Well Claudia is the only female (other than Louise) to never be in the Dance offs, so clearly her and AJ do have some popularity!

She's a lovely little poppet love her and AJ

She's rather lovely

I find Claudia very likeable and a good dancer. AJ I just can't warm to. Too full of himself. Have to admit their age sometimes makes me feel like a chaperone at the school dance.

word.

claudia is the way she is because you don't become an olympic athlete unless you can sublimate near everything to your training schedule and your sports goals. including and especially your personality and emotions...

VP was the exception precisely because she had finished her career and finally given up on the 5am starts, macrobiotic diets, ice baths, and the etc... she knew it was going to be weird, and thought she needed to fill her time with something (other than 5am starts etc). unfortunately, strictly wasn't the right choice of thing. although i retain a certain awestruck admiration for just how disintegrated she got. on prime time tv.

My thoughts exactly. Claudia is likeable and a good dancer, but I find AJ irritating. A bit full of himself for a newbie on Strictly, but hopefully he'll grow out of it. And watching them it does look as if they should be in a junior version of the show.

same here....claudia is ok by me..
did feel sorry for daisy being in the DO, but her louise and laura seem interchangeable....at least they did until saturday...

ha! yeah, AJ needs to slow down a bit and remember claudia isn't a pro dancer!

I like Claudia, she comes across a very professional, hard working, sweet, enthusiastic young lady. I'll go against the grain here and say I even like AJ, dont really understand the dislike for him on here!
Even for a novice like me I can see how good her footwork is and how much improved, I think their Charleston has been the best of the series, also really enjoyed their AS and Foxtrot. For some reason the judges always critique them on stuff that I think gets overloooked with other contestants!

Unfortunately they are constantly hindered by the fact that the producers seem to be touting them as 'The youngsters', giving them pop songs that dont match the style of dance, dressing them in pink etc. Saying that I think AJ does considerably well to choreograph a dance that doesn't suit the music!!

She definetely the best of the girls that are left (IMO)

yeah, spot on there...not given nearly enough credit. The joodges nearly wet themselves over louise's AT AND ore's JIVE, yet little claudia's charleston was swept under their carpet in comparison!

I can't warm to her either. She's so focused and so controlled I don't really feel like I know her but the music is the worst thing (tho her charleston was great), the music is an important part of the dance and you can't get a feel for the dance without it. With the little girl costumes and the rubbish music it's an effort to notice how good she is which is sad because she is good.

Agree with pretty much all of this - that Charleston was fab and AJ's definitely helped improve her a considerable amount.

I can see what some say on feeling she's a bit too precise/controlled in her persona, but I'm very much enjoying her and AJ's dances (even with the terrible, terrible song choices!). They're lovely to watch.

She's fab. I had no idea who she was prior to the show but now she's one of the highlights.

Love, love, LOVE Claudia - my favourite since week 1. Just adorable, and is learning to dance superbly (especially considering the awful music/themes/costumes they've been hampered with, most weeks... so far!?) I'll be gutted if they don't make the final.
I actually like AJ too - he's nowhere near as "up himself" as people seem to think. There is definitely a healthy dollop of humour involved in his vanity act (albeit way too subtle for some, clearly!). He's got a genuine twinkle in his eye, and she just seems to radiate warmth & good nature - they're a great match. In fact, I think they're my favourite partnership since Chris & Ola! (and certainly since Pixie & Trent). Above all else, they make me smile... and trust me, that's not easy these days!

I hope they win, but I do also like Greg & Nat (another great partnership), and also Judge Rinder & Oksana (she seems so lovely, and he's lit up this series far more than Danny, Ore, and Louise COMBINED!).

So I'd be happy for either Claudia, Greg or JR to win... and I reckon they have far more popularity with the public than the 3 judges/bookies favourites... but we shall see.

PS I've only been wrong once in 10 years!

I was curious to see what they would be dancing to this week so I logged on to the BBC website, it is:
Claudia and AJ will be dancing the Viennese Waltz to 'Breakaway' by Kelly Clarkson

I listened to it. Oh dear.......... all she needs to compliment the music is another pink creation.

I like Claudia but am not particularly enthused about her. She and AJ are nice but dull, generally. All technique, little chemistry.

Claudia is a lovely teeny-weeny dancing doll whom I like more than her partner (I think that Claudia and AJ are badly matched). Their Charleston was their best routine - partly due to the fact that they did not dance it in hold and partly because the Charleston is such a lighthearted dance. Other routines were OK but nothing memorable: they lacked that je ne sais quoi that glues technical elements into a beautiful number. You know how older jazz musicians are almost always better than the most technical youngsters - because, unlike the latter, the former have something to say through their music? I don't think Claudia has much to say. Of course the depth does not depend on age so much as on life choices. One of forum participants explained it very well: upper echelon athletes seldom have time to develop anything else besides their muscles.
But Claudia's height is another negative factor. Taller women look much better in ballroom than itsy bitsy teeny weeny claudias (think regal Erin vs. Joanne). So, for me, the lovely Claudia is still a notch below Louise who has it all to win but seems to be afraid to 'speak up' in her dance.

When Strictly started this year I had knew very little about Claudia so went searching and found this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtN02w-sxoc
I think it explains why she seems 'controlled'. There are some things she does that seem physically impossible and defy gravity!
As she has started her training again as well as Strictly I am amazed and her physical stamina. I enjoy watching her progression and think both she and AJ are beginning to relax and enjoy their time on the show. To me (particularly from seeing them on ITT) they are both just 'nice kids' working hard, disciplined, focused but having fun at the same time. At the moment I would place them in the top 4 or 5 and think she does have a chance of getting to the final. I don't think it is at all predictable this year though.

I had a few problems at the beginning because I kept on waiting for a gymnastic trick to be thrown in and AJ seemed to be choreographing beyond her ability. Their routines seemed a bit too frantic at times, too, but thankfully things have settled down and the dancer in her is coming more to the fore so I'm increasingly warming to her now but still find AJ a bit too much up his own arse for my liking but I see that as just an age-related stage so I'm disposed towards forgiveness if they can both continue to deliver the goods

I normally dislike Paso's but Claudia's really appealed to me. Really enjoyed it, for me it's the best dance of the series so far (despite the awful music).

I really wish she had a suitable song for it.

She's my favourite at the minute.

Agree her Paso was excellent better than Danny's jive... i just find his jive awkward...

Im sure this weekend Claudia gonna get first 10.

Here's a video of one of Claudia's gold medal performances from the Commonwealth games. (No intrusive music).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT_NULL2_a8

Thanks for that. She really is amazing. It's just stunning the height she gets to and the number of spins. Mind boggling.

Claudia gains more and more support from me with each passingly week because she and AJ always manage to produce routines of a very high quality to some very inappropriate song choices. Has a contestant ever got a rawer deal when it comes to music choices?

Jay, last year?