There was a big launch show on Good Morning America today. Predictably, Jana and Gleb were not at the forefront. Jana also seemed a bit nervous and didn't make much of an impression in the few seconds of talking time she was allotted. Our Glebster made a valiant effort to play to the camera and looked good in a short pro group dance.

Gleb (briefly) at 1:19:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmmrhHawMok

Aw..I almost wished I hadn't watched that, I am sooo gonna miss him this year on Strictly. watching the launch show wasn't half so much fun as it would have been without my usual hobby last year of Gleb spotting and camera hogging in the group dance. Thanks for the clip choucroute.

ATM I just can't get excited about the new dancers, even that little (admittedly attractive) Spanish guy-maybe it's the height, but he didn't make much impression. I didn't think much of their introductory dance (the staging not their actual dancing) Now this Paso to introduce Gleb, Giovanni and Oti was more like it- I definitaly remember thinking 'Ooh hello...'

I may have to find a way to catch DWTS although I don't like the format so much at all. The only celebs I recognised are Marilu Henner and Vannilla Ice. Mind you to be fair, I only know about three on this years Strictly so..

Hiya all

Me too.SCD seems so bland without Gleb.Checked it out on catchup and will not be watching .DWTS seems better only because GLEB is in it to be honest.

Actually Gleb and Anita made a good team .She kinda kept chatting away and sometimes you wished she would let him get a word in but I think it seems she was taking care of him and she was obviously praising him too.Like an unofficial PR for Gleb.

Jana looks ok and I hope she can dance and go far.See thats where Anita was good for Gleb.....her determination to try to dance took them as far as they did.His beauty and talent and her determination and school girl type crush.

Missing them tremendously .
x

Hi Chou, Pretzel and Melissa. Thanks for the links guys. DWTS is so not my thing at all so I will watch only Gleb and Jana's dancing videos which means I miss the man and his personality and humour Nice comments about Anita and Gleb Melissa. I think she was the right partner for him as she was a foil for his beauty and a stooge for his humour. She was a good sport and terrific at dancing for a novice.

Love that group paso from last year. Oti was the queen of the piece. I hear Cool Rider when Gleb arrives on a motorcycle (Whose motorcycle is this? Zed's. Who is Z? Zed's dead baby, Zed's dead.) and removes his helmet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYB317pljts. Btw Gleb your superpower is your beauty

I can't believe the level of favourtism they show on DWTS. People on the main forum moan about the Clifton's and their alleged favourtism, but the Strictly PTB would never shove the other pros and their celebs to one side to focus solely on Kevin and his family.

Very, very poor form!

Also, Gleb's Tweets are very serious all of a sudden. None of the banter we've come to expect from him. Just a lot of picture updates. Compared to the stuff the jokey fun training stuff getting tweeted by Oksanna and Natalie for example. I don't know, there doesn't seem to be much chemistry with him and this girl. I may be wrong, but I think Gleb works best with people he can have a laugh with.

Yep, his partnership with Anita was pretty good wasn't it? I don't doubt that they used to annoy each other now and then but they also just seemed to 'get' each others way of operating and knew how to get the best out of the other. Anita came accross as such a nice, intelligent and well rounded woman and despite some critsm turned out to be a pretty damned good dancer too.

There was also great humour in thier partnership, if you knew where to look. Her gabbling often filled in the gaps when Gleb either couldn't, or (more often wouldn't) answer a question, she saved his bacon a few times when he wouldn't play the Strictly game. I'll always remember his unreadable face when they're in the little interview on Peters goodbye section. Everyone is gushing about how much they'll miss Mr Andre, Gleb is asked if he'll miss him- leaves a millisecond too long to answer- and Anita gabbles on to rescue him. Not that I think Gleb didn't like Peter at all- he just didn't quite think or play the game like most of the others do. Gleb does and says what Gleb wants. Another thing I loved about him.

He could have been a little bit more fun and flirty, I said that I would have liked to have seen more of fun, flirty Gleb when I posted this clip form DWTS at the start of this thread but overall I think that he pitched it just about right.

:

Hi VD ....how are you
Not seen DWTS but that does sound wrong.Everyone should be treated equally although I couldn't detect anything at all from that clip posted above by CHOU.

I agree no chemistry whatsoever with Jana .

Its sorta hurts all the more when we think how much enjoyment we had watching him and Anita dancing and behind the scenes .Even speaking to Zoe on the sofa and even when Anita was rabbiting on....you still felt he was comfortable with her and he would say something suddenly and make everyone laugh.

Then even in the very early weeks she is sitting with her arm draped round him...remember where she says......"don't leave it till you are 37 like me....learn to dance asap !" and he says......"yes...that is a real good idea !" and when they are talking about what they eat while in the dance studio.....and burst out laughing when they reel off all the dishes .I miss it

So far.....you see them together..Gleb and Jana...smiling but there is no spark.Friendly or affectionate or flirty.Gleb and Anita had that affectionate flirting, in all innocence I may add, with respect to both her husband and his wife.Hurt nobody but gave us a lot of laughs and well...romance.

x

PS PRETZEL.....so true . Anita was perfect for Gleb.Best partnership .Wish they would dance together again .

BTW...As I said I loved Glebs intro Paso with Giovanni and Oti. As Maggie said, Oti was indeed the queen of that, she looks AM- MAY-ZING in it (as Craig would say.) .

However. i also kind of liked the boys dancing together and throughout Glebs stay I always rather hoped we'd see him Gio and the other boys do an all male a Paso like this one from Structly in 2010.

But alas twas not to be.

Gleb's missing Countryfile.

I bet he is. What he and Anita had was special

Aww....being its summer and the start of SCD I find myself watching our fave couple of last year.No one can come within miles of Gleb for looks and talent but honestly ...Anita was so so so great with him Miss them .

And talking about favoritism on DWTS and SCD.Neither should have them.....but look at SCD......all the Cliftons and its not fixed ????? Who believes that because I don't.

Len is Kevin's godfather therefore friend of the family and there are 3 Cliftons on SCD now.That is 3 too many in my book.Dress it up anyhow but does not wash.I think Gleb was waiting to see if his wife was offered a spot and she wanted one no doubt about it.
SCD knew that but didn't offer her anything yet they took on an extra Clifton in addition to the two too many already AND that Russian/Korean girl is the wife of Neil Jones....a back stage person on SCD.

Did that backstageone say something like "nobody is bigger than the show ?"....I would say pull the other one.Its a fix and I am angry just thinking about it.They treated Gleb and Anita badly last year.He was bigger than SCD with the public.

How come there is room for so many ruddy Cliftons and Jones but not Gleb and his wife..................

Dear Melissa, don't rubbish other pro dancers because you're disappointed to lose Gleb. The dealing behind the scenes for Gleb and his wife were complicated by Gleb wanting the DWTS gig. Our darling Glebster didn't want SCD if he could have DWTS. Also, Kevin isn't Len's godson. That nasty little rumour was debunked last year. I rather like the Russian/Korean woman, Katya, and think she'll be a good addition to SCD.

I wish you peace.

Hiya Maggie

Sorry that you feel that I am rubbishing other pros .I am very annoyed with SCD where some people seem annoyed with Gleb.I am stating the obvious here......there are 3 Cliftons and the wife of Neil Jones and I too like the look of Katya. If you follow Glebs FB and his wife's you always felt that they wanted to be on SCD together. Numerous articles. So I feel following on from last year they (SCD) decided only Gleb rather than Gleb and his wife. What is the purpose of 3 people from one family on one programme ?? That is bias in a big way FOR the Cliftons. In fact they are rubbishing the fee paying public here rather than me rubbishing anybody by naming them.

Dear Maggie I am a very happy person normally but if something is wrong and I don't like it....I say it.Its not offensive to hear the truth and at the end of the day its only a TV show but a TV show that has thwarted somebody I wanted on my TV screen and we all pay the fee so can comment.Its favouritism for the Cliftons and Jones and its wrong.

Also not sure the godson thing is debunked either.

Anyway...sweetness and light to all but not watching the Clifton show. x

I don't follow social media or any media as much as many do. In fact, except for a very nice evening when I staying away from home and looked at his twitter for a couple of hours when bored I don't even follow Gleb. Nevertheless I'm pretty sure that Gleb departure to DWTS was entirely his decision related money and possibly family issues.

I say that because he was, whatever way you look at it, one of the stand out 'stars' of last year and I imagine that the BBC would have really wanted to keep him. The offer must have been reasonably generous and if any clause involved his wife and could have been accommodated then again I'm sure they'd have considered it very carefully. They're not against dancing couples amongst the pros, there are have several over the years after all.

So, nope, sadly I think that we lost Gleb because Gleb decided, for whatever reason that DWTS was a better option, not from any BBC lack of interest or indeed any favouritism to any other pros or any other conspiracies.

I imagine that they were pretty gutted to lose him TBH, it was no doubt a glum day at Strictly HQ when they lost Gleb.

That appears to be truth of it. I speculated that he might leave after a year as that seems to be his pattern and ... he did.

I'd like to join in the praises of Anita and the missing of Anita + Gleb .... I think she was actually the one who drew me in. I loved her good humour on the launch show and the joy she showed when she was dancing. I preferred her to the more technically skilled show biz ladies.


Thanks Pretzel and MM for the links. I gave the intro paso another chance, but it's not really my thing. The Blackpool paso was very much my thing.

For those missing the cheekier Gleb:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKJ7TzxD...-by=dancingabc

I actually think he's been doing great on Twitter and Instagram--he's working very hard to publicize Jana and himself, which he'll needs to do, because the competition is stiff and the producers won't do it for him. I noticed on one of the main DWTS fan sites that he has quite a lot of support.

They have a Viennese waltz for Monday's show, and I'm guessing it's going to be attention catching (though nothing like any of the lovely VWs typical of SCD).

Thanks for this chou. If you can will you keep us posted on when they are dancing. I shall look out for their VW on YT. I saw that snippet from social media; oh I do miss him. Also some great footage of the (male) pro challenge on DWTS whereby they have to press up with their celeb lying across their back. Gleb made it to 12 and they were deep press ups. Seriously impressed.

I wonder why Elena and Olivia haven't yet joined Gleb in LA? I thought she was meant to be starting school..... I think that was just spin about his family being 'looked after' by DWTS to avoid a backlash from UK fans who might not buy his calendar.

Deeply cynical thought VD! Surely he'd want more from his UK fans than purchasing an annual calendar

It is cynical, but it does seem to be more belivable the more I think about it. The day after the DWTS news story broke Elena tweeted to say she was packing for LA and that Olivia couldn't wait to start school, but they are still in Australia....

Hiya VD....hiya everyone

Well I read an article a few days ago where Gleb says that Olivia is enjoying school.I can't quite find the link but I feel sure he indicated LA.Will try to find it.

Gleb is due to dance first today so by the morning we should know if they have got thru to the next round.....does it work on the same voting format as SCD ??

Another article I read asked folk to vote who they wanted to win overall and I have to say I was pleased Gleb was ahead.But of course it does depend more on the public being willing and available to pick up the phone at the specified times.They have 3 time zones there . If I had clue what time they wanted votes coming in....I would vote as we have a phone package with US calls included as well as the EU.We are btw 5-8 hours in advance of them so may not be calling in the middle of the night unfortunately .

x

Elena Instagramed from Sydney five days ago. She also sent Gleb an Australian Father's Day present, unless Olivia is with him? I've no idea.

Perahps I'm being naive or not a good enough fan but I don't know much at all about his family situation, where they are or whatever, I'm a lazy sod and don't follow celebs on social media or anything. However if Glebs calendar was my thing it wouldn't stop me buying it, 'cos er I'd just buy it to look at him regardless.

As it happens I tend to buy any of those things at half price hopefully getting one with something I like to look at, I've currently got a Game of Thrones one in my kitchen which I got for £1.50 (no Drogo-which was a major disappointment-but you can't have everything).

Anyway I prefer Gleb in motion as it were so I I'm not going to buy one of his but if I was in the market for it then the departure from Strictly and why he may have left wouldn't put me off TBH. Maybe that's just me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA2ADSouvW8

Gleb and Jana's waltz from DWTS week 1, very sexy! Also, footage from other celebs.

Great show, really enjoyed it.

Sorry to pop in at such an ungodly hour. I feel like a burgler

I couldn't sleep so thought I'd watch Gleb's stint on Russia's Strictly. While doing so this vid popped up:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me8qH291i9U
I'm no fan of smoking but he does do it so prettily, doesn't he? And I'm so jealous of the chap he's sharing it with

I'll shut the door quietly...