The Jordans: once a popular couple on a prime-time Saturday evening show with massive ratings.

Ola - now hanging around in the jungle with a bunch of non-entities and other Z-listers. who'd sell their own granny for an extra five minutes of fame.

James - reduced to urging people to buy sex toys for Christmas.

Not meaning to sound like Adele but they could have had it all.

Saying that, it's early days but seeing Ola on I'm A Celebrity makes me think that the story of the fallout with Karen is pretty close to the truth. I think the introduction of the Clifton's did change the direction of the show and the Jordan's were seen as surplus to requirements.

I'm A Celebrity gets massive ratings though as well (probably not as much as it once did as I'd hope there only so many times, if at all, you could watch a celebrity eat animal genitals). It will introduce her to a lot of people who won't have seen her on Strictly. It is a shame though as although I never really warmed to James, I quite liked Ola. There a fewer pros nowadays on Strictly than ever before who I would say I like.

I consider that enterprising, Liza

Neither of them are nonentities. They have a talent and I wish them both luck

Yeah the Brad Pitt of the dance world and his wife could have been contenders.

PS I think you can negotiate a hefty fee for eating bugs in the jungle. Obviously nobody would do it if there wasn't.

You may have meant this sarcastically, but it is basically true.

However, they have stupidly put desperate media-whoring ahead of said talent.

Why they didn't, for example, try and get onto the upcoming Dance, Dance, Dance as trainers and/or judges a la Torvill & Dean on DOI, I will never know.

Instead, Ann Summers came calling and they dived in head first (probably NOT the best way I could have put this but you get the general gist!!!)

Oh dear....

Are there any more reality shows for them to do? James did Big Brother, Ola did that Jump show and now I'm a celeb. What is next?

Plenty:

Come Dine With Me
Who's Doing the Dishes?
Celebrity Coach Trip
I'm Famous & Frightened

I like both programmes equally and consider the celebs in the jungle to be the equal of those on Strictly. It is a great experience and one many enjoy having. Besides she's probably getting better paid.

It's really sad but they brought this on themselves . I still can't believe they tarnished their legacy like this . I used to really like them and defend them here even though I was in the minority. ...what a sad state of affairs but they really have themselves to blame.

It is however a good way to make a lot of money in a very short time. Ola will be getting probably 3 times ( or more ) what she earned on Strictly, and all this for 3 weeks work instead of almost 5 months.

I did wonder ( on an earlier thread, some time ago ) as to why Ola and James had never done their own tour and someone sensibly said that the amount of money they would make from the tour, versus the costs, would not be huge.

So, in a way, I can see why they are going down the quick, high earning, celebrity route. And there will always be the possibility to go back to teaching ( which I realise they already do ) once the reality offers dry up.

On the subject of what else can they do - didnt I read somewhere on here that James is going back into CBB on the next show ? So that will be another boost to the bank balance.

I like the fact that in the AS Christmas campaign their airbrusher clearly couldn't be bothered with the amount of work needed for James' 8-pack, so they've just stuck him in a full-on Santa suit

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...Christmas.html

Actually I have to agree with you regarding the comparative celeb profiles. Also there have been some major celebs in the jungle in the past e.g. Martina Navratilova.

I'm not impressed by all the calendar/Ann Summers related stuff, but I did watch the first two episodes of I'm a Celeb and thought Ola acquitted herself really well.

Edit: I've just checked the I'm a Celeb forum and people are complimentary about her and so this could be a good thing for the Jordans.
Last edited by Ann_Dancer : 16-11-2016 at 11:26

I don't like James much, Ola is ok I suppose, that said I wouldn't want to kick someone when they are down, they are doing what they feel needs to be done to make ends meet, be that reality shows, books, or whatever, and need to stay in the public eye if they want those offers to continue to come in, even if in James case that means an exaggerated ego trip to stay noticed, so good luck to them. Maybe they will be offered their own dance show and get back into the dancing side soon, who knows? Wish them luck.

yes next CBB is past contestants he reportedly accepted a six figure fee as well

I always liked them both, particularly James, and I prefer them to the Cliftons. I wish they were still on SCD and I certainly wish them well. Everybody has to earn a crust.

Can you possibly supply some details to those of us not in the know

Interesting. I would agree with the change of direction but could you elaborate on this ?

I don't know what the story is about James and Ola.

Who did they fall out with? Karen Clifton? I remember there being some difficulty reported when Ola and Karen were both on SCD, but I didn't think much of it.

I recall that James was a bit bolshy when he was on SCD, and not very popular with the judges, but he was a good dancer, and I good teacher, wasn't he?

Can someone explain everything to me, and others equally ignorant of all this, please

Surprised how many like Ola and not James. Other way around for me. He's got a certain somewhat ill-judged wit. Ola just seemed to me hard-faced, and a rather limited choreographer too. A lot of recycling in her routines

There is a show that celebrities go one to try to boost their career, it's a lot of work though, but it's still the most popular programme still on the BBC....... Oh hang on a mo.

All I meant is I think the Jordan's were seen as the focal point of the show, especially around the Cola series. Whilst not getting the strongest celebrities all the time, James gave the show headlines and was one of the only British pros. They liked him playing the bad boy and Ola offered the show a lot of sex appeal.

The Clifton's arrival, for me, marked a moment when the show decided it wanted less sex and more family appeal. Suddenly there were two, related, pros who were British rather than James being one of, if not the only, flag bearer. The show pushed the Kevin from Grimsby tag, exaggerating his Britishness further and establishing him as a fixture more than any other new pro. I don't mean this as a criticism but he was clearly a chosen one when it came to promoting the show - and his character is very different to James'.

Obviously the Jordan's noses would be put out of joint considering they were the 'golden couple' in terms of publicity up to this point. Even if the fall out with the Clifton's hadn't happened I'm not sure if they would have lasted much longer anyway - I think Ola's goodbye on It Takes Two, whilst ostensibly a nice thing to do, was a "you are definitely NOT coming back" parting shot.

Remember the tension between the likes of Brendan and James against the judges compared to the past couple of years? The likes of Alijaz, Giovanni and AJ have just sucked it up and even Brendan, maybe seeing the way the tide is turning, has mellowed. I think production wanted a slightly different vibe to the show and acted accordingly - the Jordan's represented the old era whilst the Clifton's signify the new.

penelopesimpson - I hope this answers your question too.

Maybe you should watch I'm a Celeb, Dervla. I don't think she is coming across as hard faced there, even under stress. However it is early days.

I'm a celeb is quite interesting for me this year (but still not 'must see') because there is one ex Strictly pro and two ex Strictly celebs (Lisa Snowden and Carol Vorderman). I think Carol is the one who is likely to have some difficulty interacting with the others. However, we'll see......

It's not the most veggie of shows! I didn't even watch when Vincent was on... (Still sadly missed )

Run free my beauties 🐛🐌🐜🦂🕷

Whilst on Strictly, I liked both James and Ola and I thought they were both great partners to their various celebs. I used to also like watching them dance together, as they have a genuine chemistry as a couple.

However, their downfall was James's ego and his inability/reluctance to wind his neck in when advisable. It was his behaviour that led to him - and then Ola - leaving the show and losing a valuable source of income (and publicity) for them AND a showcase for their talents. Since then, they have been on a steep downhill trajectory with less and less of what they do related to their dancing.

It's Ola who was really the face/body that Ann Summers was interested in but I reckon she only agreed to do it if James could tag along too. It's also noticeable that it's Ola who gets put forward to do the slightly more, shall we say.... challenging of their reality TV appearances - such as The Jump and I'm a Celebrity... whilst James apparently just sat around on CBB, mouthing off to anyone willing to listen. He also seems more than willing to keep sticking the knife into Strictly whenever the opportunity arises. On that basis, his recent behaviour all looks a little cynical and doesn't reflect terribly well on him.

It's a pity they have decided to go down this route because I understand they are both very good teachers and probably still have a lot to offer in the world of dance.