Definitely does say something about his/her character.

Yesterday in Bournemouth a chap coming out of a shop was approached by a stranger who demanded money. He refused. The stranger pulled the chap's hood over his head and threw him into the road where he was hit by (what's reported as) several cars and none of them stopped. He dragged himself out of the road but the stranger grabbed him and pulled him along the pavement. He managed to escape and run off, only to find later that he had a broken leg and arm. Obviously adrenalin kicked in so he could escape.

Would you have stopped to help, not knowing if the stranger was drunk, pumped up on drugs or whatever and risk harm to yourself? Seems no-one did.

And


Nowhere have I said that it was a homophobic attack. I said he was engaged to Lauren Sheridan so is not gay.

I would imagine the stage is hired for the entire Strictly series so the lighting and sets and seating can stay in place week in and week out. As for hotels in London for the pro's and contestants during the series I would imagine most, if not all the pro's already have apartments in the city and just commute to Elstree Friday and Saturday. The celebs probably also go home after Saturday so no hotel costs there either. However moving the entire production up north would be a HUGE cost as hotels would be needed for the entire cast and crew.

If I were the BBC and needed to get out of Elstree for one show a series I'd look at the O2 as a place to go. They can cater the size of the stage and seating to your needs, and the arena is easy to get to, possibly easier than Elstree.

Does it clash with the tennis?

I don't thinkk the cameras, light etc will be sitting in the studio unused all week. It is not the way things work now. I doubt the costs are increased that much as the BBC are very careful on watching budgets.

They don't need to leave Elstree . According to another poster CIN and SCD are filmed in two different stage sites . Going to Blackpool is just for hype, that's why we're bombarded with Blackpool propaganda from the SCD producers .

Yes.....I'd want to inspect my car for damage.

Post 80 your original post suggested this was an homophobic attack.

You then back tracked and said he was engaged.

I thought Gorka and Lauren were married.

Though to be fair, hatred is rarely reasonable. If the three are outside a club popular with the LGBT community, a bigot may feel that's enough cause. What I'm saying is does Gorka need to be gay for this to be a homophobic attack?

I don't know the area or the club at all. So no idea about the nature of the attack in truth.

I've just read post 80. In no way does Janet suggest it was a homophobic attack. She is replying to previous posts, in particular post 69 which discuss the rise of violent attacks (both racist and homophobic) since Brexit.

To be fair these sort of attacks are not restricted to Blackpool. There's unlikely to be a town or a city where assaults do not happen.

Blackpool is used a great deal throughout the year for dance festivals - As well as the British Championships (held at the same time as Strictly's stint in the tower), followed by the World Championships on Sunday, there are various medallist festivals - one held just a week before the Brits. But of course the main ones are earlier in the year, the Open to the World Festivals, one for the kids, the other for adults, which is generally known as THE competition in the world, and which lasts over a week. That is huge and Blackpool becomes largely known as the Orange city for that week!!!!

Those are just the ballroom and Latin festivals - there are plenty others for disco, sequence, etc.

Yes, we were always warned about walking about the town late at night. But during all years we attended at least 4 of these festivals in Blackpool every year., I can honestly say we never had a single of incident of anyone being mugged. We do know of someone badly beaten in a so-called well-to-do town in Kent, though, and another couple in Bournemouth - so I don't think Blackpool should be singled out.

At the end of the day, Gorka was just unlucky. Not unlike my poor elderly (87 yrs) great-aunt who was mugged for her pension in Windsor a couple of years ago!

The victim does not need to be gay for an attack to have homophobic intent. I know a straight guy who was gay bashed on coming out of a gay pub - he was on a night out with his gay friend.

The recording must have finished quite late in the evening so there would be a lot of people around who had been drinking all evening and that often leads to fights or just violence. if there were locals they would know the club was popular with homosexuals (I think it said so on the sign from what I remembered of the picture in the paper) but there were probably not fussy who they tried to pick a fight with.

They don't now no, but originally they did and presumably it's simply a continuation of when they went to Blackpool for either the finals or because they had to vacate the studio for CiN.

[quote=Janet43;84651059)

Yesterday in Bournemouth a chap coming out of a shop was approached by a stranger who demanded money. He refused. The stranger pulled the chap's hood over his head and threw him into the road where he was hit by (what's reported as) several cars and none of them stopped. He dragged himself out of the road but the stranger grabbed him and pulled him along the pavement. He managed to escape and run off, only to find later that he had a broken leg and arm. Obviously adrenalin kicked in so he could escape.

.[/QUOTE]

I'm kind of glad you posted this as it happened in Bournemouth. I'm getting a bit fed up with all the comments that seem to suggest this kind of thing only happens in Blackpool or is the norm there. Sadly senseless violence after drinking happens all over the country. Im not from there, but I don't think bashing Blackpool is fair and at times comes across as a bit superior.

The homeless people I speak to are especially scared of it. They're trying to sleep and to keep hold of their last few things. They can be pissed on, kicked, beaten, mocked, and everything taken from them. Who is there to step in to defend them? This is not just Blackpool. It's any city in the UK.