Not sure, but the only contestants this series that she hasn't given at least one more mark than Craig have all been female, and they include two of the better dancers, Helen and Katie, and that was for both of their dances?

I think we all know how she can appear a little too gushing in respect of some male celebrities but I hadn't previously related this trait to her marks.

Has anyone got the relative marks from previous series?

I doubt it.

I think the SCD producers push that on her. She has never been (in her own normal dance world - not SCD) that type of woman.

Perhaps they are also behind Toss and Claudia's totally OTT fawning and dribbling over anything male and young.

In reality they are all happily married and not remotely open to being a desperate Bridget Jones character.

It's all really naff - but then that's the way SCD is going. If there was no dance involved I never watch it.

I do think the producers rig the marking. It's ridiculous.

I think it's fair to have a male bias. The men have a harder job and it's harder for their partners to cover for them and correct them.

Len tends to note that too.

I haven't - but remember when she saved Steve Backshall for his 'guns'?

I worked it out at some point and Darcey has a far higher % rate of keeping men over women in mixed-gender dance-offs than any of the other three (Len was next, and I can't remember which way round Craig and Bruno were).

I loved Claudia last year but this year I'm finding her very irritating.

Same here Minnie. She's turned into a mad bat with bad eye makeup, twitching the net curtains. Why make her look like she has several screws loose?

It's so sad.

I've never been a fan of Winklepicker (or Tactless Tess) and she's annoying me even more this series!

Neither have I to be honest.

I know Toss is dim but Claudia used to have some credibility as a serious interviewer. We know she has a brain.

Her antics on SCD are neither clever nor funny. I'd have to be paid a hell of a lot to pretend to be that witless.

Claudia turned into a horny raccoon this year. Gleb should tell them to f off with their shtick.

I was just thinking about that, I remember shouting 'are you for effing real woman!' when she did that. Imagine if a male judge decided to keep a female celeb in so they could keep perving at part of her anantomy. There'd be uproar.

The male celebs get led by the female pros, this has been pretty much been a known secret for a few years now. Some female pros have revealed it, and Len himself even said male celebs never ever lead (and he said it quite firmly at the time, think he was shouting at Craig at the time). The female Pros do a damn good job of making it look like the male celebs know exactly what direction they're going in and when they need to execute certain manouvres. It's not just the male pros that have to work hard dragging, propping up and pulling at their celeb partners.

Darcey has some preference for watching male performers, that's obvious, but whether she has a bias in terms of judging female/male celebs I'm not sure. It could be coincidental the way in which she scores males versus female scores. Even if she had a bias, she alone wouldn't be able to help the male celebs do well. The entire panel or the majority of it would need a bias, say if there was a majority of one gender on the panel (to sympathise with other males), or more judges on the panel that fancy/pref wahcthing a certain sex, for any bias to profit. Besides, the judges are not meant to judge based on what gender they sympathise with more or which sex they fancy more, it should be on dance technique and performance predominantly.

There is always the possibility that the other judges have a female bias and Darcy is quite fair. The public might even have a female bias. No matter how you look at this, it's all a matter of perspective.

she had her eyes lasered or something because she was very short-sighted and never looked as good since.
Maybe she needs a Good Sense In Makeup Consultant. I hear they have to train for 7 years or something