Agree, Tess does the whole nudge wink thing about married celebs and their partners which given her husbands previous sexting issues I find a bit weird then again I guess production are pushing it.

I think the BBC were more than happy with the Ben/Kristina scenario, they gave her two partners who didn't match her height wise but were attractive men, look at Colin Salmon as well. Its as though they were hoping something would go down.

Because anthropologically speaking, it's easier for women to use passive-aggressive measures to ostracise another female from their social group, rather than tackle the -historically speaking- stronger male partners on whom they depend for child-rearing.

Biologically and historically, females were less able to physically fight for their mates, so they band together socially to show that taking a pair-bonded mate will lead to social exclusion. By generally blaming women for being the "homewrecker" in an affair women are sending a powerful message to other women which is "don't do it". The male is tackled less often because -and this is historically speaking- he has more power either physically or socially.

It's also about feeling empathy for a fellow wife and loyalty to your own husband and a deep belief that the only way it could happen to yourself is because of some outside force, rather than your own husband being an @rse.

Personally- I believe the moral balance lies with the spouse needing to ignore the advances of a single person. And that -like all relationships- outsiders never know all the facts.

Lol at Robin's comments to the Mirror defending Kristina! "She's single and can do what she wants". Didn't he announce his engagement to a Portuguese guy then soon after start dating Marcus Collins?

Personally I'm bored with Kristina and her fake boobs. She's a great dancer/choreographer/teacher, and I loved her in the first few series after she joined Strictly, but that Loose Women interview was very telling. Jane Moore gave it to her straight.

I loathe the soft porn calendars and marketing of both Kristina and Ola, and if you sell yourself in that way, then it will detract from your dancing IMO.

Kristina's next SCD partner will be a gay man lol

Oh god, seriously people need to get over this. I completely agree that it was out of order for the pair of them to do what they did, however Ben's wife has been banging on about this for ages now. I get that she's hurt by what happened and it must have been hard constantly seeing stuff printed in the media...but it's been two years since Ben was on Strictly. She's coming across as pathetic by tweeting Kristina etc. What exactly is it that she wants to happen or gain from tweeting her? It's been done, time to move on love. You only get one life, and spending an entire two years wallowing in misery is pathetic.

What seems to have happened, is that she's been kept in the dark for two years and constantly lied to. It's been one thing after another, when Ben could've easily been honest to her and told her he actually is with Kristina. The ex seems to have found out about it all from the press too. We had Kristina going to the press to complain how unfairly she's been treated when nothing's been going on with Ben, when in fact a lot had been going on with him. Ben's been whining how unfair the press has been on him. Why is no one telling them to move on and let it go, they don't seem to b able to either. Ben's ex tweeted one poem to Kristina, and somehow she's pathetic, not the couple who tried to hide their affair to save face in the press.

I'm sure Ben's wife has directed blame towards him as well which is why she's now seeking a divorce. As far as this thread goes - most people are blaming Ben as well as Kristina, but as I said before, some people are saying most of the blame lies with him.

They've always done it - Brendan & Natasha was milked for all it was worth and then some, James & Camilla were actively told be producers to fake a romance, Tess' line of questioning to Matt over his fling with Flavia was beyond unsubtle from about halfway through the series, the show has constantly planted stories about the most bizarre showmances in the press, Craig has always given interviews about all the sex going on backstage, and pretty consistantly over the years almost as soon as the public have cottoned a male pro is gay,and therefore not suitable for showmancing, they're shunted off to It Takes Two/the Dance Troupe. The show thrives on sex and romance and when it doesn't happen they make it up and always have done. How tacky they are about this particular instance we'll just have to wait til the next series to find out, although I imagine they'll be fairly subdued about it.

Brendan and Camilla aside, I don't remember them doing it so much with 'attached' people before series 5. I agree about Matt and Flavia - Tess was incredibly weird and inappropriate that series and I think that was where it started to get worse, as I remember her being similar with Vincent/Rachel when her fiancé was in the audience. I don't really have a problem with it if they do it with single people (although I find Tess boring) but they now seem to do it with any remotely attractive couple whether either or both of them are 'attached'. That plus the cumulative effect of all the 'Strictly curse' stories in the papers is tipping the balance into sleazy rather than romance IMO.

I agree about the gay pros (probably why Robin never got anyone young and hot), but they seemed pretty happy to have Matt and Ian until series 7/8, so I think there was a bit of an effort to sex everything up a bit more in later series.

Yuk, with her it would be like chucking a sausage up an alley

Ha ! , you took the words right out of my mouth.

Anyone else sick of the papers saying Abby has been branded "pathetic" by " strictly fans"
I have see mostly support for her- I feel for the poor woman.

Kristina article in paper again today- not showing any remorse , and writing a book about her relationship with Ben, God woman have the manners to be sorry at least

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...-husbands.html

Saying 'its all just more stuff for my book' is so tacky. I don't know if Ben and Kristina have someone advising them on their PR over all this, but if they have they are doing a terrible job. Sometimes people just need to step away from social media for a while.

There's airing your dirty linen in public - and then there is taking it down to the rocks and beating the life out of it.

Besides, why would anyone need to buy the book/s when it's all been played out in the sidebar of shame anyway? Sometimes, when in hole - stop digging is the best way forward.

I do think some of the fans have to take a bit of responsibility for that as well. I remember these boards during the Abby and Alijaz partnerships and the hopes? They would become a 'proper' couple with the fact Abby was married batted away with various combinations of he's not attractive enough for her/he's cheated before so he deserves it.

Strictly treads a fine line between fact and Mills and Boon fiction and sometimes they - and us - slip too far over the line.

TBH I don't think that any of the adults involved in this are exactly covering themselves with glory.

I've had a quick look at a couple of articles ( bored at the MiL's), the shots of Ben and Kristina dancing are bringing back horribles memories; he couldn't dance for toffee! Even in the pictures he looks awkward. It really was a case of walk, walk, pose, look moody/smile (depending on dance) and throw Kristina around like a rag doll, repeat.

There is a Twitter account called Strictly Girls that has been vocal against Abby which is probably where the papers are picking up stuff from. Kristina and Ben need to be careful especially if their books are due out during Strictly. The producers will like a certain amount of publicity for the show but I think Kristina has probably pushed public sympathy as far as she can. I personally feel sorry for whoever she is partnered with this year, they are probably not going to get the best Strictly experience.

Exactly


Yes, that's the problem with courting this sort of publicity - when the personal lives of the pros start to affect their new partner, who has nothing to do with it, its not fair. I wonder if any of the contestants are ever allowed to say they will do the show as long as they are not paired with a particular dancer?

The show does need a relationship to form and I think Vincent and Rachel were an example of the ideal relationship. Rachel's fiancé Alex said he didn't trust Vincent, but he trusted Rachel and I think that is the ideal situation - if you have a strong relationship. Vincent's 'persona' was based on vanity and flirting and Rachel was the ideal partner. I'm sure Vincent and Rachel will always be friends and everyone is the better for her time on Strictly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNGaP1xrc1Q

It doesn't always work out that way and that may be a bad thing or a good thing or maybe both.

Abbey Clancey and Aljaz were sold by the producers as the 'gorgeous couple' - the producers very much wanted the chemistry and sparks to fly, whenever anyone commented on her overly touchiness with Aljaz as inappropriate because she was married and remember he was and still is in a relationship with Janette, posters on here would get shouted down by Abbey fans - oh she's a 'model', that's just her nature - she's still happily married - how dare you question princess Abbey. I doubt if they'd be excusing it if it was married male celeb pawing all over one of the female pros or a married plain female celeb frequently copping a feel of one of the male pros.

Apparently someone who knows some of the pros said on here that the producers made Aljaz and Janette to do an Ok interview to say how happy they were and what good friends Aljaz was with Crouchy because they were concerned that the gossip about Abbey's behaviour would make it less likely she would win and their agenda was to make it as easy as possible for her to win....so it seems to me the producers like gossip and controversial pairings but they don't like it to go too far, especially when it threatens their agendas.

Yes the tabloids are taking stuff from Twitter - but I do think those particular tweeters are being very nasty and insensitive towards Abby. By the way I had a look at her mum Felicity's Twitter account yesterday and it seems she's getting quite a bit of flak from Kristina fans as well for sticking up for her daughter.

I'm sure Kristina has got more abuse but she needs to realise how she looks in all this - I don't blame her for protecting her Twitter account but using this debacle to get her book publicised is really beyond the pale!

Or that Alijaz was in a long-term relationship. It's somewhat ironic that Janette was painted as a scarlet woman for having dated three other (at the time) single dancers.

I agree that Ben's wife would have been wiser to keep quiet. However, given that Kristina sent some vicious social media messages to Vincent's girlfriend when their affair came out, she's hardly in a position to complain.

Kristina does not appear to like single men Korky Ballas .Vincent ,Joe Calzaghe & Ben Cohen so while they both IMO share he blame equally. Kristina certainly has a track record for being involved in the splts. Will it last with Ben I don't think so.

It does not look good for SCD as its bad publicity think hey should get rid of her or she only dances with gay people wether they are male or .same sex.

I concede she is both a good dancer and teacher but I am sure she would be easy to replace .

As far as I am concerned the entire matter is between the key players and those directly affected on a daily basis, which isn't the media, and isn't the rest of us. I am sure it must be difficult, but it is a pity some or all of the key players don't refuse to be drawn, that way the media would have less to say on the matter.