I think Anton does hold Katie back and let her down; and that would be the same for any contestant because of his approach to Latin.

Anton is a ballroom specialist and as such he superb; without doubt. Some of his dances with Erin take the breath away. But whereas Erin was more than capable of choreographing good Latin routines Anton is not. My guess is that he probably has little interest in Latin himself and so does not wish to learn anything beyond basic Latin moves at this point in his career. That may be understandable from a personal perspective, but it is his partners who suffer as a result as their Latin routines will always be lacklustre.

Anton has said don't blame the celebrity but blame him for the choreography; however, dancers can only be marked on what they produce and what they produce is what the professionals choreograph. What are the judges supposed to do apart from score on what they see?

If Strictly involved ballroom dancing only, Anton would probably be a female celebrity's dream partner. It isn't, of course, and this situation regarding Anton and Latin has remained the same since series one. The only way this will change is if Anton steps down as a professional.

I entirely agree with you.

Or from the pink Compact Pussycat which I am sure you drive?

conspiracy theory alert ... conspiracy theory alert .... conspiracy theory alert

At the beginning of this series Katie and Anton seemed like serious contenders for the glitter ball and a bit of momentum began to build behind them. Now it seems as though they are potential candidates for the dance off so what happened?

It could be that the old Anton is crap at Latin meme did for her and to be fair her Latin hasn't been great but it hasn't been anywhere near as bad as the judges make out: over-emphasising every mistake, consistently underlining how she isn't a Latin girl in a way that is uncomfortably relentless. This week she was so bad (according to the judges) that Jeremy was placed ahead of her on the leaderboard.

It occurs to me that the producers in their hope of having a male winner this year decided to torpedo any notion that this might well be Anton's year because of the momentum that might otherwise build behind Anton and Katie.

Clearly I'm offering this with a massive dose of salt but the savaging of Anton and Katie's dance last night did make me wonder what is really going on behind the scenes in this most contrived of light entertainment shows.

No he isn't holding her back, in my opinion. She just isn't very good at Latin. She did try to loosen up last week though, so she might get there.

In terms of Anton's latin (and overall dance ability) ask yourself why he is so rarely in the group dances?

He wasnt in tonights!

If he IS in, he's normally tucked away at the back out of sight.

Try keeping an eye out for him - most enlightening.

JJ

In that case....... there, their, they're and your you're

So do I!!

On the CFM home page there is an ad for Anton & Erin's 2015 dance show with clips, also there are clips from their previous tours. Fab-u-lous darling!

it seems to me that the judges are being very hard/harsh on Anton and Katie this year. Len was full of praise at the start and then suddenly he has the knives out most weeks. Perhaps Anton has beaten him at golf once too often. There are far worse dance teams on the show that don't get the same lambasting each week. this year Anton bless him has kept very quiet and doesn't answer back as much which is a blessing otherwise there might be fireworks. I am as many of you may know a big fan of Anton and will always defend him, but his year I really think the judges are being very unfair towards them. Perhaps Katie isn't as good as everyone thought she would be, not that I am blaming her. I liked their dance last night and obviously the audience did judging by their appreciation tonight on the show.

I think Anton is masking some of Katie's rogue movements......

I know this may seem like a cop out answer but I think the Anton/Katie partnership is hampered by Anton not being particularly good at choreographing Latin routines AND Katie not actually being very good at Latin. I'm actually back tracking from what I said on this forum a few weeks ago. Then I thought it was all down to Anton but watching their Paso last night I think it's also Katie.
I do think if she had another Pro dancer, say Pasha (swoon) or Aliaz then they'd be able to finesse some of the rough edges we see when she dances with Anton but I honestly think the failure in their Latin choregraphy is a combo of these two things.

Yes I thought that too, I have been really surpised at the harsh comments and low marking.

2nd BiB: Lol - that explains it.

It's definitely not anton's choreography holding back a good dancer, she's not actually doing the steps she's given very well either.

Really like Katie but just don't think she's great at Latin.

The jive seems to be a fluke, like Jamelia's excellent Charleston.

I fully expect them to wow with the QS though.

Can't wait