Craig said something negative in the Radio Times magazine. 'She doesn't really talk to people'. I don't think this acceptable as Helen has said that she speaks to people and they get along with everyone. Craig can say some mean things we know that. Helen is a lovely girl and gets on with everyone

When reading the quote in context it seemed more about her being a very hard worker who gets on with it rather than being rude and aloof.

Yes, I'd be hesitant to brand her as rude without seeing her interact in context. Some people are introverted. some people are shy.

Maybe the girl is simply shy . Craig wouldnt know shy if it jumped up and bit him

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-...strictly-final

He's overstepped the mark with his nasty comments . What has saying "doesn't really chat to people" got to do with her dancing ability .

He also says about Georgia "she doesn't excite me", so he has already prejudged her before she dances .

About Katie "She looks like she's constantly at finishing school... she needs to let her hair down!"

Then he lumps Anita together with Jeremy and Jamelia who he thinks are not destined for dancefloor greatness .

So we know now his favs for the final are Jay,Kellie and Peter .

So all I can infer from the above is that if Anita was in a DO with either Kellie or Peter he would choose the latter two .

Craig has got far too big headed and arrogant for my liking and as a judge should not be making his prejudices known in this nasty fashion .

But saying that about Georgia isn't prejudging her, he's just saying that her dancing so far hasn't excited him - which seems fair enough as she doesn't excite me or some other people either. He doesn't say 'Georgia's dancing will never excite me'.

Re Anita in a DO, I think choosing Kellie over her would be understandable as Kellie's technique is way better and Kevin puts a lot more proper content in his routines (as dull/twee as they may be). I think a DO between Anita and Peter could legitimately be argued either way as both have good points but also plenty of problems.

Yes, that is exactly how I feel about Katie - I couldn't figure out what it was about her dancing which left me cold. He's put it into words!

If you can't excite someone after 8 different dances you never will . Georgia and Giovanni have really upped their game in recent weeks and should definitely make the final if they can maintain this high level .

Yes, very true and you'd be right.

I could say that Peters every dance so far just irritates me and I find Kellie a bit stage school, Anton and Katie behave like they've just wandered in from a production of an Agatha Christie musical and Helen and Jay can both appear a bit startled 'rabbit in the headlights' to be great performers. But then I'm not a judge with the power to both inspire and more importantly doom the contestants before the end of the competition. So it seems more than a bit unfair that Craig gets to say who he rates at this stage.

I agree. Since this piece was published in the Radio Times, it's fair to assume it was sanctioned by SCD, so you have to wonder why. What result/effect were they hoping to achieve?

Anton and Katie wandered in off an Agatha Christie musical is such a wonderful analogy. It's perfect for them and endears me to them as I've now got an anchor. Great post.

Its a bit like the school report in the final where the judges define their story line and want to see what they want them to improve on in the end

Like Peter needing to stop adding in pop bits and taking a long time to learn each dance.

Katie needing to loosen up a bit, though really I suspect she is having a lot of fun but in her own entirely middle class way, that's in her nature and I am not sure what he wants, a knees up mother brown moment, or turning up in a kiss me quick hat at Blackpool.

Georgia needing to bring more excitement to her dancing ( though I wonder if this was written before her last 2 dances)

As for Helan the ballet, again, and being quiet in the group. Its entirely normal to me to be quiet and focused on the night, especially if it's a group of really loud contestants, I would be the same ,to have to be socialising with some people just before I had to do something I had worked hard at would be difficult for me. She seems to relax after her dance , and then when in jeopardy worry. It doesn't mean she doesn't like them or they her, it's just she is more quiet. People are different.

Jay needs to loosen up a bit more , though I really hope he never dances with his mouth open showing all his fillings to the world , again it's quite personal. He's not a big loud personality another quieter one in the group. I don't see what's wrong with that, if Craig equates loud with having a personality I would have to disagree.

Kellie has a lot on her plate, again that's not really a critique she can change about herself, unless he means relax more into SCD don't feel as if SCD needs everything but the kitchen sink. She is looking tired and when Kevin said this week the samba would have everything I just wondered if that really was the way to go more hard work and less relaxation making the dancing look more effortless.

And Anita , Jeremy and Jamelia are not destined for dancing greatness. Well yes obviously for Jeremy and Jamelia they both lolop about with no real grace. Anita in Craig's mind belongs in this group as her dancing is a bit by numbers and not really finished. Her performance and energy are great and are hiding a multitude of sins. Her feet never point and hand and arms are flung rather than extended, so yes for Craig I can see why he doesn't see her as destined for dance greatness.

It's like a mid year report some for a critique then can work on Peter and Georgia, I am not sure how becoming a different type of person for Helen, Jay and Katie is a critique they can or should do anything about. I like having different personalities.

I it's odd but Craig often is odd and has his favourites that are odd like his passion for that Widdecome woman.

It probably was BBC sanctioned as in produce a report but then Craig opened his mouth and hasn't been very helpful in critiquing how people can improve in the competition.

This isn't quite how I read it. He says -

Jay A+
Kellie A
Helen A
Georgia A-
Peter B+

which I think means he rates Helen on a par with Kellie.

Yvie Burnett, who is a vocal coach on the X-Factor is from Aberdeenshire and writes for the local Press and Journal. In her weekly column last week, she wrote that according to her ( Yvie's ) mates backstage, Helen takes herself a bit too seriously, and Yvie thought she was coming across on Strictly that way.

Reading the remarks I think that interview was done several weeks ago and only published this week- they appear outdated since Georgia has progressed a lot lately and a lot of fellow contestants have defended Helen a couple of weeks ago following more tabloid lies.

I suspect that Helen would come out as strongly introvert according to MBTI. To me she comes across as the kind of person who can "switch it on" for a performance but then needs a lot of alone time to recharge her batteries. Not all performers are natural extroverts and for many with an introversion preference, performing as a "character" (either in acting, a singing persona, on the dance floor etc) is easier than putting yourself as "you" out there. I remember an ITT interview two or three dances in when she said that she and Aljaž always come up with a different character for her while he's always "Roger", which fits. That doesn't necessarily make her shy or aloof or snobby - just someone who needs quiet time to feel herself again, in the same way as extroverts need to feed off the buzz of others to feel energised.

You could be right, which I suppose is why they have 4 judges - if they were all excited by the same thing you might as well just have Len on his own scoring out of 40. Having said all that, I do think this interview was done a few weeks ago and so probably doesn't even reflect Craig's current views on the contestants anyway.

But Craig says who he rates at this stage every Saturday on the show. He has said pretty much the equivalent of these comments, or worse, to their faces when critiquing their dances so it shouldn't really be news to them. TPTB are obviously happy for him to do it for publicity and the judges have always said when interviewed who they think is good or destined for the final. IMO the only bit which is unfair and could probably affect the contestants is talking about how they behave backstage, especially as he seems to be picking on just a few of them.

And Peter below Georgia of course.

This really made me chuckle this morning!

Except there is no such thing as an Agatha Christie musical

So effectively a coach on a show in direct completion with SCD who also is a journalist says her friends think Helen may be being thought of as being a bit serious.

Forgive me if I don't really regard this as an earth shattering revelation with eye witness proof.

Now if members of the audience had said Helen never talked to anyone on the show and never gave anyone a goodbye hug and everyone refused to talk or even look at her I might beleive that, but it wouldn't be said as we can all see she is affectionate with those who are leaving and is in the centre of groups of celebs at the end of the results show.

I have no way of knowing whether it's true or not, but I think the point that a few people have made is that when she is backstage, with no cameras and no audience, she is quiet/aloof/unfriendly/too serious.

Quite agree. I'll be doing my usual appraisal of the judges, probably next week, and we'll see if his scoring patterns reflect his comments.

I think there is an inverted snobbery when it comes to Helen. She is intelligent, thoughtful and has the kind of subtle sense of humour which some people find threatening.

So from too serious you have inferred quiet aloof and unfriendly