Hello,
I have just watched a recording of yesterday's Paul O'Grady show on which John Barnes appeared. During a very long interview John said he'd been practicing the Viennese waltz for two days. As he is meant to be doing either the Samba or the AS this week he may be in trouble!
He also said that he trains for SCD 3 hours a day. Doesn't seem enough IMHO.

Hi there!

I saw the show today and wondered the same thing!

I can only assume he was a bit confused, or maybe Nicole has devised a VW style AS for him rather than a Foxtrot or QS one.

Bearing in mind this edition of POG was recorded and not live, so he was speaking a couple of days ago.

I agree 3 hours is not really enough. He had alot to say in the interview though about the other contestants didn't he? Not very diplomatic, I thought.

Three hours per day only?! He's NOT going to correct that bad posture if he trains this little!!!

I may be wrong, but don't they sometimes spend a little time on what they are doing next week incase the get through. That would explain why h is spnding so little time on it as well

Wake up guys,

John knows he does not stand a chance so is not prepared to put in the hours. He is only going through the motions.

If he was to train 8 hours a day, that belly would be a lot flatter by now.

You can tell the celebs that are serious and John is not one of them.

Out this or next week at the latest....

I think you're right, he has openly said he only did the show to appease his daughters and perhaps that's why Nicole looked a little 'Grrrr' (in the words of our Claudia) on SCD ITT. He quite clearly has the potential to be very good and go far if he took it seriously, but he's not and that must be extremely frustrating for Nicole.

What did he say?

3 hours a day - so if he trains between 9-12 why isn't he then having a break and training in the afternoon?

I forgot he was on, I don't like Paul O but wanted to watch this to see John.
Unfortunately I only caught the end & ended up listening to Paul & that awful bimbo-looking woman wittering on about stuff that I could not understand, so I quickly switched over.
Actually I don't think John is doing himself any favours the way he is portraying himself in all these interviews. I quite liked him at first but he comes across as very arrogant, smug, can't be bothered & is not very gracious to some of the other contestants now imo.

Dance lovers will not be amused. Amateurs are not expected to become perfect within a week, but are expected to at least know the name of the dance.

Gabby will have long since researched everything about the American Smooth, and will have cajoled James into telling her the rest omitting nothing. After Gabby's jive Craig said every move there was in jive had been exhibited -- that Gabby and James had danced the encyclopaedia of jive.

Like her or not, have to respect her dedication to the job in hand. James does.

I feel really sorry for Nicole, for the fact that almost every other celebrity is taking this seriously and I'm sure that even previous constestants like Willie Thorne were putting in more than 3 hours a day, it doesn't portray John in a very good light at all.

I missed the interview so would someone be able to upload it if they was able to catch it?

The VW is a terrific dance to do in practice sessions. It really warms you up and puts you through your paces. Nicole could be using it as a warm up, or there could be a group VW planned and Nicole wants to get the jump on John's technique.

Or, as someone else suggests, John might just have got the name of the dance wrong!!!

I read an article in the mail in which Len said that in the first series they only trained for 2 3 hour sessions a week. Footballers only train for about 3 hours a day so maybe that is all he can handle!

Hard to see the SCD dance floor being big enough for 11 couples swirling round in a group Viennese waltz. The spectacle would be memorable -- celebrities with poor rhythm will look like leaves swaying in a hurricane.

John's 15 stones wearing canary yellow and holding petite Nicole will look like a tub of butter dancing with a piece of toast.

Yep, Gabby appears to be the most agile and technically proficient of all the dancers. And that kicking between the legs in her QS really impressed me.

But can't take to her, in part due to the over competitiveness that drives the dedication you mention. I can well imagine, the moment she knew she was due to appear (which quite possibly could have been as early as the end of the last series), she was swotting up on each dance, training hard to attain a physical peak, and possibly (pure conjecture on my part) put in some surreptitious private training.

The impression I got was of someone who arrived on the first show expecting to be the best and expecting to win. Her petulant performance after the QS, simply reinforced this view.

I think he did just get confused with the Viennese Waltz because he then said that he just started training yesterday so i think that is for the next weeks dance. John started talking about people needing gimmicks and he mentioned Kate and her ankle. He then said Kenny's gimmick was his dyslexia and he used his dyslexia so people would feel sorry for him.

Did he actually say that?

If so, John is out of my radar pronto!

Well, he has got a point. What's Kenny's dyslexia got to do with his dancing ability?

But was he suggesting that Kate's injury was not genuine? What's John's gimmick then...his belly?

eh is uot fo nime too

He did say that actually

Not very nice John

Why is it so awful that he says what other people are thinking? some people are using the publicity machine better than others and Kenny has mentioned his dyslexia alot and the fact that he is scottish! Also kate has been in the papers alot garnering sympathy with her car being crushed et al- others will wheel out grannies and kids- other haven't appeared anywhere so its horses for courses!

in our house its all seen as ploys for votes so why shouldn't John say what some of us think?
Last edited by FelineFantastic : 26-10-2007 at 13:12

The VT showed Kenny talking about his past (childhood), probably what the producers instructed Kenny's interviewer to ask? In Kenny's defence, I think he meant he was never quite bright in school. Very likely he was laughed at and made fun of as a kid and thus you can see Kenny's often taking criticisms relatively calmly, he's probably used to criticisms of his 'abilities' (besides his obvious Rugby skills). I don't think Kenny is milking sympathy when he talked about his childhood.

He did say it and I admit that I thought it was wrong to do so but I don't believe he meant it in a nasty way.

John was joking about everybody needing a gimmick to get sympathy votes. He used Kate's ankles, Kenny's dyslexia and Penny's height as examples before saying that his gimmick was being fat.

A classic case of foot in mouth syndrome. No wonder his dancing isn't too great!!!

If I were to choose between 2 potential employees, one like Gabby and one the opposite, I would choose Gabby for value.

If I were to be operated on by one of 2 surgeons, one like Gabby and one the opposite, I would choose Gabby, for my survival.

If Gabby was furious about making a mistake, and her fury ensured she did not repeat same, then that fury has fulfilled a utilitarian purpose. If anger came from wounded vanity then that's a different matter. I believe Gabby's case to be the former.

With her strong facial bone structure Gabby looks as if she could be an olympic athlete, or Boadicea, queen of the tribes. But if you were going into battle against Roman legions, you would not want a feminine beauty leading the army.

For Gabby, with flag flying and drum beating. Forward, Advance.