I read that too - it did make me wonder if all the celebrities were told beforehand who they might be getting and allowed to swap, or if she got special treatment. As logistically I can't imagine they gave them all a choice!

Well Zoe did work on SDF so she may have got special treatment.

I have pondered this very question and maybe previous years does have a relevance, maybe it's not wanting to handicap the successful pros, maybe it's to give the other pros a chance to show their skills further in the competition.

Or how about the attitude of the celebs, maybe Gloria said she would only do it if she got that nice man who won last year or whatever. Maybe those in charge thought that if anyone could get Fiona to NOT fall over every three seconds it would be Brendan or she being a journo (of sorts) would not stand for any of his fiery temper tantrums and stand up for herself. Maybe Anton having had two more mature ladies SCD thought it might be nice to see him perform with a younger more impressionable partner, allowing Anton to be more adventerous with his routines. I doubt it is just drawn from a hat who get's who and as mentioned, Zoe could only have been with Iain or it would not look ideal......

I think as most people have said it's firstly a height issue. Looking at the male dancers and their partners this year. To me, in height order the male pros seem to go (Not too sure about Matthew so I'm guessing a bit with him):

Ian
Brendan
Matthew
Anton
Andrew
Darren

The female celebs seemed to be (with a bit of guess work in the middle because Siobhan, Fiona and Patsy are pretty equal):

Zoe
Siobhan/Fiona
Patsy
Jaye
Gloria

The two seem to fit together quite nicely. However, I do think there's a lot of manouvering from the producers to make the competition that bit more interesting. E.g. they give Patsy to Anton so he has a younger partner and they've got a couple who are complete opposites hoping to add some spice, they give Gloria to Darren knowing he's a nice lad and won't be too harsh on her (same way about the only person they could have paired Esther with last year was Anton). After all, they knew SCD was going to be in a ratings battle with the X-Factor...

According to BBC website
Ian 6'3
Matthew 6'2
Brendan 6'1
Anton 5'11
Andrew 5'11
Darren 5'8

Zoe 5'11
Siobhan 5'8
Jaye 5'8
Patsy 5'7
Fiona 5' 5 1/2
Gloria - it's anyones guess

I didn't think Jaye looked that tall - but it's probably because she's curvy and Patsy so slender.

Fiona was the one that threw me actually. I thought she looked short but then she was paired with Brendan....Still don't understand that one myself. Would've been more interesting to have Brendan with Jaye - can't imagine she would have taken any of his remarks too lightly! Maybe he complained he didn't want another Casualty/Holby actress after the schedule problems of last year.

Maybe it was her hubby who refused that suggestion!?? lol

I thougth exactly the same abouth the heights, Siobhan and jaye no way looked the same height. But when you look at Jaye and Andrew dancing together they were very close in height, with her heels and his cubans.

They really should pair Brendan with someone fiesty. But I guess he has got that now with rachel Hunter. Who, btw, looks about 6 ft but was described as 5 10 on the DWTS website.

I think the size does not really have a a major impact on the patner ships so long as the guy is taller. Brendan was too tall for fiona, just as Darren is too bulky for Lilia (it shows in their Ballroom)

I like Darren, think he's a top bloke but he's just not a very pleasing looking ballroom dancer. Does much better in the latin.

I was such a huge fan of Aled and Lilia last year that I don't see her looking as good with anyone else (unless it's Darren B, of course). Theirs was a really special partnership. Goughie and Lilia just isn't quite the same...

I think the Brendan and Rachel partnership should make excellent viewing, entertainment wise. Shame it's only for one show.

Ooooh! I loved Aled and Lilia, not as much as Denise and Ian, but they were fantastic. They had a great rapport and she choreographed perfect dances for him. He worked so hard.

Has Aled been on ITT this series, does anyone know? (I've seen most but not all.)
If not would be great to have him on, they have had Lesley and Julian after all.
I would be interested to know if he is keeping up the dancing and if he and Lilia are still in touch.

Yes he has. It was the just before the Paso

really bendymixer how interesting! I don't think she would have suited Brendan at all! But maybe the beeb knew that her and Ian would make too strong a couple...I wish they would just draw straws it would make it so much better!

I reckon they wanted them together because of the press interest it would have generated - nice free publicity for the show.
Which is the very reason Zoe vetoed the idea.

It's strange how quickly it slips from memory. I had to struggle to remember who "Gloria" was, and I'm still baffled by "Siobhan".

BTW, what would "press interest" be in Zoe + Brendan -- or is it Zoe + Ian?

Where did it have the heights of the celebs and dancers on the BBC site? I was wanting to look up a few, i'm curious.

Edit: Ok, found them.

I can't believe i'm the same height as Lilia! I'm so small!

[quote=BTW, what would "press interest" be in Zoe + Brendan -- or is it Zoe + Ian? [/QUOTE]

The easy premice would have been, she's had an affair before, Brendan has had an affair with a precious celeb contestant (Natasha), let's stir up lots of rumours they may be getting it on!...

In that paragon of truth that is the Sunday Mirror, Zoe is quoted as saying words to that effect though obviously not mentioning affair in so many words! Not sure if am allowed to quote so here is the link to the article (from a little while ago). Sorry I know it is a very long link name.

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/n...name_page.html

Same as me! That means there's a chance for me with the lovely Darren B! (lol not really!)

I thought that too.

I know it's supposed to be luck of the draw, but taking that into account, it's strange that Zoe got Ian...

It doesn't seem like a coincidence that the two tallest people were paired together, and if that can be arranged, then surely the others can too!