last year because of Caroline Flack. With her presenting the X - Factor with Oily Murs and Nick Grim on the panel I won't watch a second of it.

Peter Andre is making me think twice, but if the others are not too bad I will soldier on.

My most testing time as a viewer was when Alisha was a judge, all that cackling , the diabolical grammar and her obvious lack of dance knowledge - I don't think I could take it if she came back again- I was delighted Simon Cowell "poached" her-

I quite liked Alesha as a judge. She'd 'been there, done it' & understood the journey. I always felt there was a degree of snobbery to her being on the panel as she wasn't a so called expert & didn't speak proper but it takes all sorts & even now the current judges aren't all expert in latin & ballroom.

If any of the following were to take part:-

Katie Hopkins
Katie Price
Keith Lemon
Harry Hill
Ricky Gervais
Peter Andre

May I add Cheryl Cole and Biggins to the above list please.

I know that there are quite a few dances which are poor but I think the Zorba the Greek theme music was the worst. They took one national dance - AT - and combined it Greek music that was not sympathetic to the dance at all. The dance examples quoted were poor but not as discordant as this AT.

I agree - I hated it. Poor Jake and Janette - they were foisted with that dodgy theme and music by the producers and to make matters worse Jake got blamed for bumping into one of the backing dancers which wasn't his fault but the fault of the dancer.

Nothing . I love dance and the whole process that this show brings too much for me to quit watching it lol .
Yes in a few weeks, I will be moaning as usual about some of the things that irk me about the show or the celebrities/presenters....but I will continue to watch .

I cant think of ANY show that brings so much feel joy, entertainment value as strictly does and I think that sometimes the show doesn't get enough credit for that.

I have learned SO much from this show over the years; New celebrities that I discover, human dynamics/interactions, people stepping out of their comfort zone , techniques about dance, live tv presenting.....I mean there is just SO MUCH good that this show brings and I Cannot WAIT until it is back

Ah, the moaning about it is a very large part of the fun

True Alesha had "been there, done it, and understood the journey" but that hardly equipped her to comment on other people's dancing. Her own dancing was completely over-rated. Remember her cha cha? Wonderful, everyone said, but it wasn't. It was technically dreadful, but she looked pretty doing it...................

No, sadly the current judges are not expert in Latin & ballroom. Len is; Craig knows more than he is often credited with; Bruno has picked up a surprising amount of knowledge over the years on SCD & DWTS (if he would stop larking about & just judge he would be a lot better!) & Darcey is of course a ballet expert. But they are all dance trained.

Of course it is. That, and waiting for the results to appear about 11pm on a Saturday!

urgh, yes, I remember it - glad Im not alone in thinking it was technically dreadful!

All those bent knees, just for starters!

The less the judges do a proper critique, the less I want to watch.
The two women fronting it already means I am looking forward to it less this year.
To be honest, the last couple of years I only have it on for the band, and tend to leave the room for everything else.

Nothing would make me stop I am addicted but I would go to the loo and top up my drink if Anthony Cotton was on.

Agree with what you write and the bib especially.

It's refreshing to read so much enthusiasm for the show that reminds me of my own, which is buried somewhere. I hope I find it in time for this year's launch!

You're so right. I'm glad you posted because it has made me stop and realise how good the show still is. We're off to a great start too with the announcement of the first two celebs.

Fantastic post, I hate winter with a passion and this might sound silly but since I have found Strictly it has helped me so much to get through the gloomy months it really does bring joy laughter and glitter

Thank you


I'm starting to get slightly excited already

Thank you and I concur. I think that sometimes some of us tend to forget or don't give the show enough credit for the feel good factor it provides

Haha Yes

Only three things would make me give up:

Katie Price. Katie Price. And Katie Price...

"You was brilliant (sic)." It was like fingers down a blackboard.

Great contestant. Utterly out of her depth as a judge.

The closest I've been to giving up is series seven, back in 2009. I don't think it was any coincidence that after the X Factor had signed Cheryl as a judge the year before in the role of 'someone who has been there and done it' that the next year they followed suit by casting Alesha, who had no actual knowledge of dance herself and basically just commented on how hot everyone was. She wasn't even the best contestant they'd ever had, I'd have preferred Jill Halfpenny over her.

The cast was also abysmal, and the eliminations were all wrong. And then there was drippy, overrated Ali Bastian.