i would feel sorry for her but i read that she wanted to be paired with Anton. I think they will get very far in the competition but Kate won't learn a lick of latin that's for sure

Anton would not be as popular as he is and have the significant fanbase as he does if he'd had no "TV persona". Along with Brendan, he has been the only pro dancer on the show since its beginning - that's 12/13 years? He's been the perfect gent to all of his partners whatever skill level they've been at, which has usually been pretty minimal, and has been forced to introduce the comedy aspect into most of his routines because of it. I actually find him very funny and I like the way he doesn't take himself too seriously (like some of the pro dancers).

Katie not only looks the part but has proven to be a worthy contender even with no dance training history and being of more mature age than quite a few of the others. It's pretty uncharted territory for Anton to have such a partner and I think all these points have manifested themselves in their poor latin performances which are far more suited to the younger dancers and has never been Anton's strong point. I do fully expect their ballroom dances to be up there at the top or near to it, however.

I would love for them to get to the final but would prefer that to be on merit. This should be Anton's last year as a pro dancer as he is quite obviously struggling with the more energetic routines (not surprisingly) but he should definitely replace Tess Daly as one of the show's hosts. I think he and Claudia would make a pretty good twosome with their wit and banter.

^ this ^

Give Katie some good Salsa music.
Send Anton on a weeks holiday.
Let her speed the week with the Salsa dancers/choreographers.
Have Anton dance it in a dark corner somewhere with Katie dancing it on her own.

Job done.

I think it was Craig who said Katie lacked even the basics to produce a decent salsa.

That begs the question as to what exactly Anton has been doing all week. It certainly doesn't appear to have been teaching Katie the salsa.

The few seconds of training looked rubbish and the routine was rubbish. No surprise at all.

It clearly isn't the case that Katie is immobile or doesn't have the ability to learn. Consequently, all the problems are a direct result of Anton's own lack of ability.

It is about time he was outed. Stop living the lie. All the judges know he is rubbish so how about giving HIM both barrels next time he produces a similar heap of dung.

The man is little more than a fool and is years past his sell by date.

Yes, he probably would make a good double act with Claudia but we can only pray it isn't on this show. One fool is bad enough.

I agree with the OP and what you've said here. Would'nt you think that having been in the show since it started, he'd have learned to choreograph some latin dances. I thought he was embarrassment, I cringed.

he was playing that for laughs from the start with his ridiculous gurning to camera.

i doubt he taught her much, and probably managed to make whatever natural ability she might have had into a botch job - she looked basically ok in the salsa club...

i also thought he (or maybe she) forgot something part way through which threw them for the rest of the routine.

i simply don't believe that katie couldn't have done a better job than she did.

Couldn't agree more.

Yes, I think you are right about Anton being very good on TV, but I do think he is worthy of The Ballroom King, maybe not world champion. I think he would say he likes tiddlywinks
Yes he is not the best at Latin, but it was not the worst we saw last night. I also think he has the right to stay on SCD for sometime to come.

I know you hate Anton and keep posting the same thing, even replying to your own posts, so I'm probably wasting my time but you do realise he didn't choreograph that routine? All the pros except Janette use outside choreographers to work their salsa and Charleston routines because none of the pros (except Janette in Salsa) have any more than basic training in those dances. So it really is unfair to keep spouting the same rubbish about Anton's poor choreography in relation to those dances.

I agree.

Very early on didn't Anton say it would be nice to win but his primary aim is for the celeb to enjoy themselves and look back on their time on Strictly with pleasure? I'm also pretty sure I've seen it reported that Katie asked to have Anton. They look genuinely very happy together.

I wonder if Fern Britton looks back with pleasure? I bet she would if she had been with Anton and not Artem. I bet some of Brendan's old partners wish they had been with Anton instead. They may not have learnt so much Latin but they'd have had fun.

I thought their Salsa was a decent dance spoiled by two lift problems. I don't know why most people are assuming they were Anton's fault. He's done a few more lifts than Katie in his time! Perhaps he rescued the lifts rather than spoiled them?

Katie coped perfectly well with the Jive in the first week, although that was praised for being "sophisticated and stylised". I would have thought a Salsa could have been adapted to suit her strengths, but I'm no expert. It just seems strange to me that someone who can be so great at one dance discipline, can be such a failure in another. Is that perfectly normal ?

They are one of my favourite couples , but that dance was very messy indeed. I'm SO disappointed .
Of course the choreography might be partly to blame , but the execution was shite as well . Anton looked a bit frantic whizzing around like a bluebottle and Kate just danced the steps taught her without taking it to that bouncy hippy shimmying level that was needed for chirpy saucy salsa. She seemed afraid to let her inner salsa girl loose .
I think her jive was so fab because there was no sexy exaggerated hip action needed . Last night she needed more booty action and bounce and it just wasn't there .

I thought it was a dance of two halves: the first minute was pretty ok and was actually a salsa (unlike Georgia's) and they had plenty of cheesy good humour and entertainment in it. The last 30 seconds were painful to watch because she isn't good at spins and was off-balance for everything making the lifts and drops go hideously wrong. Ok- so 1 minute and then 30 seconds aren't two halves, which means she actually danced two thirds of it pretty well and with enormous good spirit.
But spins are a huge part of dancing, and that's what Anton needs to be teaching her. I suspect that maybe we all went a bit too wild over her abilities in week one and that rather than Anton being a poor teacher of Latin- while there may be an element of that, she's actually a bit unsteady on her feet but styles it out with enough panache and charisma to make her seem better than she really is.
I still love watching them both.

I think most people understand the difference between criticism and hatred.

I flagged up one of my posts because it pretty much happened as predicted. Better to do that rather than be accused of after timing, at least in my opinion.

What basis do you have for saying that Anton didn't choreograph the routine? Have you spoken to him? Lot's of people on here talk about the professionals and choreography and I haven't noticed you attempting to shoot them down in flames.

Assuming you are correct then who is responsible for the rubbish dance? Is Anton just very unlucky in that the people helping to choreograph his dances are that much worse than all the other professionals? Seems a little hard to believe. How many years basic training has Anton had and he can't impart a basic salsa?

I'm inclined to agree. I think she has the goods to be an all round fabulous dancer and I suspect someone like Ian Waite would have got better Salsa & Cha Cha technique out of her to go with the talent she already possesses. The other week he talked about how he and Zoe spent 2 days drilling Samba technique over and over again...I think that's what Katie needed in her last two Latin dances and then she would have got it.

If her weakness had been ballroom, she'd have been fine. Anton can obviously "do" Latin, we've seen him perform latin reasonably well dozens of times. He just doesn't appear able to "teach" Latin to someone who feels awkward with the requirements of those dances.
So it's a double whammy, a pro who's strength is ballroom with a celeb who is uncomfortable with Latin.

I suspect Anton would not have trained much in salsa at all. It is not one of the dancesport latin dances. That doesn't fully excuse him. He could have danced better and got more out of Katie. However, to put it in context, salsa would be just about the worst dance for him. Hopefully, it will be onwards and upwards for Katie now.

Yes, looking back I can see where the criticism is aimed...although I still think the judges were a little too harsh? Yes it could have been a lot better, but was it really as bad as all that?

Hugely enjoyable...but messy

Way back in series one Anton danced very well with a good partner in Lesley Garrett. They were beaten into 3rd place by Chris Parker, who couldn't dance but who ran about very entertainingly with a cape.

Ever since then Anton has Strictly weighed up. He said on ITT that John Sargeant did exactly what he was supposed to do - turn up at the weekend and dance.

Anton sets out to entertain and does a good job.

His celebrities seem to enjoy his company and most enjoy their time on Strictly - which is important!

(Anton also dances ballroom beautifully and can dance Latin - saw it with Lesley and a bit later Patsy!)

After saying that, I think he's been a bit worried tonight.

I found it kinda hilarious, mostly because she appeared to be making up the last 30 seconds as she went along. A glorious mess if you ask me.

If she had it would arguably make it one of the most authentic salsas ever on Strictly , or at least it would had she had the core skills in the first place. Salsa is an improvised dance which is choreographed as it is danced. To choreograph salsa or Argentine tango sort of misses the point and steals the essence of these dances.

The best thing that could happen for Katie is for Anton to pull a muscle and be replaced.

By Trent. He'd teach her how to samba.