Having watched the video posted on the Peter Andre thread, I have to admit to feeling very disappointed in Jay. That film shows someone who could almost take on some of the pro's.....see the ease with which he performs lifts. Acting like the shaking, terrified little boy lost, the way he did is taking hypocrisy to another level. He also attended one of the most prestigious schools of dance from a very young age.

Obviously his "journey" and how it will develop is something that has been planned in advance, but it leaves a nasty taste with me, I'm afraid.

I take them all to be along the lines of 'expert horse rider' equals 'once sat on a donkey at Skeggy' or 'fluent in many languages' equals 'can shout in a number of cod accents'.

I agree with the first sentiment; those who minimise to a ridiculous degree or plain dissimulate about their previous experience rile me a little. I'm afraid there was an element of that with Natalie and certainly with Denise Van Outen. I think it also helps when there isn't just one celeb with a lot of prior dance experience - that was another reason for Natalie struggling to connect with the public, she was streets ahead of everyone else in the competition from Day one. This year Helen, Jay, Peter, Kellie, Georgia (and, I strongly suspect, Anita) all plainly have had quite a lot of prior dance experience and it shows. But at least there is an even playing field between them rather than just one front runner.

something about jay just dosnt ring true. its like he is acting, just my thoughts.

Georgia has dance experience, she said that on BBC Breakfast during her reveal, Hip Hop/Freestyle.

Helen has done ballet lessons.

Kellie did go to Sylvia Young performing arts.

but Jay was a complete surprise for me.

Honestly, I don't think Jay is that good an actor to be that nervous without something behind it - and if he is he is seriously in the wrong profession. Hollywood is missing a leading man. Jay has never made any secret of his dance past - and YouTubes were doing the rounds long before launch night - which is why his nervy, edgy, rather wooden performance in the group dance came as a surprise,

It is possible to be good at something, be more secure performing in a group and get the jitters about having to be front and centre, surviving - or falling - on your own merit on a live tele show.

I'm not even sure its always them or their agent as it seems IMDB can be updated by anyone much like Wikipedia, although I agree these things are probably pretty exaggerated in an 'I'll learn if I get the job' type way

I agree, he would have to be an amazing actor to fake those nerves. I had lead roles in plays at school and had no problem performing in front of people, but I'd be absolutely terrified if I had to do it these days (in front of 100 people, never mind millions)

I agree. Its easy to stand on stage with others around u but entirely different being the centre of attention. As you say he has not made any secret of his past dance experience and I wish people would stop trying to make something out of nothing. There are others who have also had experience but have not come clean about it. Gone r the days when celebrities come out in the first week wobbling all over the place.

As you say he must be a good actor to fake nerves like he does. He was always the quiet one in The Wanted.

What's very important is the public's perception of dance experience, which is probably affected by the celeb's performance - Kara wasn't the obvious best dancer at first in her year, she had a mistake in her first dance, she was being overshadowed by Scott, Matt and Pamela for a few weeks, and any previous dance training wasn't heavily publicised (IIRC). Denise and Natalie, on the other hand, never stood a chance.

he is a damn good actor then! I dont think anyone could fake how nervous he was on satruday night

being on Strictly, dancing live in front of millions is very different to being on stage at school/uni/dance

Unless they've studied Latin and Ballroom - then I DON'T CARE.

To be honest.

is anyone watching It takes two tonight?

maybe i'll put my sound at mute with the Friday panel, depends on who's the panel this week.

Marian Keyes should never be on it takes two, she was on Extra slice. i don't like her.

maybe she's a Pasha partner for next year

It ain't all about what YOU like Nicky

If only Nicky would stop being so coy and tell us who he DOES like, eh? Maybe over and over and over again, in every single thread, until our eyes start bleeding.

that's true, i've seen the backstage video on the strictly site

Georgia said the waltz was quite difficult to learn this week.

START?

Nicky, lay off, love, honestly. (Goodness, the rolleyes is missed).

well i can have my own opinion.


i'm hoping it will Iwan and Kirsty for the dance off, but it could be Jeremy and Daniel

Of course you can, that's not the issue.

I sort of hope Iwan is in the dance off. He's annoying me. He doesn't seem to have ANY dance experience though.

well thank you, and Iwan is annoying me too, with those pink boxer shorts OMG awkward.

i'm not worried for any of my favourites, as long as they get the votes.

my favourites are: Georgia&Giovanni and Katie&Anton, Helen&Aljaz. and i like Anthony&Oti, i admire his fighter spirit.

so if you could vote for my favourites, i'll be thrilled

And another thread gets derailed....

Anyway, back on the thread topic, I don't mind previous experience as long as the celebs don't try to pretend that they 'just sat on a chair'. It would be pretty boring if we had 14 Carols or Iwans to sit through every week

I don't really mind, it's interesting to read all of the different things going on. That said, thanks for responding to the original topic. I agree that previous training is fine, as long as it's not majorly played down or made out that the celebrity will have to work *extra hard* to overcome previous dance habits.

I'll wait to see how it's played out with Jay this week. Sure, it's a whole different ball game to what he's been used to, but I still think his ability has been purposely, massively underplayed. I'm sure they are all nervous, but most of them manage not to make a production of it.

I'm much more worried about previous 'getting on my nerves' experience tbh.

I honestly don't care how much experience they've had as long as theyvhavent trained in Latin or ballroom.

having experience or training doesn't mean you'll be good. I did 13 years ballet and my posture is still crap. I think having training means very little in the world of showbiz where most of them attended some kind of theatre school which includes dancing.

I vote on the partnership, dancing and journey. Sometimes I support the "ringer" sometimes not. It really is a combination of factors. I did vote for Caroline and Jill, but didn't vote for Natalie or Kara as I preferred Matt and Abbey.

as for the nerves, being good at something doesn't automatically mean you're confident. He deserves an Oscar if he's faking the nerves.