Yes, I don't think Laura and Gio will be anywhere near the mismatch of those other couples. She is only 5 foot 6 apparently so shouldn't be taller than him and with Aljaz I think it would've been too much of an Abbey rerun. They could be really good together, I just hope the whole thing doesn't get overshadowed with the awkwardness of it all.

I think she went to Italia Conti (?), so she will have some training, but not sure how extensive. If she can find some confidence, she could do well. I suspect ballroom will be her thing.

I'm not convinced that Giovanni wouldn't have got Laura had he not split from Georgia.

Artem was paired with Holly the series after winning/becoming a couple with Kara even though they were fairly mismatched in height terms and we were promptly treated to a series of 'Jealous Kara' headlines. I honestly wouldn't have put it past them to try the same tactics again. It guarantees headlines and Strictly can be quite shameless in using relationships (whether real or not) to get them.

Thank you, as always, to Monaogg and Abigailsmum for ensuring we have a mole each week, and thank you to Stig for being that mole this week

I hadn't tried predicting all the pairings, because quite frankly, I'm rubbish at that

However, the few that I did predict were correct, namely Daisy & Aljaž, Claudia & AJ, Greg & Natalie, Lesley & Anton.

The Lesley & Anton pairing was inevitable -- I just hope that Anton doesn't go down the comedy route. I know she's a funny lady, but I think Lesley might actually be quite good if Anton gives her a chance. In that respect, even though I'd have been extremely surprised if Lesley had been paired with anyone other than Anton, I kind of wish she'd been paired with Kevin. Not due to the "Kevin deserves a duffer" attitude prevalent here on DS, but because I think he'd have brought Lesley on well.

The other three were inevitable due to height. Daisy, as the tallest female celeb, was bound to get the tallest male pro, and Natalie as the tallest female pro, always gets the tallest male celeb. AJ, Kevin and Gorka are all around the same height, and are the shortest male pros, but when you add in the factor of age, of course Claudia would be paired with AJ.

I did wonder if Karen as the second tallest female pro would be paired with Ed or Will, as after Greg, they're the next tallest male celebs, and was kind of hoping Karen would be paired with Ed. She's great with the duffers and I think she and Ed would have had a lot of fun together. I was actually hoping Joanne would get Will. I think that personality-wise, Will might gel better with Joanne than Karen. I'm willing to be proved wrong, though. I think it's fair Karen gets a contender this year, after having been very gracious about being paired with duffers the last few years. Karen and Natalie are the two who, to me, are the most gracious about being paired with duffers -- some of the other pros can barely hide their displeasure.

I think was about the only one who had hoped to see Anastacia paired with Brendan. I have a feeling that they could do very well together, personality-wise. Of course, if they don't get on well, there will very likely be fireworks. I doubt there will be any middle-of-the-road quietly tolerating each other with this pair.

Oh, and one other comment: Tameka strikes me as potentially being an Amber Riley (from DWTS US) in terms of ability, but I think she might need to tone down her personality just a bit, so as not to be more of a Lisa Riley.


^^^ This. Completely agree with that.

Thanks to StigOfTheKrump and Monaogg for the spoilers.

Some good partnerings, others not so. Typical for Strictly though!

Yeah I sadly agree with you Izzie.

If it is true and that they only partnered Giovanni with Laura after he split from Georgia, and they partnered them together to make Georgia jealous, that is disgusting.

Yes, that's true. It wouldn't have been fair on anyone else to have Anton! I would have put Kevin with Tameka or Naga (who I think will be middle of the road - Naga, that is, not Tameka - I've no idea how she's going to pan out).


Yes, they could have had her paired with Gio anyway - as has been said, the press speculation would still have been there whether he was still with Georgia or not. I'd paired her with Brendan - however I see what you mean about them possibly not gelling though, but I was thinking of height and also that they might give him one last contender (not that this is necessarily his last year though - who knows). I couldn't see her with Aljaz, only because I thought he'd definitely get Daisy (I think she's taller than even him when she's in heels - judging from the red carpet anyway). Maybe Pasha? But I think he and Gio are around the same height.

The more I think about Laura with Giovanni and Brendan with Anastacia, the more disappointed I get with the producers turning to cheap tricks like the "the strictly curse" to drum up ratings.

First, they don't really need that, the X Factor is not the big competition that it used to be.
Second, they screwed up two possible great partnerships in switching Laura and Anastacia. When Anastacia was announced there was a video of Gio singing one of her songs on twitter and it was really funny; if I'm not wrong she replied and there was a bit of banter there. Laura would do well with Brendan, she's quite similar to Lisa S in some aspects. But obviously they had to switch because of Gio and Georgia's break up and the pictures that appeared on social media two days later of Georgia and Laura on a night out. I'm really annoyed they possibly ruined two good pairs for the sake of fake publicity.

Oh yes, of course. Didn't even Bruce make a joke when they were paired up about Kara's eyes boring into the back of her head. Like Holly gave a shit though. About anything for that matter!

'Tis why I loved her

I couldn't sleep last night - raging insomnia until about 5am. So, I started to come up with some of those godawful hashtag team names that people insist on doing every year. I then had a crazy dream about Daisy and Aljaz - she was an utter bitch to him and then could hardly move...

Anyhow:

Daisy and Aljaz - #TeamLowScore
Anastasia and Brendan - #TeamBrendana
Naga and Pasha - #TeamGnasher
Laura and Gio - #TeamLavanni
Louise and Kevin - #TeamCliffNerd
Tameka and Gorka - #TeamTarka
Claudia and AJ - #TeamFragHARD
Lesley and Anton - #TeamWrinkles
Ore and Joanne - #TeamOranne
Rob and Oksana - #TeamROX
Melvin and Janette - #TeamDoomRAAAA
Ed and Katya - #TeamCutYaBalls (best said in a cockney accent)
Will and Karen - #TeamKILL
Danny and Oti - #TeamDOTI *vom*
Greg and Natalie - #TeamNEG

Lesley & Anton - as much as it's expected, everything Lesley is about (ham provincial theatricality, comedically ham-fisted cringe sexuality) is also what Anton's about, so I think this partnership is the best they could really do with him in this cast

Naga & Pasha - pretty sure sign that after his run of ringers and his win, Pasha is settling into the usual Strictly Retirement pattern for people who were once Hot New Pros, with a safe middler. Hard to get *excited* per se but I think it'll work fine.

Laura & Giovanni - feh

Louise & Kevin -a tv presenter in her 40s (Susanna) who used to be a pop star (Louise) with stage school training (Kellie). HOW FRESH AND EXCITING! Literally the last woman in the entire cast I would have put him with, although I think their personalities will probably work together.

Daisy & Aljaz - I hope Aljaz goes Full Raunch 5 with this one if they'll let him. I know it's teatime but it's been a long time since I've seen a partnership on paper that could so obviously sell sexy.paired up everyone else" partnership

Claudia & AJ - she seemed really natural, bubbly and comfortable on Red Button. He...didn't, so I'm sure it'll all balance out.

Anastacia & Brendan - I'm always happy when Brenda is anywhere anything that could turn out to be the "Villain Couple" so I'm excited.

Tameka & Gorka - could not more obviously be the "ok we've paired everyone else up, who's left?" couple

Greg & Natalie - Ba'duh. I'm seeing Michael Vaughan 2.0 with more mesh shirts.

Rinder & Oksana - SO excited for this. They both seem like complete cartoon characters, and the vague murmurings that he might know what he's doing dance wise excite me even more. Above all else he at least seems to want to do well and be funny at the same time, which is really the dream instead of the nervy "laughing at" types.

Danny & Oti : Both pretty much unknown quantities still so I'll reserve judgement. Could go either way.

Melvin & Janette : I think people are underestimating them a little, but I think they're topping out at "surprisingly fun mid-boots".

Will & Karen : I just don't think she's very good, sorry. I don't know if I'd as go as far as saying it's a waste but I'm not really interested either.

Ed & Katya - I don't know if Neil & Katya's idea of "comedy" really gels with mine, but I guess this is as good a chance as any to find out.

Ore & Joanne - happy enough with this. Again "Joanne and someone good" is an unknown quantity outside of one dance on a Panto Special, and she's got the credentials, so I'm looking forward to it. He also seems not given to Disney squealing, which is a plus.

Couldn't agree more with you Vics mum. Of course the last thing that will happen is the two of them having an affair....as if the two of them are not well aware of the situation, how people are viewing them and how some will see it. Its the last thing they'd do. With Laura being Georgias friend (well at least in the loose sense they have been out together) it can only make things more awkward and that can't be good for creating good connection and chemistry. Then again, as you said, thats likely not their priority and its sad that tacky showbiz publicity seems more important to them than trying to create good dancing partnerships. They could well end up being good together and doing well but thats not the point.

Ahhh the SCD spoilers which can be posted on Twitter if you want to.

Stig during the taping did they reveal which celebs would be dancing on the first week?

They usually tell us a few.

I read Ed has the Charleston on Week 2. So that could mean he has a Waltz week 1.

Tis why I loved her!


I like Gio and wanted to support him, but they chose to pair him up with the only woman from the entire cast that has the potential to annoy me to the levels of Lisa Snowdon/DVO/Abbey Clancy. So, it's a no from me this year.

*God, I can't even remember those three without feeling a cold chill in my spine, argh!*

Me too. She's a great teacher but being a sports person is no indication of musicality, or personality for that matter. *crosses everything*


Poor girl


Neither do I. She's useless Terrible choreography.



Me too. Those soap stars are so stupid usually. Brain cells of plankton and no visible personality without a script. Let's hope he can dance. Oti is fablous.

Nope. Ed did mention looking forward to the Waltz and the Charleston (+ Greg the Jive and Will the Rumba, and probably some more too), so the hints are there, but nothing's been explicitly revealed.

Thanks for info

Great minds ladies! Yes, Holly was certainly an antidote to some of the stage school desperation that goes on!

I forgot to say, thanks for the spoilers Stig (and to Monaogg too). Would love to hear any more tidbits from the show

And ditto again - loved Holly

Who could forget her face when being criticised? She was clearly thinking "Do you really think I care? I have a helicopter waiting for me, bye losers"

Ha! Quite. When she could be bothered, she was actually pretty good. She just usually couldn't be bothered!

Oh I really hope Laura doesn't wind me up like DVO/Snowdon/Clancy - I couldn't bear any of them! I know nothing about her to be honest.

No problem. Thanks to Monaogg for organising everything. I'll post a few bits (of what I can remember!) in a little while - the show went on for five and a bit hours, so there's more than enough material.