I wouldn't say that people take it as gospel the info such mole posts ( I don't) but, like I said before and in fear of repeating myself, they have never posted inaccurate or untruthful info before which makes it hard not to believe them. Obviously this is just one person's account and is given from their point of view only, so a pinch of salt is required.

I'd have been more surprised if behind the scenes wasn't a complete melee.

Precisely

Completely agree. It's easy for someone to say 'I was there' and then gain credence. But being there doesn't necessarily make them impartial, wise, good-hearted, well-meaning or fair... And that's even if they're to their own conscious knowledge reporting 'facts'. Facts are rarely truths. Reasons and emotions and social situations don't really make a #FACT-responsive arena.

That's not to criticise the tattler (ok, tattler is meant to criticise! ) but I don't see any reason to treat their words as 'oh, that's what happened and it's the troooth'

I'd be careful. According to the legend, if you say FACT three times in a row James Jordan will materialise in front of you.

You should be OK as long as you don't shimmy.

Mr Gradgrind in a peacock blue chiffon assemblage and acrylic hair... heck

I think that behind the scenes would have been such a shambles that what was going down could have been spun any way any one wanted.

Either Anastasia was having a complete diva fit or she was panicking about her injury.
Brendan was either sulking and not talking or he decided the best thing was to go away and leave them to it.
The Producers were either bending over backwards to pander to Anastasia or they were just trying to calm everything down
... and so on and so forth ...

And everything at once. It can all be true and contradictory. It's so easy to have two or three thoughts in your head at the same time.

What have I done? Is this situation really terrible and frightening this time?
Am I at the same time enjoying the drama?
How can I be so uncertain about myself?

I can imagine all three states of mind rushing through Anastacia's awareness, especially fuelled by pain, fear, time-pressure, public exposure... & then you FACTor in everyone else's complex self-unknowing responses... Uhhh, it's a mess. Facts have given up and gone for a lie down.

Yes, and one event doesn't have to exclude the other. And each event is likely to be exaggerated for effect. Anastasia could quite easily have had a bit of a panic attack over the dance off (without it being a 'diva fit' and a total meltdown) ...Brendan could have been annoyed enough with the whole situation to let it show without him having to fall out with anyone or have a hizzy fit over it. And Bruno could have been upset with the situation and stropped off to the toilet without it meaning he quit the show and will never be happy on SCD ever again. We all know he likes to be dramatic

Exactly
Which ever way you wanted to read the situation - you would be able to.

I wish we had pre-installed Ken Loach director mode settings. It'd be a version of events just the same but so, so good

Haha I was thinking the same!

People from an "artistic/performance" type background such as dance, opera, etc., normally have a very temperamental personality, it's almost an essential part of what they do. So hissy fits/diva strops, call it whatever you want, are part and parcel.... Most of the people who work with, or around, these sort of people, know how to deal with these incidents - more often or not, it's a case of saying "Yeah yeah," to every threat issued, adding "did you want a cup of tea or something stronger?!"

I think if we boil it down to the underlying reason a lot of people are so upset over all of this it is for the reason Bruno allegedly threatened to quit. That the decision made was the wrong one.

Whether Anastacia had a diva hissy fit or not, whether she was to injured and in to much pain to dance the DO or not, whether Brendan was mad at her or the show or not is at the end of the day irrelevant. If someone cannot perform in the DO they should go home, it should be that simple as many people have already stated. In any other show like Strictly if this happened that contestant would be sent home if for no other reason than to avoid liability issues for the show.

So, did Bruno threaten to quit? This news came from somewhere, it wasn't just manufactured and put in print because if it was then that paper leaves itself open to a liability suit from Bruno for slander, its just not worth the risk I wouldn't have thought. So lets say, for the sake of argument that the report is true and he did say all of this and acted this way. He would win a lot of fans for standing up to TPTB over a decision a fair majority of the viewers think was just plain wrong and with Len leaving at the end of this series maybe he is campaigning with the shows fans for the top job?

The BBC is perfectly entitled to make whatever decision it sees fits. Their show, their rules, you could say. Not everyone may not like that decision, but that doesn't mean it's 'wrong'. What other shows do is up to them. It has no bearing on what the BBC should do with their show. Surely one of SCD's most positive aspects is that it's not as brutal as simply saying 'Can't perform, off you go'? It's a bit of fun light entertainment of a Saturday night. It's not a gladiatorial fight to the death.

As for liability, liability for what? Ruining Melvin's (was that his name?) career? SCD is meant to be a side-line for the celebs that take part, not a means to getting a career in showbiz. As I said in a previous comment, if this was 'ordinary' people's lives and 'dreams' they were toying with, Bruno would have a point (if true), but it's not. I'd hope that beyond the desire to do well and learn a new skill, none of the celebs take it that seriously.

Are you sure it's several million people who think this and not just half a dozen who won't let it go?

Hmmmm ...

And double-hmmmmmmm...

Oooh, look, it's National Poetry Day

Backstage sympathy
Anonymity
Tabloid enmity
Clickbait fiscally
Gullibility
Hmmm hmmm ...

There have been some very unfair comments about Bruno here.

Look ,he's a Judge and he gets passionate, (over-excited even), about each performance. However, he always tries to make some sort of useful comment and most of the time his comments and his scores sit together very well.


Len, on the other hand rarely manages to match his scores with his comments and, worse, many of his comments are virtually content free.

What use are comments like

"Yer came aht and and gave it some welly"

"That dance reelly pickled me walnuts" and so on and so forth.

Give me Bruno any day!

Amen to this! Bruno is the only one of the judges I actually like - although I do think he is rude at times, as you say he tends to offer the most constructive comments.

I think he was right to act up (if he did) against a rule nobody had ever heard of which goes against pretty much every other competetitive event ever. Frankly if nobody makes a stand then things like this will get worse and the people in charge will try and get away with more and more ridiculous things.

Hmm. It's interesting that many people think SCD should be more brutal and cut throat than it currently is, and that if you can't dance through injury, you're automatically eliminated, like a lame horse, no ifs, buts or maybes.

Maybe SCD would be better off on a different channel? After all, the sort of 'rules' and treatment of its contestants many seem to want aren't a natural fit for the BBC, if the comments from people regarding a certain other show are to be taken seriously. Perhaps C4 should pick it up?

^^This. Would any of us like to have the words of some pretty dubious colleague that we pass in the corridor twice a day, say "Morning" to and no more, and have merely a passing knowledge of them- would you want their views on some important part of your working day or personal life to be the established fact?


Seems highly likely. "Melt down" is now an over-used journalistic term used when "pretty upset" may well be nearer the truth. As for Brendan- I can imagine a scenario where dozens of people are all panicking, talking over each other, not listening, and even if it's done politely, it's pretty annoying. Some would just walk away. Not necessarily helpful- but very human. And not dramatic. Something similar with Bruno too.

I lean far more in the direction of this being a small cog person over-egging a story to a willing pair of ears and a lazy hack's dream of a story to embellish.

Actually, I think the reverse is true and that what many of us want is for SCD to remain what it has always been, an Entertainment Show. It would be unwise of anyone to dance through injury and I hope it is never encouraged. Contestants are allowed one bye which is fine. Then, if you can't dance, you drop out. So simple.

Similarly, it should not be turned into anything other than a dance or popularity contest which is why I don't like the charity thing being attached. Does that mean that anyone who doesn't vote for Anastacia to go right through the competition therefore doesn't want to raise funds for breast cancer? The two should not have been allowed to become intertwined.

Yep. I'm picturing the backstage mole being my kind, lovely, hilarious friend who simply cannot help but exaggerate any account she gives; people are "splitting their sides with laughter" when they were just chuckling, "completely outraged" when all they said was "no- really?", and "having a total thromby" when they were merely a bit cheesed off. She means no harm at all, and I've learned to take her entertaining stories with a dose of salt, but if she'd seen the stuff at Strictly, I could well imagine her turning it into a far more entertaining story, which then gets more and more exaggerated as each listener passes it along, and then gets picked up by happy tabloids.