I've heard whispers that Clive Uter and Helga Helgadottir were hoping to take part. I don't know too much about that though. But trust me, it couldn't have come from a more reliable source !

Have to agree that I would hate for them to have more couples, I did think the series last time appeared too long and drawn out. I think that 10 couples is the perfect number, but I preferred the format in the first series where there was no elimination in the first week.

I agree totally with that, Becca, I think 10 couples is ideal, but 12 at the most, and no elimination in the first week. I think it would be great if Clive and Helga were to take part actually. That would be really interesting.

The source of the information about the format of SCD4 is pretty reliable and I agree that if it goes ahead as 14 couples the BBC are in danger of going into overkill. They could as you say keep it to 12 and no eliminations that way we would get more chance to see all the couples dance.

The professional dancers who went to the end of the SCD3 last time found it physically and mentally draining so it must have been worse for the celebs, they would not want to have two extra weeks by choice.

I am glad Darren is well enough to take part, it wouldnt be the same without him. I have danced with him also and he is very sweet. I hope your event is a success I am sure it will be. I had a charity event early this year with Ian and Camilla and Anton and Erin doing a joint show, it was fantastic and raised 37k for Macmillan.

cant see clive and helga taking part just not experienced enought - So they have turned pro have they ?? they were not high enough ranking amateurs to be asked. I did hear that the couple who did the demo on SDF have been asked but for the life of me cant remember their names but they were top amateurs andhave now turned pro

Congratulations on raising so much money for Macmillan, Elizabethjo! That's absolutely brilliant!

Lovely to hear from you again, Bendymixer, I'm not sure whether Clive and Helga have turned professional, (maybe Becca knows?) and I suppose they are not that experienced, but I do like watching them dance.

Regarding Clive and Helga's status as amateurs / professionals - I really don't know on that front, although I know for sure that they have both expressed that they would like to be involved with the next series.

The couple that did the demonstration - do you mean Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace? I'm sure I heard somewhere that they could be taking part, so it would make sense if they are also the couple that you meant.

Yes I have also heard that Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace are taking part

I cant really see Clive and Helga taking part as they got booted out of sdf the first week but I maybe wrong

Personally, I hope that the singing lessons are purely for some comic part of It takes two, it makes me cringe to think about the professional dancers singing, I agree with whoever it was who said that they doubt many professional dancers would do that!

Also, I do believe, looking at the danceplaza website, Paul and Olga did in fact compete for the USA at Blackpool this year, so Darren and Lilia did in fact come top for the UK, despite Darren's injury.

The other thing is that did I miss something or are Clive and Helga amateur dancers? I was convinced to take part in Strictly Come Dancing they had to be professionals. I hope they do take part because I think they would be very interesting to watch, but unless they've turned professional I think its unlikely they will be paired up with a celebrity, maybe they are just involved with training for a group dance or are going to dance in some results shows? xx

Actually you are right Katie, on the DancePlaza site, under BlackpoolDanceFestival.net, it does indeed state that Paul and Olga represented the USA, which is what I was going by, although it does say England in the programme! They did indeed compete successfully for the US, and it gets quite confusing when couples change their allegiance.

It would be good to see Vincent and Flavia take part in SCD4 too!

They definitely competed for the UK. Danceplaza also had Eugene Katsevman and Maria Manusova listed for the Netherlands and I know that it's definitely a mistake! Haha!

Dancesportinfo is the only reliable source - check on there and you will see that they did dance for the UK, so were the highest placed UK couple.

Ok!! Thanks Becca!

Out of interest, does anyone know why they chose to change country representation. I have to say I find it difficult to think of them as a UK couple, although I know technically they are, and I know I am not alone in this. They did well dancing for the US, so was there some major problem ?

I honestly don't know. I read some of the speculation on one of the American forums, and they all thought it was rather strange that they decided to switch over as well. They only changed in January this year, I think.

I agree with bewest totally on this, why should they change like this? I'm not patriotic in the slightest but it strikes me that a couple who are not british citizens would only dance for britain to either get more money or to get a higher ranking within the country. It seems exceedingly unfair that Darren and Lilia, who have worked their way up through the ranks, competing for britain throughout suddenly become second best to two people who changed countries for unknown reasons!
I also wouldn't count them a british couple, I still see Darren and Lilia as #1 in the UK!

Oh god yes. Love to see him again. Such a brilliant showman on DOI He's doing this through the summer :
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co....ontentId/89722

The show is on BBC1 Saturday nights from 29th July til 16th September, with the live studio shows being from 12th August til 16th September. (Would be great if he sung on that he's got a fantastic voice doubt they get the judges to sing though ) It's Torchwood a few weeks after that.

For those of you that loved Olga on DOI this is on John's official board photos of her skating as Odette in Swan Lake:

http://johnbarrowman.net/barrowmanbo...opic.php?t=478

Doesn't she look amazing?

I think that's a little unfair! For example, just because Brendan Cole and Camilla Dallerup changed their representation from New Zealand to England, they should never have been considered as a British couple? It's just something that happens in dancesport.

So just because Jonathan Wilkins and Katusha Demidova are from England and Russia respectively, do Americans refuse to consider them as American? No, instead they are immensely proud of their couple. Just like British people should be of Paul and Olga - they're regularly making many of the major finals recently and that's a great thing for this country. And something that hasn't happened for quite a long time! You should be pleased about it!

Well, we will just have to wait and see what happens in November!
Last edited by * Becca * : 16-06-2006 at 07:14

I see your point, but personally, whether they represent the UK or not, it will take some time to accept them as British competitors and I'm sure lots of people in the country outside dancesport will feel the same, especially as most non dancers (and some dancers!) will have never heard of them!
Anyway, lets just see what happens this year, because I think we've gone a bit off topic!
So, SCD4.....................

I'm pretty sure that most dancesport followers will have heard of them , they've been a pretty successful couple for the past three years now.

So yes, SCD 4 . . . can't wait!

Yes, I expect dancesport followers will have heard of them, what I meant is that I doubt many 'outsiders' as such will have done!

As people were saying earlier, I hope they go back to the origional format of the show where there are no eliminations in the first week, it means that we would get to see a couple try both ballroom and latin, and I've always felt that knocking someone out after their first dance is a little unfair as there may be other reasons that they don't perform well on the night such as nerves! Also when there is no real time to get to know the celebrities, I've noticed it tends to be the case that the ones that get booted off do so because they are not such household names.

Also I would much rather they only had 10 celebrities, and I certainly think 14 would be overkill. I hope the BBC don't feel they have to outdo themsleves on last year by putting another couple of celebrities in to keep the interest up!

(sorry thats so long and rambling )

8 or 10 celebrities would be fantastic, I really think it worked the best that way. I think it lets you 'get to know' each couple better through their training footage as there is more focus on fewer people.

I always felt so mean on Hazel being knocked out in Week 1, I'm pretty certain that if she and Quentin had performed a Ballroom dance it may not have been the case. The same goes for Matthew, if he and Siobhan had've danced Latin, things could have been so different. I'd love for the contestants to have a chance to try both before being eliminated.

Totally agree Becca! I think that its a shame that we never got to see those couples perform a ballroom/latin dance.
I doubt it would happen but I'd also like to see another judge on the show that actually specialises in the field of ballroom and latin dancing, although I think most viewers are now used to the four they already have, and probably don't want to see a change.

its a shame re the judging on SCD but as you say Katie it is established now as much as I love Len he has never been at the 'top' end of Latin and ballroom judging with his expertise in showdance and freestyle - need less to say he has been great success both here and usa. To see another high profill latin/ballroom judge would be good.

Have no problem with couple deciding to represent uk they are living and working here and trained here so why not? half of the british couples have partners from other places ie darren and lilia and matthew and nicole and most of the ballroom top liners too

Are Matthew and Nicole back together ??? if they are they will quickly replace Darren and Lilia as no 1 Uk couple

as regards to Paul and Helga they are not experienced enought for SCD if they have turned professional will only be a short time ago and their teaching skills will not have been learnt yet - nor will they have taken their pro exams yet. There are far more experienced pros on the British Dance Scene and frankly would be pretty poor show if these two ended up on SCD

Oh yes! I've thought that for such a long time, I mean, great personalities as they are, I'd much rather see some real high profile Ballroom judges on the show to give it heaps more credibility.


That's very true, in fact, I can't think of any of the British Latin champions within recent years who have both been British? Can anybody else? I'm very pleased that Paul and Olga are now representing England as it's a great thing for the country. And also if they are living, working and training here, then it seems the obvious choice!


Gosh, that's the stuff dreams are made of! I wish! Unfortunately not, I think that Matthew has expressed that at the moment he isn't looking to compete any more, which truly is a great loss.