Last year SCD was criticised (by a senior member of the Church of England - I think) for its "humiliation" of its contestants etc etc I remember being slightly puzzled because in comparison to X Factor I thought SCD was mild...this year however I have noticed that some of their feedback has beome quite nasty...Kenny last week (and I agreed he was not the best) and he got a very snide remark from Arlene this week "two words" - mind you a tumble weed went past her because no one laughed...their treatment of Kate made truly uncomfortable viewing and again Arlene's comment to Anton was way out of order...Len still manages to bring humour into it but the other three become almost angry (sit there like they have a bad smell under their noses) if the dancing doesn't meet their high standards...at this rate what celebs are going to want to do SCD?

i agree with you, i thought Gabby and James were undermarked and that comment about Anton was just too rude. Arlene alwasy seems to get personal which isn't professional of her. at least Craig doesn't get personal and just talks about the dancing

and it's funny how on dwts Len and Bruno are handing out 9s to a performance that only deserved a 6.

To be honest Arlene has always been like that imo. Craig has his moments too. Len and Bruno are usually more good humoured about the whole thing.

i'm glad you noticed that arlene two words comment completely died on its arse. mainly because it didnt make sense.

i'm sure some of her remarks to kate and anton must of been thought up beforehand. it seemed too planned. that just makes her more pathetic.

Let´s record the remarks for posterity

'What is it about GMTV presenters, they can't dance and haven't got any rhythm, you're spending too much time on the sofa'

'Anton reminds of those people who have premium bonds but never win anything'

Very nasty indeed.

I don't normally watch SCD but saw it this week as I was getting ready to go out. I thought the dancers seemed amazingly good to say they hadn't been doing it for very long at all - obviously they are going to improve as the series progresses but the judges comments seemed to me to be hurtful and not very constructive and didn't appear to take into account factors like injury, age or fitness levels. I felt they were judging them as if they were professional dancers who had been doing this all their lives

I may watch it again to see the dancers but the judges are really off putting.

and let's not forget that huge comedy moment: Kenny two words: Rugby" "Pitch"

i know - what does that mean in the context of dancing arlene - please do tell?

If I had been him I would have replied - Arlene, I have two words for you "rugby" "balls". That would have made more sense and filled the empty void of space that followed her comment.

i don't get it

I would have asked her if all the botox had frozen her brain...

The woman can't be objective, salivating over anyone she fancies ('I lose all perspective when I watch you dance' - well you're a pretty useless sodding judge then!) and irrationally hating others.

Maybe she can get a contract to choreograph in Timbuktu and we can replace her. I hear Karen Hardy has some time on her hands.

Len has his moments, too. Don't forget his comment to Claire last year

"Stick to the dirty stuff and leave the elegance to someone else".

In my opinion, the nastiest thing a judge has ever said.

´Anton reminds of those people who have premium bonds but never win anything'

Apart from the fact that Anton has won several major titles (without his celebrity partner, it can be turned around.

Arlene three decades working on West End musicals and has never won anything either - neither a Tony or an Olivier....

I thought her comments to Kate and Anton were totally uncalled for.

Even if Kate had been absolutely terrible after four weeks of practice, it wasn't a nice comment, but for god's sake, the woman had had barely a few days of rehearsal of a very difficult dance! And for what it's worth, I think she does show good rythm.

I was fuming on their behalf - and the remark of 'I may be cruel but I'm not that cruel' (at Craig's score of 2), did little to compensate for it.

And you're being played....as are all the others bristling with indignation over the remarks of the 'nasty' judges.

Craig and Arlene do it deliberately....they do it because it's expected of them....and because it generates the results that the producers want.

Let's just consider what happens when the judges are bitchy. It creates controversy, adds 'drama', gets people talking about the show, gives certain contestants a 'storyline', motivates people to vote....in short the sort of stuff RTV thrives on.

Silly and irritating it may be....but it works.

Not with me it doesn't. I could have been converted to this programme but they have really put me off watching again. Of course they can criticise but it has to be slightly constructive and not personal and nasty and it should be consistent.

So your theory is that the BBC wanted to keep Kate, Fiona, Diarmid and Chris Parker for as long as possible.

Well, Kate already had a 'storyline', I only talk about the show in here (and not to my friends and colleagues 'outside'), and don't vote! So not sure if Arlene's comment (nasty as it was), or the scores achieved any of that (aside from me making a comment about it in a thread dedicated to that one thing, amidst all of the numerous threads on here).

Erm...well it wouldn't work if everyone just stopped for a moment and realised how much they were being manipulated.

This is all textbook RTV stuff....not theory but observation....and it seems that despite the saturation of the market for this kind of show, it's still extremely effective.

So effective that I can´t be bothered to vote or watch the results show.

Also so effective that it killed Arlene and Bruno´s Dance X (Sinking without Trace - the series), mainly because people can´t stand either of them.

It seemed to go on forever when the judges were ''judging'' Kate. I found it slightly uncomfortable viewing at one point I thought Kate was almost in tears. It seemed like a personal attack on them more than judgement on someones dancing.

She knows sod all about rugby either...... she changed it to scrum but as a wing, Kenny was never in a scrum in his life

Funny you should say this about Len and Bruno. Last year these two jokers were the most spiteful of all the judges, especially where Brendan was concerned. I hate Len now. His performances on ITT are cringeworthy. Putting out his arms wide as if to encompass many fans. Who does he think he is. Arlene and Craig at least have been consistent, and although they make personal comments, their scoring is usually fair.

Which was stupid. She had very obvious reasons for being a bit crap so why tell her 'well you're a bit crap aren't you!'

A simple 'well done with the limited training' (it certainly wasn't a total disaster since she'd barely practised) as Len said was perfectly sufficient.

When you read between the lines, Len is the nastiest judge of the lot. No more Mr Nice Guy. Very spiteful.