thanks for the spoiler

I see Kevin has lucked out again

Who is he sleeping with? Lol, ANOTHER potential "good un" his 3rd in as many series

I kind of agree with the poster. He has definitely been given the least popular pro(IMO), which, I think will scupper his chances somewhat.

Wrong thread. Instead, let me just say Kirsty and Brendan to win and have done with it!

I agree that Janette is not the strongest in terms of dance teaching ability but I can still see them going far ( not winning ) with PAs fan base....plus, as has been said, he does have a strong work ethic ...

And, whilst Janette is not the best, experience wise, I much prefer her to the Ks - Karen and Kristina....

Thank you so much to fern3 for the spoilers, massively appreciated.

First impressions,

Gutted Natalie didn't get Jay, but Aliona is better then a few they could have paired him with.

Would have preferred Katie with Pasha as I think he'd push her on the latin and Anton, being diplomatic as I'm not in the non appreciation thread, isn't the best.

Ola and Iwan is a joke, he will tower over her a la Andrew Castle and I predict many starfish, pivots and knee slides in their future.

Natalie and Ainsley, I think he'll be decent and work hard and may go further then we think, just hope she tames the overt comedy route.

Helen and Alijaz - that could be interesting, looking forward to them.

Jeremy and Karen - really not looking forward to this one, sorry, don't like her dancing, choreography etc. Stay my prediction of first boot.

This for me too. Aliona has paid her dues in recent years and was due a good one. I like Tristan and feel sorry for him.

Gosh. How do you manage to feel such disturbing vitriol for a total stranger? is it a class thing?

Anton is a total dud. I feel sorry for her, but happily she has more brains and style than he ever had so I imagine she'll make the very best of it and be rather good.

It's time he retired really. He is an embarrassment now. Poor Katie.

Well said. Oddly enough it is nice for Anton to get someone younger than him and fit but without needing Latin.

The odd pairing for me is Carole & Pasha, she just looks like she needs someone taller.

Thanks for the spoilers and summary fern3.

Think Kristina (and Marian Keyes) will be pleased DOD is her partner this year. No aggro and expectation tempered.

Thought tptb would've partnered Natalie with Jay, Aliona was my second pick. Based purely on these two pros being the best all-rounders. I kinda feel like Jay and Aliona remind me of her partnership with Harry Judd. Bottom line: they'll be table leaders for the most part.

Anita Rani must be in seventh heaven. Gleb will bring out her sexy side - good match. Brendan will be ecstatic got the one he wanted, again reminiscent of his past partnerships with VP+SEB.

Jamelia will no doubt say a couple more things that may be deemed unacceptable by some but she's pretty harmless, I think. Hopefully people cut her some slack feels like some are baying for blood, it's not that serious. Tristan has never had a young partner with potential. Pamela Anderson, as someone mentioned, was his youngest and she was in her forties. No idea what to expect choreography-wise but this will be a chance to showcase his skills in that department.

Anthony and Otlile could be really good especially in the Latin dances. Aljaz and Helen will be up there, he's an excellent pro. Janette will be pleased their Latin will catch the eye but ballroom-wise it's a toss-up.

Some interesting pairings.

My favourite being Daniel and Kristina

Looking forward to seeing how she plays it.

I can't wait to see the show after this description. Did you get a chance to talk to Robin? You must be exhausted after such a long day but I really appreciate you posting last night before you went to bed. Last year the spoilers didn't come in until lunch time the following day as it was a school night and so it was a real treat not to hear the pairings as a reasonable hour.

Roll on Saturday.

Just one or two comments about the pairings. It's nice to see that Aliona has finally been forgiven for whatever she did to upset the producers so much. I'm surprised that Carol got Pasha and Katie Anton as I thought it would have been the other way round. I can't wait to see the physically repellent Gleb and Anita - I hope he gets Claudia's sense of humour! I'm quite looking forward to Nathalie and Ainsley as I think he could be quite good - a bit like Patrick Robinson - and he certainly won't be self-conscious!

Poor Katie - but one of the poor women was bound to be lumbered with him. There's no obvious female duffer this year. And they couldn't give him Anita for obvious reasons.

Kristina will probably be relieved her genitals get a rest this year.

I think the Anton/Katie and Pasha/Carol pairings are well thought through. I can imagine each couple getting along quite well: a useful basis for learning how to dance. If things are not sympatico an Ola and Steve dynamic arises that eventually causes the relationship to implode - assuming the couple are in the competition long enough for the process to work its way through!

Helen George has already split from her husband before she has even danced a step with Aljaz!

Watch out Janette lol.

Thanks again for all the info Fern.

I've been wondering why Anthony was on the show. If he stood out along with Jay, then that could explain why the producer chose him. If he is fit and has potential, then I have to move him way up from what I have been expecting. Good news for Oti.

I've seen Jamelia on 8 Out of 10 Cats and she has been very entertaining as the butt of jokes - but she took it all very well and has a good sense of humour. She does say what she thinks, but best not to take it as seriously as when Stephen Hawking says something.

Nice to hear that the People's contestants were there for the launch. I thought it was a very well run series and hope this years Strictly learns something from it.

Irony, much?

I'd ignore that poster. I do agree with her views on Anton, but she is very much of the opinion that not liking someone you've never met is completely unacceptable. Unless of course she doesn't like them, then they're fair game.

I thought Katie looked great, and Anton was clearly delighted to get her. If he was acting, he deserves a Bafta.

I would imagine the delight is mutual - as long ago as 2011 Katie was publicly saying she wanted to learn to dance with Anton. I would think it likely she asked to be paired with him (celebs wishes are much more frequently accommodated than the public pairing up performance suggests!!)

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-...a-katie-derham

Thank you for all the info, hugely appreciated, quick question, from your earlier report you said Anthony looked good, when a lot of us (including me, judging on a 0.5 sec clip of him moving his arm in the trailer ) were expecting another boxer - from what you could see I take it he's potentially in a different, and much better, league then either Audley or Joe?

They are my favourites too so far. I can't wait to see them. Let's just hope Daniel is wearing his cast iron underpants at all times, and has been sprayed from head to toe in sexpot repellant.

I think the producers have gone for some really interesting couples.
I'm so pleased that Carol has got Pasha and not Anton - although I think that Anton and Katie may gel and do rather well. I'm more surprised about Peter and Janette. I was convinced he would be with Ola.I would think that Janette may get good Latin dances out of him, but I'm not so sure about her ballroom.
I would have loved Natalie to get an actual contender, but I think that she and Ainsley may do better than some people expect.

From just a very brief group dance, he's in a totally different league.

Have I missed something but why does Joanne Clifton not have a celeb partner?

Good to know, was a bit nervous we may have had another Joe on our hands, very good on paper and, well, we all know what happened there . Ta muchly

thoughts on some of the pairings...

Kirsty Gallacher & Brendan Cole – guessing Brendan will be happy with this
Jamelia & Tristan MacManus – be good to see what Tristan can do this year
Ainsley Harriot & Natalie Lowe – Was hoping Natalie would get a big contender, sure he will have rhythm though which should be good
Iwan Thomas & Ola Jordan – isn’t the height difference here going to be massive
Jay McGuiness & Aliona Vilani – WTF? Aliona in possible contender shock, she should avoid a week 1 elimination this year
Jeremy Vine & Karen Hauer – bit of a mis-match, seems a bit odd
Anthony Ogogo & Otlile Mabuse – predicted this pairing; they will look hot together
Katie Derham & Anton Du Beke – think they could be good together… at the ballroom
Carol Kirkwood & Pasha Kovalev – weird pairing
Kellie Bright & Kevin Clifton - it's a shame she has been paired with him