I feel much the same. I think its very flat without Kelly and Brendan plus I was somewhat 'put-off' by Lens vicious little outburst on their last week. It spoilt the feel-good factor for me and became a bit nasty and spiteful

I don't seem to be bothering with ITT now and I agree that its become terribly predictable....I'm just hoping that we do, in fact, get a bit of a surprise with either Gethin (the most likely) or Matt pippin Alesha to the post....but I won't hold my breath..

I've never been a particular fan of Kelly and Brendan, although to my surprise I kept defending them on different threads. However, I agree with the OP that part of the sparkle and edgyness has gone out of the competition. It's become rather predictable. With Kelly and Brendan there was always this expectation that something with their dance might go wrong (that's a compliment).

Also she did impress me in the week before her departure. Considering how many people use all sorts of excuses to milk the sympathy vote, she was rather dignified taking the unnecessary shouting from Len, when she must have been very worried for her father.

Actually SCD as always has changed my opinion of a celeb for the better. Shame they are gone.

I gained alot of respect for Kelly, as absolutely nobody was aware of what she was going through & she was so professional and dignified. It would have been nice to see her against Alesha, as somebody who could really challenge her as the best dancer and performer and a real competition between the girls.

I have to agree with the Op. On Saturday, for the first time since Strictly began, I was at home but didn't watch it live - I did watch it later but usually my Saturday if I'm at home is planned round Strictly and everything stops for it. Now it just seems pretty predictable and dull - I like all the performers left and I'm hoping that Gethin and Camilla win BUT i'm definitely not as interested as I was before K&B left.

I recorded in on Saturday & watched it Sunday morning but fast forwarded through all the fillers & only watched the dances for the result show I again recorded in and just watched the pro dances

Exactly the same frell.

And just saw the tv times it has kelly, alesha and letitia on the cover! saying who will win?

I felt a bit flat when Louisa & Vincent went out, especially as I really wanted to see their AT. Still kept watching and was mesmerized by Mark & Karen AT. Can appreciate you feeling a bit disintrested, even I (not a Brendan fan at all) missed them on Sat.

I feel sorry that she has lost her Dad and totally understand why she has dropped out. But in someways at least Kelly left the show with dignity, instead of potentially being kicked off in the final because she was voted out by the public. I always feel for the celebs who are the better dancers but don't get through because they aren't liked by the viewers. What a kick in the teeth must that be!

Yes, the new TV Times issue was released early, so Kelly was still in the competition at the time.

It's terribly sad she had to leave in those circumstances. The series is turning out to be a disappointment this year.

There seems to be a bit of Alesha bashing going on in this thread.

Let's get one thing straight: Kelly never posed a serious threat to Alesha's chances of winning.

I liked Kelly, thought she was a great dancer, and would have loved her to reach the final, but I never believed she had a hope in hell of winning. She was very unpopular with the public and had been in the dance off .

Alesha's chances of winning have actually decreased now kelly's gone. Gethin and Alesha are neck and neck on the favourites poll and if they both reach the final I think Gethin will have the edge because male celebs are more likely to win (even Alesha knows it).

It's very strange that some fans of such an exciting partnership as Kelly and Brendan's are now praising bland Gethin to the hilt. I think they're still bitter and I think a lot of them are just voting for him on the DS poll just to spite Alesha.

Last saturday's show was a bit flat but not just because K+B weren't there, but because a few of the celebs and pros were unwell, and some of the celebs let the pressure of expectation get to them. I've no doubt that this saturday's show will be entertaining and exciting, especially because from here on in anything could happen.

It's only natural that once your faves have gone that the show doesn't seem the same, but it would be boring if everyone started threads whining and expecting to people to care just because their faves were out and they weren't enjoying the show anymore

Sorry but you cannot prove they were unpopular with the public - just because the polls on here didn't like them AND they were in the bottom two does not automatically prove it - the fact is, we don't know how the public vote BUT the math's are that they could have come second in the public vote on the week they were bottom two and still been in that bottom two.

I don't think one bad word has been said about Alesha on this thread, just that it now seems very predictable who'll win - especially with the dance off in place to ensure the judges get who they want in the final regardless of public opinion. Kelly would have definitely given Alesha a run for her money as we certainly hadn't seen the best of her. K&B were playing tactics right throughout this series as to be the judges favourites and the perceived best dancers is very often the kiss of death on this show. I believe we would have seen some amazing dances from K&B in the run up to the final which would have made it all the more exciting and interesting.

Due to unfortunate circumstances the show has lost this years most interesting couple and at this late stage it is difficult to see how that excitement and interest will be generated by the 4 who remain.

I'm sorry but I don't agree with you. As stated before, I wasn't a particular fan of those two, but to say that Kelly never posed a serious threat to Alesha's chances of winning is wrong IMO. I think Kelly was a favourite with the judges, and she might have made it into the final. Her position in the dance off might have been fluke and due to her low position on the judges board. I'm not Alesha bashing (and I'm getting annoyed for having to say this all the time), but Alesha has never been that low on the leader board so we don't know what would have happened to her in the same position. I think we now understand why Kelly and Brendan had no time to practice and credit to her for not milking it, because I'm sure she would not have been in the dance off if she had done so. Why does any thread on here, moaning the loss of a celebrity always indicate the bashing of another? And for that matter, why are you Gethin bashing (again I'm not a fan of his, I was actually a Kenny and Ola fan).

Let the fans of a celebrity who has just left the competition moan the loss of that celebrity. You are welcome if (which is unlikely) Alesha leaves this week to do the same.

There was no need for that comment about kelly not being a threat to alesha.

Seems as though the shine is starting to go from A and M after last week.

and like we have always said no one who is amazing from the start ever wins.

Darren was the only winner who wasn't good from the start.

There is no doubt Kelly was a contender to win this series and her having to withdraw is a great loss to the show

I think it is sad that someone who has been consistently good seldom wins - the biggest flaw in SCD

natasha was in the bottom two before it took her about 3 weeks to get to a high standard

Jill had some problems with her ballroom

darren wasnt good untill week 7ish

mark had a couple of bad weeks too

I also think that someone going out under less than ideal conditions leaves people feeling "meh" - ie as I recall, Aled was blatantly and clearly undermarked to try and ensure Denise reached the final. Same with kelly leaving - although I think she was wise to do so - felt "wrong" because she hadn't been voted out by judges or public. I think especially this late in the game, it is a bit "What? Huh?" even to people who were not special fans of theirs.

I'll be watching whatever happens I think. Not enough great dancing and great entertainment on TV to pass SCD up even if my faves went out.

I also love ITT, and while I obviously love it when my faves are on, I still watch (sometimes multiple times) when they're not.


^ agree on both counts, though it's unlikely to stop me watching.

I hope people don't think I'm attacking Kelly. I genuinely did like her and wanted her to reach the final.
I said she wasn't a serious contender because of all the negativity that was directed at her on here and on the BBC Strictly boards (which I hated).


I didn't see the first series but acccording to Wikipedia Natasha topped the leaderboard in the second week and nearly every other week.

Jill performed consistently well and only once didn't top the leaderboard.

Darren never topped the leaderboard. He was a true underdog.

Mark topped the leaderboard in the first week and only had a couple of bad weeks.

So what I said still stands.

Although I agree with the first part of your post, I don't agree with the second part.

IMHO Natasha, Jill and Mark were the best of their series (Darren was very close). If there is a flaw it is in how far less able dancers get in the competition, but the best dancers win in the end.

Of course, if your personal favourite didn't win you won't agree!

Don't know about that - sure, he never topped the leaderboard, but these were his scores:

Week 1: 19
Week 2: 30
Week 3: 33
Week 4: 34
Week 5: 28
Week 6: 30
Week 7: 34
Week 8: 32+30
Week 9: 35+29
Week 10: 36+36

Week 1...Cha Cha basic start.
Week 2....really good Quickstep, praised by Craig.
Week 3...excellent Tango, second after patsy.
Week 4....Paso Doble!!!
Week 5...VW slightly under par.
Week 6....Jive....hard, fast, and brilliant.
week 7.... Foxtrot....and his star ascends.

Excellent scores. They didn't dish the 10s out like confetti.

BTW have liked Craig this year but he HAS been annoying in the past, especially last year when he made the claim that quote 'Darren was hopeless at Latin.' Remembering his scores for Darren at Latin, especially the Rumba, an 8, one wonders if he was there at all.

I have seen Gethin as the potential winner from the beginning as both Kelly and Alesha could already dance. I preferred Kelly to Alesha and believe that she was a serious challenge to Alesha. The show is less exciting when a possible contender has unavoidably had to quit and the number of couples has gone down from six to four rather than five. The reason so many people voted for Kelly&Brendan as the least popular couple was at least in part due to her being the favourite at the beginning and a threat to other dancers.

I do think it's sad that you've lost all interest, but I was exactly the same last year when Louisa and Vincent went out- only watched the final to see them dance briefly again...
After though, when I saw Mark and Karen's AT on youtube, I really regretted not watching it live- that dance was something special and I wish I'd watched it when it was broadcast instead of turning off becuase my favourites had gone out.
For that reason alone, if/when Alesha and Matthew get knocked out, although I'll be gutted, I will still watch the rest of the show- because I'd hate to miss something that could be magical.... (hope that makes sense )

xx

In some ways it's easier to watch & just to enjoy the good dancing once your favourite has been knocked out. I think it possibly allows you to actually appreciate the other couples dancing more and find magic in those.

I've realised that I'm not very bothered at all over who wins, unlike previous years, so I'm just enjoying the show for the dancing. Of the 4 couples left, I really like 3 of them and couldn't honestly chose who I want to win, they all deserve it.