does anybody know how the partnerships are chosen?

i'm guessing zoe had to go with ian due to the height thing, and maybe darren got gloria as he won last year so got the one least likely to do well this year.

but how are the rest divvied up?

did brendan get two not-very-good dancers this series and last because he won the first series?

did camilla get the sexy james after having to put up with the dreadful david dickinson (how has the poor girl got over that?)

Yeah, but she had Roger Black last year which should have helped
Am I right in that Ian and Camilla are dance partners in real life - so there is a bit of a height discrepancy there!
I'm pleased that Anton has someone to dance with who might get him past the opening rounds.
I wonder if personality has something to do with it?

Yes Camilla and Ian are partners - it's on her website. Apparently they are very close off the show too. I would think that it's all to do with pairing peple up who are going to clash or fall in love so they make the newsapapers to increase awareness of the show and also makes it more watchable. At the end of the day you aren't just watching the dancing but the interreaction between the dancing partnerships too. Half the celebrities are pratically unknown this time - think they only go on to revive their careers. I had never seen the girl who was voted off!

I think Brendan and Fiona were put together because there fan bases together would pull in alot of votes=£££

...and that's the reason they managed to stay in on Saturday - most people must have been asking who Siobahn and Matthew were whereas everyone knows Fiona (and you seem to either love or hate her) and Brendan is know as the bad boy (and you either love or hate him too) He was on GMTV this morning talking about it - the ones who were voted off don't have access to that amount of free publicity, or many of the other contestants, so it's a bit unfair. Wonder whether it was discussed in detail on BBC by Bill and Natasha too. Can't imagine her not wanting to have her say, bet she was grinning ear to ear by Fiona and Brendan's appalling performance - must have made her weekend!.

so do you not think they'd mix that up a little if it were one of the considerations/

I think the feeling is that it is expected. It is for the most part a popularity contest,- regardless of talent etc the majority of people at home would want to root for people they know and love. The first couple out haven't been missed for the reasons JoJo Girl has mentioned. You don't want your 'Golden boy and girl' of dance and T.V out early, I think in theory they are a great pairing (though I don't like them) for that reason.Unfortunatley she isn't very good and he has an ego as big as my arse so the plan has gone to pot . It will be interesting to see how they fair Saturday, if they are still (in my mind the worst couple so far) there.