I like Karen too..she's a great teacher & a choreographer.. I loved her partnership with Jeremy last season.. they were hilarious together.

Slightly different personalities though (bit of an understatement).

Mind you, Darren wasn't universally loved by any means.

The best comparison in terms of results would be Pasha (3 finals with a nice bit of tail somewhere in between, not bad). But again different personalities and also different looks (shocking, in these modern times women can also be perverts).

As others have said, Kevin seems to be a bit marmite. Some like him, others don't. It just so happens that those who don't like him seem to be quite vocal about it.

I would have liked to have seen Kevin this year with an older partner and/or one who isn't confident on the dance floor, like Anita Dobson or Patsy Kensit, just to show what he can do with a partner who isn't a "contender." However, the only older partner is Lesley Joseph, who I'm guessing is destined for Anton, and the other women all seem to be potential "contenders" on paper. Even Naga, who probably has the least "performance" background, strikes me as a potential Anita Rani rather than a Kirsty Gallcher.

From what I can remember, which is always a bit iffy , the pros weren't featured so much in the olden days? They weren't at Dancing on Ice levels of invisibility but they were an adjuvant to their celeb-de-l'année not the primary focus?

I think Kevin is one of the pros who is going to be like marmite.

I felt he wasn't so OTT and hyperactive in his first season, especially regarding his reactions when the judges were giving their scores. From his second season onwards, he seemed to change quite a bit and would jump up and down when the judges scores were announced, more so, than his celebrity partner. I almost used to feel a bit embarrassed for his celeb partner at times, because of the way he was carrying on.

In terms of his dancing, again he can be OTT with that too. He does have very good dancing credentials, though.

I have to agree with you, I think Kevin is great. He's one of my favourite pros, certainly my favourite male pro.

I love his routines and all the themes, especially last year, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Oliver Twist. I admire his speed, energy and enthusiasm when dancing.

He always get on well with all his celebs and is patient with them. He is obviously a good teacher, that's why he got all 3 of his celebs to the final. Frankie was likely to be in the final from the start, but Susannah and Kellie weren't. Each celeb who has danced with Kevin has looked like they are having a great time.

I also like his slightly nerdy/geeky manner. He doesn't swan about like a male model, or act like he thinks he's god's gift to women, like one or two former pros I could mention. He seems so normal and down to earth, and without a big ego.

Reading the posts on this thread, a lot of the reasons why I like him, seem to be the same reasons why some people dislike him.

I don't like the expressions during the dances, but ALL the pros seem to do that, and they try to make the celebs do it too. It seems to be a normal part of ballroom/latin dancing unfortunately. (I think it would be better without it.)

I like Joanne a lot too. I don't understand why people are always criticising her for the way she talks. She can't help the voice she happens to have, can she?

I've liked Joanne since her stint on ITT and much preferred her to Karen Hardy in that role. I would take issue with you about not being able to help how she speaks, though . She didn't do the cutsey ickle-girl voice when she was discussing choreography. She seemed grown-up and articulate. Hope she sticks in that mode!

The little girl voice was during Joanne's first series. She took speech lessons after that. Joanne and Kevin talk about her voice near the end of this article:

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/...Joanne-Clifton

Interesting. Thanks.


I'd no problem with her accent, mind, but good on her for addressing the squeakiness. Money well spent .

I would just like to say, in a show of East Mids pride, that I know a few girls from Grimsby and none of them have squeaky voices

Well that's good to know. I've never been to Grimsby, but I was imagining the ladies on a night out making dolphin-sound...

Definitely money well spent.

Hasn't she just had praise for a recent theatre role, where she starred as Marilyn Monroe?

That could explain the minke whale, though

Take elocution lessons and save a whale! 🐳🐋🐳

Cptn Findus concurs. 🐳🐬🐳

^^This all day.

And maybe his in-your-face enthusiasm and loudness aren't especially "British", ironically enough, given he is -you know- British. I think a lot of DS posters prefer the quieter and more modest, understated approach both dance-wise and personality-wise from pros such as Aljaz, Pasha and Aliona. However the wider viewing/voting public don't seem to think the same way. Maybe his brashness would be more universally popular in the US- it's not a criticism, just a matter of personal preference.

But I agree with Monkseal: who he's been up against is probably part of it too.

Haha now imagine the furor if Kevin gets a ringer

To be honest, I think the Booking Elves have done the guys very well this year. There is only really Lesley who you wouldn't bet on being there past half way. Everyone else given a combination of luck and good dance draw could do quite nicely.

So, I just hope the Pairing Pixies put the celebs with the pro most likely to give them a good Strictly experience - 'cos that is what it's about isn't it? The celeb not the pro

Rings a bell.... 🤔 .... 🏃🏻 .... >>>

>>>>Mixed review from The Stage, but Jo gets a thumbs up:

Huh?! Whaddaya mean? It isn't all about ME and what I want?!

Ah <looks shifty>. Yes. Yes of course it is.
Providing what you want is the same as what I want

Yes, it should be about the celeb but on here it seems to be about the pro half the time - has to be if you make a final one year you have to have a dud the next, etc etc but besides obvious ringahs (and there only a few that have been very obvious) it is hard to tell imo how far someone will go on the show on paper Pixie was a shoo in for the final and as show progressed last year Helen looked she was there too - on paper I thought Jamelia would be good and she was not so really all the fixed talk never quite rings true

I don't think it's that they were featured less, it's just that the show was a lot less stage-managed in trying to get all of them over. They just let the ones who swam swim by constantly pushing them, and the ones who didn't take immediately were allowed to drown. If you were, say, an Oti, who was gone in week 2, you didn't get invited back for funny segments on It Takes Two, you didn't do the Xmas Special, you didn't stand in the back of the Tesspit for weeks and weeks after you were eliminated, and you didn't have social media to keep yourself relevant, so you disappeared, except maybe to be near the back of a pro dance. Meanwhile the pros the public did like were pushed to the moon and back. People talk about pros being "shoved down our throats now" (and to be fair, there are a lot more external media opportunities now that the show is a massive deal) but it's a lot more even-handed than it used to be. Lilia was absolutely presented as the best thing since sliced bread from the second she landed, and it didn't lay off until about Series 6.

There's also the issue that Kevin gets the splashback for supposedly being pushed when other pros don't. I remember last year, when (even with my having said all of the above) Gleb did get one of the most absurdly outsized pushes a new pro's ever received, like "don't look at me Aljaz!" on crack, with everyone constantly fawning over his looks and his body and his exciting wacky choreography and did he get negativity because of it? No, in fact we were expected to feel sorry for him for being "objectified" all the time the poor love, as he ripped his shirt open for no reason every other show and shilled a calendar where you could see his crabladder.

I meant that she can't help the natural voice that she was born with.



I haven't noticed any change in her voice, and I always thought it was fine anyway.
How awful that she felt she had to have speech lessons, to conform with other people, instead of just being herself and speaking in her own natural way.

Reading that article, it looks as though she decided herself to do it, rather than take notice of what other people said. In fact, it looks as though the only one who said anything was Kevin himself!!

Lots of people have voice training if they want to pursue a career in acting, and I suspect this was her main reason, given the choices she is making with recent work.