I have bigger plans for Laura and Mick.

Claudia will leave in a few years and Zoe to present the main show with Tess.
Laura and Mick to present ITT. Imagine how lucky we will be to see Mick five times a day.

I better wake up.

I hope so too. Laura deserves her time on Strictly to be enjoyable and rewarding.

That should definitely be Zoe's present for Laura




Mick's Monday Mayhem, Learn to Jive with Mick Whitmore, Mick chasing the pros round the jukebox on Tunes on Tuesday and then exasperating Vicky as he chews the dress hems...sorry Zoe, Ian and Karen, you're out of a job

Fabulous photo which Laura has captioned 'Made my Broadway debut!'

She went to see An American In Paris on Broadway and met Leanne Cope. Showing plenty of flexibility and some nice arm and hand positioning there. Like her outfit and shoes, she really does have lovely long legs.

I want those legs!

I can't wait to see Laura and Giovanni's chemistry together. They will be a brilliant partnership I am sure and, hopefully, Giovanni will be allowed to get on with his job and enjoy the series without anyone trying to take that away from him.

good afternoon, I was a fan of Jay for three weeks, then fell under the spell of Giovanni when I saw what a superb dancer and choreographer he is .... and quite nice looking too ... so I'll be looking forward to seeing him and Laura dance and, hopefully, they'll do well this year, will post more in here once Strictly starts

Looking forward to it Ruby-Tuesday (love your name )

Ha ha, I think I can just about forgive you for swapping camps!

Let bygones be bygones I say!

If we do leg exercises while we're both posting on here Lou then surely by the end of the series we'll have legs like Laura's?!

The majority of the viewing public will only be interested in what Giovanni and Laura produce on the dancefloor so it's all in their hands. They seem to have been putting the hours in and I'm sure they'll get straight back to training once Laura returns from NYC.

Joanne and Giovanni captivated me dancing at the Strictly Prom earlier in the summer, they were both incredible and they seem to have a close and strong longstanding friendship. I think there's a lot more to Giovanni than I appreciated last series, maybe like with Brendan who I wasn't a fan of at the very beginning then came to love him. Also choreography wise it can take the pros a season or two to get what really works for the show.

One week to go and their First Steps VT will be up before then, so excited!


Hi Ruby, look forward to sharing opinions on their dances

Hope so Lou. I am also envious of Laura's legs, sadly I think slim calves might be genetic


Hi Ruby, me too


Agree Ochre, their dancing was wonderful at the Prom and I was lucky enough to see them a few weeks later at a festival doing Latin...really charismatic and fun. I guess the first series must have been a big learning curve for Giovanni, coming in pretty much straight from competitive dancing, having to learn a new language, etc.

Really looking forward to the VT and finding out what that first dance is!

Same here Does anyone know when Laura is back from New York? I'm a bit worried about her missing training time!

In a tweet she said she was going for a few days to film (cool photos on her Instagram), she must be back tomorrow or Monday? First show is Friday next week so presume they'll all be in the studio Thursday. She could have two solid training days with Giovanni Tuesday and Wednesday and will have had more time for these first two dances than in future weeks. I'm not worried as they appeared to be putting extra time in before she went to New York, they were training last Sunday.

Laura will need to be a quick learner to go far in the competition and I think it's good she's got a few other bits on as well as Strictly. Helps keep perspective. The benefit for her of her other work being pieces here and there is that she can set aside long Strictly training days and isn't constantly working round an everyday job and commuting up and down the country like Naga.

Sure Giovanni will have been working on choreography for her and pro training while Laura's been away and that they've been in contact.

Laura's posted this gorgeous photo of Mick with his pizza cushion, is she home?

Love this comment . . . 'When your unsure whether you would date @thewhitmore because she's pretty and fun....or just really, really wanna hang out with her dog! #micksthelad'

What a beautiful photo of Laura at Trinity Place NYC

She really is lovely in that picture. She will be gorgeous on the programme, all those lovely dresses 👗👠

Thanks, Ochre. Justing staying indoors and watching Davis cup. We were always a one man team.

My darling Mick doesn't look happy, I think he knows that she left and went somewhere, sulking a bit. I hope we get to see him every week.

Little bit of training shown at 5 minutes 50 secs in on this BBC iplayer video.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...14-first-steps

Oooh thank you StrictlyRed, I got ridiculously excited when I saw your link

Laura looks very good for early days! Ok . . . are they definitely doing a Week 1 Samba? Or could it be Cha Cha?

"I kind of feel like I'm in Fame" . . . love it, that would be me turning up to training in my leg warmers

They both come across well, awkwardness schmawkwardness, they have a good, easy chemistry and I like the teasing and dry humour between them.

Sure they'll build up the trust for those back bends, can't wait for next Friday and Saturday

I am going for a cha cha, only because I think a samba might be a bit difficult for a first week dance.

I was thinking the same Huph, when their individual First Steps VT is posted up with more footage all might become clear. Hope we get a sneak peek of some ballroom!

Laura is going to look amazing in the Latin outfits, will be lovely to see a more elegant look for her in her ballroom gowns too.

Thanks StrictlyRed, I think I saw a bit of Gio's birthday balloon, if so then looking good for the first day. They seem to be getting on fine already and I love seeing a bit of banter too.


If Mick is going to be a regular in the training room, then perhaps he should have one of these

Oh my god I love it. Reckon Laura might join Mick for a kip mid training session if they get one that size

More Mick!
https://twitter.com/pernicegiovann1/...88841477763073

He is so cute (and naughty).

Awwww thanks chachacio! Looks like Giovanni's fallen for Mick's charms too, who can blame him I saw Laura's reply, she must have really missed Mick while she's been in New York.

That's definitely one for you Sarah

Looking forward to the next part of Laura's blog later today.