I know it's a bit early, but I thought I'd start this. Every year we get good surprises (Susanna, Jake, Anita, Katie, etc.) and some bad ones (Victoria, Rachel, Thom, Iwan, Kirsty), so I was wondering, who do you think will be this year's good surprises and bad surprises?

Good surprises:
-Judge Rinder (I think his Tango or Paso will be good!)
-Naga (Anita 2.0??)

Bad surprises:
-Daisy (I see her as a Rachel 2.0)
-Anastacia (But only if she gets Anton- I do love him but his Latin is pretty bad)

Who do you think will surprise?

Erm..... we have no idea.
That is why it will be a surprise !!!

True, true

Bloke From Hollyoaks to be the shock boot.

In today's episode of judge rinder there was a bizarre promo for a new series of the show in which judge rinder and the woman who does the passing of papers did some sort of very dramatic Argentine Tango as well as him doing a cartwheel (this part may have been super imposed) however the actual dancing showed lots of potential.

I reckon Will might not be quite as good as people are expecting him to be, at least at the beginning (I can see a dodgy Waltz or Foxtrot early on), and Danny and Laura will end up in a shock dance-off or three along the way.

I think Ore. I see potential in him

yeah I remember watching it originally since judge rinder is repeats now take it from me because I AM a dancer he& Michelle were attempting a Paso with cartwheels, he looked a good matador and the capework was passable, if I could score it id go 6. that's the only potential he shows of been any good. I think he will struggle in ballroom but be great in Latin

Rinder if he's good will be a supprise, I think Lesley may supprise people and if there was a big disappointment I would say Naga cos I expect her to be another Suzanna

Never gonna happen - he will be a better dancer than Greg and I think he will also beat him in the "resident hunk" vote. Plus Craig, Darcey & Bruno (especially the latter) will give him props by playing up the "lusting after" thing a la Scott.


This all day long. I truly think Ore could be our first black male winner. My money's on him.


BIB I agree with this.

Bad Surprise
Naga is going to become a surprise joke contestant. She will try hard but it will just not go in - a la Judy Murray.

Just a surprise
Of the "Charlie's Angels" trio (Daisy, Laura & Louise), I think Laura will turn out to be the best.

Good Surprise
Lesley Joseph will take it seriously and be much better than expected.

Daisy with Brendon will be so boring they are shock first boot
Janette and Melvin will be surprisingly fun and go far

Good surprises Daisy and Naga to be real contenders and at least go close to the final.

Anastacia in the middle, will depend which pro she gets as to how popular a pairing they are I think. Kevin as a Latin specialist, excellent teacher, popular with the public and a personality to complement hers could be a good choice. But Lesley wants him so who knows

Bad surprise could be an early exit for Louise if she gets a bit lost among the other contenders and big personalities. Needs a fiery pro to complement her and who will also stand up to wardrobe for her by the looks of it!

I have a feeling Ore will be one of this year's big success stories - although there is a chance that he could be OTT in the Latin, maybe a bit cheesy? Either way I am willing to risk a bet on him.

Daisy too will be a good surprise.

Unfortunately we might be disappointed in Greg (self-conscious?) and Laura (a bit limp a'la Rachel Riley).

Good Surprises:
Anastacia - I feel like she could surprise us and be a good dancer. For some reason, she reminds me of Pamela Stephenson: an older woman (not to say she is old at all but, compared to the rest of the cast, she is one of the older contestants) who can dance.
Judge Robert Rinder - With his eccentric personality, people may think he'll be this year's joke contestant. After seeing him dancing in the trailer for his show, I actually think he'll be quite good! I hope his partner and the producers choose to take him seriously, though, because I reckon he has potential to do well. In what seems to be a talented cast, though, this potential could fade and become less and less noticed.
Melvin Odoom - A lot of people seem to think he'll be one of the first contestants to be eliminated, which wouldn't surprise me seeing as he is one of the least known celebrities this year, but I reckon she could be quite a good dancer. It's a shame because, a bit like Colin Salmon in Series 10, I reckon he'll be better than a lot of the contestants but will leave early on due to being less well known that the rest of the cast.
Ore Oduba - From what I saw on Let's Dance For Comic Relief, he can definitely dance and could be a contender. However, the same could be said about a lot of other cast members this year and, due to the fact that he isn't really well known compared to a lot of the other contestants, he could be overlooked and end up in the bottom two quite a few times. You never know, though, he could become quite popular like Anita did last series and go far. We'll have to wait and see!
Tameka Empson - Just like Ore, Tameka has been on Let's Dance For Comic Relief and also seems to be quite an impressive dancer. Unfortunately, I do think people may start to get annoyed by her larger than life personality as they did with so that could be her downfall.

Bad Surprises:
Daisy Lowe - As other people have said before, Daisy looks to be like Rachel Riley 2.0. I reckon she'll be quite stiff while dancing and will be sent home early in a shock elimination. However, she also reminds me of Sophie Ellis-Bextor for some reason and Sophie was quite a good dancer and became very popular so maybe the same will be for Daisy. I'm not too sure.
Greg Rutherford - I think that Greg won't be the worst dancer but will be far from the best. I feel like his Latin dancing will be a bit like Thom Evans' in Series 12 and, if he gets Natalie, I reckon he may turn out to be quite a graceful Ballroom dancer, a bit like Michael Vaughen.
Laura Whitmore - At the moment, Laura seems to be one of the least popular celebrities in the line up, especially on this forum, which suggests to me that Laura will end up in quite a few dance offs a bit like Jamelia did last series. She also doesn't seem to have much dancing experience and, in a cast like this, this could lead to her leaving earlier than expected. Just like Daisy, Laura reminds me of Rachel Riley, so maybe Laura will be our shock exit this year.
Naga Munchetty - If she was in any other series, Naga would be considered a middle of the road contestant for me. However, this series' cast seems to be full of lots of strong dancers and big personalities, which could leave Naga fading into the background.
Will Young - Will reminds me of threepast contestants: Jake Wood, Simon Webbe and Peter Andre, in the sense that I reckon he will start off well in the competition but then start to get lower scores and become less popular than people would have thought. Hopefully, he will be able to bounce back a bit like Simon did but, if he doesn't, I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave earlier than previously expected.

Completely agree with the post above. The only thing that makes me wonder re Daisy and Laura is that they're both from that Nick Grimshaw 'cool gang' and don't seem the types to set themselves up for embarrassment if they thought there was a chance they could be bad. Rachel Riley was apparently such a fan of the show that I suppose she was prepared to risk it, but that doesn't seem to be the case with those two. I suppose the career exposure could be worth the risk though.

I hope Greg surprises us all and isn't quite as EGO driven as he comes across (He still didn't admit that the best person won on the day)

I hope Laura and Daisy don't surprise anyone and a re voted off fairly quickly (unless they are really good of course)

I think the Hollyoaks guy,Ore and Will.... will be Final 3 but anyone could surprise

I think I'd quite like to see an all male final - eventual winners aside, they've been female dominated for the last few years and it'd be nice to see a different dynamic.

Only likely if Claudia is not good at all. Aside from hunks, the main Strictly audience really likes the female pocket rockers (Chelsee, Dani, Georgia).

Also, all these young males are likely to cancel eachother out (2013 was unique, but remember that those females all targeted a different part of the audience).

Yes, I don't think it will happen, especially not this year. It would be good to have a strong male competition though, instead of just one man fighting it out at the end with a load of women.

That got me thinking Ellie. Normally my favourites are women and the only exceptions have been Jay and Ricky Whittle. Although, having said that, I would have been delighted if the lovely Helen or Anita had won last year.

Have we ever had more men that women in the final?

Series 3 had two men (Darren Gough and Colin) and one woman (Zoe), with the fact that there was a woman in the final at all being quite something given that series' general trajectory. Series 9 had the same (Harry, Jason and Chelsee). Series 4 and Series 7 both had all-male finals (Ramps/Matt Dawson and Chris/Ricky respectively), but they were both two-person finals and a woman finished third each time, so it's pushing it a bit.

Thanks StigOfTheKrump. (Still hurts that Chris beat Ricky)

Looking at StigoftheKrump's post, it looks like men do better in series without a dance off, probably because they tend to be 'journey' contestants. Maybe the fact it was reintroduced in series 9 is why the end of the subsequent series seem to have been female dominated. (That may be completely wrong though, I haven't done a full analysis of the stats )

A bit of a struggle to pick out any ones who would really be a surprise as the vast majority seem very good on paper but I think Naga could potentially be the 'surprise' celebrity this year.
I know she freely admits to being extremely competitive, and strikes me as someone who wouldn't leave the training room unless she has a routine done absolutely to perfection, which ought to stand her in good stead.
For some reason I can imagine her being very good in ballroom (she'd have a good frame I think) but perhaps would need a bit more work on the Latin side of things...

Melvin Odoom is my pick, I think he'll surprise a lot of people (in a good way)