I'd never seen Stephanie Beacham's exit. That's superb - pure class combined with pure relief and she somehow managed to make it all completely charming.

❤️ That Gabby creature
❤️One flash a day

She was awesome.

LOL, now that would be fun to watch if for no other reason than to see Tess or Claudia's faces Of course the problem is that EVERY contestant says the same thing each week, over and over and that's what makes it so unbearable. If someone actually was more truthful and did perhaps say 'I was screwed on the music' it would impact the viewing audience more in their favour. People would sit up and take notice and maybe side with them for being honest.

Also the words that annoy me the most are 'I don't want anyone to go, I love them all, they are all so good'. No, they aren't all so good, and lets be honest in every group, especially one this big there are going to be people you simply do not get on with, its natural. And most importantly of course you DO want them to go home before you, its a competition after all. You want to win don't you?

I remember after week one of his season (2009?) Joe Calzaghe appeared on Paul O'Grady's chat show and bluntly stated his Tango music "sucked". I did actually appreciate his honesty, funnily enough. He was right too, not that I think better music would have helped him much.

Well there's about 15 minutes of dancing in around 6 hours of broadcasting each week, so that's a fair amount of padding (aka drivel) to help fill the time up.

While looking for another clip just found Crag and Anton having fun.

Did not know Craig could sing.

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

You say that but a group of fifteen isn't that big and in fairness most SCD contestants are nice people who are used to working with others and there's solidarity in all doing the same thing. People are at vastly different levels but they'll all have the same aches, pains and blisters from doing it that they can bond over. You get the impression that most people geuninely support each other (Ed in his RT article refers to people giving him encouragment after his first dance) and that the few rivalries that develop Matt/Gethin Tom/Austin are friendly competitions rather than being cutthroat.

Some people are obviously closer friends than others but especially with series five I got the impression of a group that really got on together probably helped by the fact there were four pro/celeb group dances although the first two were gender split and would not have included the same people but Matt,Gethin and Kenny who all seemed to like each other (and John Barnes would also have been there as well) and Leticia,Alesha and Kelly would have had three group training sessions with each other although i never got the impression Kelly was regarded as a bit standoffish possibly because with the sitution with her father she had other things on her mind.

That said I don't think Ann Widdlecombe and Pamela Stephenson liked each other very much -complete clash of personalities there.

It is and it is joyous and free!

Dancing is certainly joyous - BUT only if someone enjoys doing it! It's not everyone's cup of tea.

Allegedly - and I stress ALLEGEDLY - Beacham only agreed to do the show on the understanding she would be "voted" out in the first couple of weeks. It's thought she never had any intention of doing more.

I believe that they're having the time of their life but it does seem false when they say it too much. I reckon their pros tell them what to say and what comes across well but you can usually tell when it's genuine.

He's done Panto in our home town- pretty good voice live too.

The " I've worked so hard, it's so difficult" line is the one that's getting on my wick.
I know the producers get them to say it just to make out STrictly is the hardest challenge they will ever face, Olympics? PAH! It's all about the 5 6 7 8, quick quick slow