I thought l she will be like Rachel Riley. Like you think she's good at first but she goes out halfway through

The only difference is I think people had much higher expectations of Rachel in the first place than they do of Naga.
Time will tell of course, and perhaps you'll be right - I've just got a feeling that with her attitude (very competitive and perhaps a bit of a perfectionist!) that she may well go further this series than many expect her to currently.

I'm not convinced the 'resident hunk' vote exists, but even if it did Bloke From Hollyoaks would not beat Greg in it - Blokes From Hollyoaks have historically done very badly in the public vote.

They haven't done "very badly". All two of them were in two dance-offs each, in the latter weeks of the series (something pretty common among the likes of Denise Van Outen, Rachel Stevens, Matt Di Angelo, Kellie Bright... not exclusive to Hollyoaks actors, is what I'm saying), and they finished second and sixth respectively, despite mid-series arrests and newborn babies and the like.

EDIT: I don't really want to get into an argument about this, so never mind

You're right. Women on average do better than men whether the dance-off is there or not, but the gap is larger in series when there is the dance-off than when there isn't one.

This isn't necessarily *because* of the dance-off though - when women and men have gone head to head, the woman has won 56% of the time and the man 44%. Not that far off a coin flip.

Thanks, that's interesting. I'd love to see the voting figures to see how many of the DO head to heads would have gone the other way without it, not that it'll ever happen .

Danny is an actor, a hunk and will probably be a better natural dancer - so, even if you are right about the "hunk" thing, two out of three ain't bad an' all that!

By the same token, I'm not convinced about the "Blokes From Hollyoaks" thing. What, are they cursed or something? Would Jay have bombed last year had he been an actor from Hollyoaks - methinks not.

Ricky Whittle was a great dancer but his attitude/arrogance and external matters went against him. Ashley Taylor Dawson was a case of very poor timing as he was being run ragged with Strictly, his job and a new baby. Danny has no such worries that I am aware of - so will be able to fully commit to his stint - and I reckon he will be all the better for that.

And, though you may not know/like/rate him, it wouldn't hurt to call Danny by his real name as opposed to the condescending "Bloke From Hollyoaks" moniker...


Mainly because you don't have a valid one...

Hollyoaks skews young, and is watched by less than a million people - Danny is surely the least famous member of this cast. (And that's before you take into account the fact that he left the show nearly two years ago and hasn't been on television since.) Strictly is watched live by approx. 8-9 million people, and skews old. The crossover audience is surely negligible, and he doesn't have an existing fanbase or good reason to vote for him in the same way that Harry, Louis or Jay did.

None of that actually affects how he's going to dance, obviously, it just puts him on the back foot as far as the public vote goes and hence I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a "shock" dance-off, especially in a year that is on the face of it very competitive with not many obvious duffers.


Pot, kettle, black.

Your behaviour influences my behaviour...

I have a feeling that Laura will improve steadily throughout the competition, coming out nearer the end as a competent dancer.

I called Anita being a dark horse last year when she was announced, so hopefully my intuitions won't let me down here either!

I think a lot of them have potential on paper - having not seen anyone dance yet hard to pick who will be the surprises - having seen Robert Rinder's trailer for his show he looks like he will be more than the comic turn

Here's a sneak peak of Naga dancing!

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

she got the moves

Ha ha love that, I do think Naga and Ore could be contenders this year.

As a side note I really liked Bill's partnership with Karen H when he did the show.

Oh I love it! Never seen it before.

nor had I

I agree. I've seen her dance before, and she's very "cool" for want of a better word. I think she will struggle with latin due to fear of looking silly

Really? Where did you see her dance

There are some videos on youtube of her sort of "freestyling." They are a little NSFW though.

It'll be a surprise

Can see the Anastasia being the shock early boot. She's known on here but not sure that'll be as true in terms of the general public and many others have an in-built fanbase.

As much as I want both to do well can see Greg and Naga both not being particularly great and both becoming the Strictly forum 'hate figures' for the year (there always have to be some). I can imagine both wanting to do well a bit too much for some on here.
Hope I'm wrong though as really likely both - and I know Naga is a marmite figure at the best of times on here.

In terms of a good surprise - I can see Laura doing very well and I very much expect Claudia to be in the final.