Just wondering whether anyone can remember of any disagreements between the judges and professionals

I can remember a few but don't know whether I've forgotten any and they're always interesting to watch back.

Also, do you think pros should say what they think regarding judges comments etc or just be quiet and get on with it?

I wouldn't want to see every pro arguing with the judges every week but from time to time a spot of Punch and Judy spices things up.

The public don't seem to vote for mouthy pros who think they are smarter than everyone else. It's generally best for them to stay quiet, make sure their celeb gets through, and endorse the Peter Andre "Judges are wonderful and I love their criticism as it makes me a better person" act.

gee mate, you sure it's an act? I think it's humilifying.

Did something happen with Trent last year?

But why should the contestants be penalised if their pro is mouthy?

Yes - its good for the show in the right quantities.

It's never done Brendan (the most consistently mouthy, though he's toned down in recent years, pro) any harm, given he and Anton are the only ones still standing after over a decade.

I think most of it is panto - Len clearly just kicks off semi-randomly these days about content/lifts/looking at his Bruno funny to remind people he's the "traditionalist" judge, without actually having to show it consistantly through his actions week on week, but some it is probably real. James used to make a great show of tripping Craig up on his clearly imperfect knowledge of ballroom technique and based on how they both talk about the other now they genuinely hate one another.

Given that most of the pro dancers know more about ballroom and latin dancing than 3 out of 4 of the judges, sometimes they are right to stick up for themselves. There are times (Brendan alluded to this on It Takes Two this week) when the judges say things that are simply incorrect.

However, my impression is that it doesn't go down well with the public so they are better keeping quiet.

I don't think in the main the arguments on strictly transfer off it. They're usually of the moment.

Brendan of course is prob the most vocal (over the years), with the jelly brook thing and also moment when he had Jo wood and felt a need to ask Craig why he sounded the way he did despite him coming from a certain place in Australia. It's usually out of defence of their celeb rather than anything personal, and Craig went to Brendan's wedding, so they really do get on.

With Len, most of his grumpy (but prob valid) moments have come from content issues, regarding pros like Artem and aliona.

The judges are the experts , like them or not, agree with them or not . If they point out errors then it isn't from malice but from wanting the contestant to improve and to give the pro something that needs fixing or tweaking with their celeb .
It's not like the judges are random celebs plucked from cookery shows or goggle box . They know their stuff and the only time it's apt to be cheeky back at them is if they are being patently nasty over something minor .
I think the more sensible celebs like Peter, Jay and Ainsley this week have the right idea, it isn't personal, just take it on the chin, use the criticism to improve and be grateful you get advice that might get you further in the competition .
The only level headed judges are Craig and Bruno most of the time . Darcy gets hot flushes over male dancers but is good at advising on balletic movement to prettify your dance , while Len allows little things to grind his gears too much but is good on little details that matter .

I agree. Craig and Bruno imo are the best judges.

Bruno is the muppet in the tumble dryer, Craig is the resident panto dame.

No - only ONE is an expert on the dances performed in front of them. two of the others are ex West End hoofers (now choreographers) the other is a former ballerina with little going on NO ballroom or Latin dancing credentials! I'm inclined to agree that some of the nasty comments are meant in a panto villain way, but some of the stuff they comment on is just plain wrong!


I think what was getting on the pros nerves was having to stand there being told they had choreographed something wrong in the routine by people who wouldn't recognise a real error if the dancers pulled out a placard with ERROR on it when they did it. We had a classic example only last week - three out of the four judges gushed over a certain routine, the expert judge called it as it was - and got slated for it! Three of them are qualified to judge on performance only - and they fell for style over substance!


The celebs don't often answer back - if the critique is bad, they usually stand there stunned - it's their pros who answer back, and usually only when the comments have been more asinine than usual. Brendan has calmed down a lot since his early days - marriage and fatherhood has mellowed him, whilst James Jordan was let go - mainly for the crime (IMHO) of daring to repeatedly call out Craig for his ignorance.


I dont mind Bruno so much - he seems to have picked up a lot from his time on DWTS as well as SCD, and he makes his comments in an amusing way, and usually not setting out to be insulting. Craig seems determined to be the panto villain and makes harsh comments (which aren't always correct) and usually gives much lower marks. I do think that the others could do with realising like him that there are numbers below 5 to use, but all of them seem to be conscious this series of leaving themselves some wiggle room in the scoring

I'd happily lose at least one of the three non Ballroom judges to one of the ex pros who could support Len on the technical stuff - Anton who has guest judged on both DWTS and the tour could do it without getting bogged down in technical detail , and likewise Camilla. Karen Hardy and Ian Waite are both judges too, and could also do the job - but I tend to agree with those who say that Karen would out gush Darcey!

Did james jordan ever fight / argue back on the show?

Oh yes - and said a lot on ITT as well.

I can't remember which celeb he was with - but they were being interviewed on ITT and Claudia was asking him why he had argued with Craig "as Craig was the expert" James' response was a very cutting "is he???"

Whatever - that was the start of Craig's anti Jordan vendetta. He was desperate to kick them both off the tour, and succeeded on one occasion, but then had to bring them back when DVO was runner up with James, and Ola had to stand in for Flavia on the tour with Louis.

I kind of like the fact James Jordan is extremely opinionated. Love to see him on the judging panel though tbh, hardly doubt it will ever happen but would be good TV.

I've got to disagree with you there.

When JJ was on CBB he was constantly having spats with others. He was really awful to Audley Harrison but always claimed that his comments were 'in jest'. I don't know how AH felt about it but I never ever bought the 'in jest' defence and just saw him as a rude, self-important little man who liked to shout down all dissention by professing to be consistently 'truthful'.

As for him constantly mouthing off about Strictly now, I don't think he does either himself or his wife any favours. By conducting himself like this, I doubt anyone will be bursting their sides to employ him now.

I like that JJ is opinionated. Admittedly he does Ola no favours with his behaviour but at least he tells the truth. Nothing he has ever said about Strictly is a lie even if you may not like what he is saying. We need different characters and I like the pros to stick up for their partners sometimes.
Brendan isn't very vocal anymore. Not sure if this because since becoming a father he has calmed down generally or because he doesn't want to be ousted like James.

Depends on how you define a lie. Quite a bit of it has certainly proven to be not true.

Such as?

Like when he said that BBC producers leaked stories about Ola bullying Steve to damage her reputation so they could get rid of her without a fuss between series, then had to accept that wasn't the case and deleted half a dozen tweets about it?

He deleted the tweets because the producers told Ola in no uncertain terms to reign her husband in or else. If the BBC didn't leak the story about Ola and Steve who did? We don't know, but we also don't know that it WASN'T the BBC. He deleted the tweets because he was told to not because they were untrue.

Other examples of lies you think he's told please.

Brendan has openly criticised Darcey's critique about the leg action in the jive and pretty much said you'd damage yourself if you did it like she suggested. Len has called him a prawn head and other insults over the years which he has either retaliated against or tried to ignore. Len has alluded to Anton's choreography a couple of times but Anton seems to accept it more graciously.