When the line up was announced I remember thinking that Louise was one of my favourites. Now however, because I don't really like Kevin she's gone down in my ranking.

On the other side, I didn't think I would like Claudia, and even though I'm not her biggest fan I want her to do well because I really like her partner.

Anyone else ever think like this? What about with past couples? I remember not liking Jake because of Janette.

I can't say categorically that it has no effect BUT Kelly & Brendan were my favourite couple in their series and Brendan is comfortably my least favourite pro.

So I don't think it makes that much difference to me.

I am a bit of both. I have liked all of Pasha's partners but can't stand him, I find though if I don't look at him I can enjoy his dances, so my dislike of him doesn't effect my opinion. On the other hand I rather liked Anita at the beginning last year but my opinion of Gleb did overflow onto her, and I ended up not a fan.

But...I am also a huge Anton fan (yes one of those!) but I don't vote for him unless I like his partner too. In fact the only two years I voted for him consistently was last year (I thought Katie was divine) and the year with Judy Moo, as I loved both those ladies.

So I suppose negative feelings outweigh positive, which makes me a horrible person

I think it can make a huge difference.

I am not a Clifton hater, but Kevin and Joanne seem to have the ability to make me dislike their partnerships because their choreographies, styles of dancing and extreme sweetness just puts me off.

I am a huge fan of Aliona, so as soon as she had a decent partner I automatically liked them. But I would never vote for her and Gregg or her and Tony.

So, yes, I do think that for some of us it makes a huge difference. But not for everyone.

That's true. I just criticised Brendan's teaching and incompatibility with his celebs on another thread - but I thought he did well with Kelly.

Though between being stage school trained and drop-dead gorgeous...there probably wasn't much for him to be moody about

Definitely.
Didn't like Camilla until she was partnered with Tom.
Natalie needed Michael Vaughn.
James needed Pamela
Brendan needed Jo Wood
Anton needed Judy Murray
Aliona needed Jay

Sometimes it is how, a professional works with a duffer that helps to make the difference for me.

Not really. It's a bonus if I like the pro but it wouldn't influence my choice. I can remember taking a dislike to Artem but I still voted for Kara all the way through.

Sounds like an awful thing to say but yes sometimes it does.

For example, I can never support a celebrity paired up with Janette. The rest of the pros, I like them but her ? I tried. ...I just can't take to her
Pasha is one of my favorite pros but I couldn't stand his partnership with Caroline. ..I just couldn't warm up to her AT ALL. I was happy for him when they won though so yeah. ....it depends.

I still like Ore, in spite of him being paired up with Joanne.

It irks me sometimes that contestants' experiences are messed up by a temperament mismatch eg Sunetra would probably have had a better time with someone other than Brendan. Their characters were too different and the contrast wasn't productive.

That's not an anti-Brendan point btw. It just didn't work between them.

Liking the pro is a big advantage. On one occasion only I've supported someone where I dislike the pro... (For probably irrational reasons, I have never liked Ola. Forced to choose, James is the sweetie in that outfit. ) But it was hard work supportng that couple

If I like the celeb there isn't much the pro can do to put me off (though James Jordan used to sorely try that theory). On the other hand, a pro (and to be frank the production team, who filter quite a lot of what we see) can make a celeb more likeable. Chelsee Healey's image was everything I would tend to find irritating but her partnership with Pasha was so sympathetic (and her dancing good) that I grew to like her a lot. As a footnote I later sat on a train overhearing her telephone conversations for a couple of hours and reverted to my original opinion!

I didn't like Artem and I positively couldn't bear Aliona and it did colour my attitude to Kara and Jay. Yes.

I would have liked them more with different pros.

I am starting to dislike Pasha so Naga has no chance. Naga has no chance anyway but you know what I mean.

It does have an effect. I'm not too keen on Kevin, Karen, Joanne or Janette ... especially their choreography so never that keen on anyone they're partnered with though it hasn't really been put to the test yet. Having said that, I am inclined to like Will ... in fact I voted for him yesterday so must have come to terms with him being with Karen but I don't think her choreography is doing him justice.
I couldn't stand either of the Jordans and would never support them no matter who they danced with.
Not than keen on Brendan or Anton either.

Bit of both - sometimes if I'm not keen on the celeb it puts me off the couple even though I like the pro - and vice versa. And sometimes if I really like one of the pairings it can help me get behind the other too if I like the partnership, even when I wouldn't have been keen before.

Never backed Kevin before, but I like Louise and liking their partneships this year - they're one of my favourites so far (though early days yet)

I feel the same about Claudia, don't think I'd particularly have taken a shine to her but want them to do well because of AJ and keeping an eye on how they do.

I really like Oti, but not feeling it yet with Danny (even though hes a great dancer) but this could change in the next few weeks too!

Like both Tameka and Gorka so they're a win win at the moment.

Can do. I despise Robbie Savage but quite enjoyed him with Ola (before she went all fame hungry), but at the same time I just couldn't take to Gregg Wallace even paired with Aliona.

I've never been a fan of Janette but she's always had partners I didn't like, so maybe if she got a good partnership my opinion would change.

I can't abide DVO anymore and that is, partly because of her pairing with James Jordan. Both were highly competitive, driven and whiny. Now when I see her I'm taken back to her on Strictly and I recoil.

I think if Natalie Gumede had been paired with someone other than Artem I would have liked her more during the show. She was a fabulous dancer who got along really well with 'hairy biker' Dave off show and had a great sense of humour. This side of herself took ages to emerge with her dancing partner.

So in short, yes and it works vice versa as well.

Nor me

Do you do your Malteser throwing at the pros you dislike?

James Jordan's had a few!

I didn't like Artem but voted for Kara as I liked her so much I didn't let my dislike get in the way.

I didn't like Ola at all and have never voted for anyone she's danced with as I never liked any of them enough to overcome that dislike.

Hee, hee. Your post about how you eat/drink and behave watching the show was funny

PS James deserves things thrown at him.

But I'm not fond of Giovanni, if he was gelato he'd eat himself, so I don't feel very drawn to Laura

I prefer some pros choreography and that effects how I appreciate their celebs but the only one I would never vote for is anyone teamed up with Anton.

I'm not sure what the biggest influence is. Somewhere in the combination of the celeb's personality, how much I like the pro, their partnership, the choreography, the music, the costumes, even... and of course the small matter of how well they dance. It all contributes.

No, it doesn't matter which pro they get .

My opinion of a pro can change depending on how they treat a celeb .