I'll be honest, I was only watching it for Matt, Karen & Nicole and yes, I did find it annoying that their Jive and Cha Cha wasn't shown in full, and neither were the dances from the contestants. The show wasn't really long enough for you to get to like/know the contestants, either.

I agree about the people not really being fat. One girl was a 12/14 ... I'm sorry, a size 12! Karen and Erin are quoted as saying they're size 10, my God!

I'm making it sound like I didn't like it, I actually did, I didn't find it bad at all. Thought Matt was adorable with his comments and Karen was fabulous as always. Grr at the insanely long ad breaks every five minutes though.

x x x

The best way to slim, if you're really serious about this, is to put a lounger in your garden, lie on it, and read the paper, or whatever.

Apparently, sunshine creates some chemical which makes the stomach think it's full.

This is apparently why so many people in Scotland are considered overweight. It's due to the poor weather they get.

Article in The Times last week, titled "Rain makes Scots fat, not the chips":
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4322509.ece

Though I can't quite get my head round why so many Aussies are said to be overweight:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle4171160.ece

Actually, the women lying around on Bondi beach are in pretty good shape, so perhaps it is true.

Having been to Australia several times, I can vouch for the fact that they have a real problem with obesity now. I feel positively slim compared to some of the sights in the shopping malls. It appears to be caused by the amount of fast food that gets consumed and I fear that the UK can't be far behind Australia. At this rate, the USA will end up third in the obese lists! I don't think sunshine has anything to do with it somehow

I watched it while working on the treadmill. No I am not overweight or obese just use the machine for exercise.

It did seem like a low budget thing.

Was not that impressed by the doctor woman who seemed to enjoy putting the boot in and destroying the girl's confidence.
How can size 14 be obese? Only if you are a 4ft midget I would think! Isnt there a danger of young girls getting the idea that they have to be stick thin to be acceptable?

There seems to be too much emphasis on losing weight rather than getting fit by exercise. Muscle weighs more than fat so initially toning the muscles might lead to some weight gain not neccessarily losing weight. You can lose weight if you really sweat it off but is that really the best way long term?

Loved what there was of Matt and Nicole.

Thought Karen came over as a bossy bitch, (sorry). destroying peoples confidence is not something I approve of. dont think the guys were too bothered really about the barbed comments, but then guys look at image a bit differently I think.

Apologies if this is slightly off-topic, but there's an article in today's Telegraph, about Helen Mirren and her bikini:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/ma...tmirren117.xml

The Telegraph doesn't show the actual bikini pics, though the Mail does:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...racefully.html

Many issues related to doubts about body image also involve attitudes, and what people think about themselves. Helen Mirren, somehow or other, has an inner self-confidence, and loads of it.

I can almost imagine Helen Mirren writing an angry letter to the Telegraph asking why they used the unflattering red-carpet picture of her to accompany their article, and not the bikini one on the rocks.

I forgot to watch! Hope somebody is kind and puts it on YouTube, just for the pleasure of whiling away the weeks until Matthew and Nicole are back on our screens 'properly' in SCD.

Interesting comments here about weight, self-image, BMI, etc. If it's not going too off-topic, I remember a bit in I'm A Celebrity where the celebs had to estimate how much weight they'd lost and Janice Dickinson correctly estimated that she would have put ON weight, substituting muscle for fat.

Except that Nicole won't be back on our screens

Was the size 14 one actually told she was obese? I know some of them were, I wasn't keeping track which was which though.

...which was actually a problem with the programme I think. I suppose they didn't want to make it too much like Strictly, but it would have been easier to follow if they'd set it up in a similar way, with each contestant in turn being introduced and footage shown of their week, followed by their performance. I didn't think all of them were introduced, which seemed a bit bizarre, and I don't really remember who was who that well because it was all jumbled up together.

I managed to catch this at 1am last night! Overall I htought it was OK, my main complaint was the shows editing which was appalling to say the least so I dodn't think the show flowed properly. They could have got 2 episodes out of it because only half of the contestants were introduced via a video backstory so you didn't really care when you watch the edited dance routines - that was another problem the edited dance routines. I imagine this will get better each week when there are less contestants.

I agree! she was VILE! The concepts of empathy, sensitivity and charisma seem to be completely alien to this woman. She delighted in the fact these people were bigger than she was and managed to tell one guy he had lost 13lbs without any kind of happiness for him and said it more or less deadpan. And during the fitness test she she seemed amazed that these people were unfit...hmm you've just told many of them they are morbidly obese and all of them admit to very little exercise and a poor diet and you expect them to do that fitness test (which I had to do in school and it is hard! )



I don't see how martyboy could find the "fridge exchange" all that confusing Matthew said he danced like a fridge as he was very stiff but then both said he looked cool/stylish as he was wearing a shirt and tie. Matthew was trying to be polite and not nasty as this was the first week - something he actually mentioned when Karen criticised him for being too nice - I thought this was the right thing as it was week 1 and some of the contestants have very low self esteem. Karen has definitely gone into it thinking I'm going to be the strict judge and wasn't as sensitive to what the contestants with rock bottom self-esteem were going through. The presence of the Dr Vile on the panel was totally redundant and who thought camerawork worse than Strictly existed?!

Absolutely - that stylist didn't understand the self-esteem issues, particularly of the women, in wearing those cheap and hideous dresses!

Sprry for the multi-post! The show was OK but suffered from the editing most of all I thought. There could be more tests during the week to highlight the contestant's improved fitness as well as weight loss and also to tal abotu their confidence levels - something I hope to see anyway. The Dr and Karen could do with lessons in sensitivity and a better budget would be nice as the church hall set up is a bit naff. I can see the show getting better though.

Karen did say on Breakfast that she was a bit looking back on footage of herself as a judge as she had gone into complete "Judge Mode" and had 15 years experience of doing this .

She said in competitions she tells it like it is and was pleased Matthew was there to balance things out on this panel.

But then again with Karen it seems to be a case of you either love her or hate her on this forum

I've just watched it and to be honest I thought it was pretty tacky and obviously hideously low budget - I mean couldn't they have at least found a decent dance hall to hold the dance off in instead of what was clearly a church hall? The dresses the girls wore were hideous - carleen (or whatever her name was) looked as though she'd chosen to wear her baby doll nighty instead of a proper latin american dress.

The girls were hardly huge and yes I agree they couldn't have people any bigger because of the ridiculous requirement to do lifts. Shame they decided that no female over the age of 30 could participate either. What they don't do is teach these people how to lose weight sensibly AND keep it off - ie by changing their diet (or at least if they are showing them how to change their diets we're not seeing it) and exercise regimes so they can go on and live a healthy life - I agree with whomever said that come the end of the programme they'll have difficulty keeping the weight off.

If it weren't for seeing the lovely Matthew and Nicole dancing (not nearly enough shown) and the bossy Karen in the judging I don't think I'd bother with this again.

It's cheap and that Dr is just plain nasty

Great seeing Matthew again..........and Nicola....shame she will not be on SCD was that to pay for their payrises.........grrrrr

SCD made a wrong move there.

Matthew.........your still hot babe

Just to mention, it is Nicole and not Nicola

Just been having a quick look at upcoming programme listings...
Dances to follow appear to be

I wouldn't be watching it again if it wasn't for Matt Cutler.

The contestants we not that fat imo.

Why on earth did they choose a doctor who was so thin she looked almost emaciated?

I agree that the camera work/editing was appaling.

As for the costume section, how mortifying and humiliating. I was cringing for them.

all in all not the best of shows.

crikey, Ive only just seen it advertised, didnt realise it started last week. I was quite excited about it. Although reading this thread i may just give it a miss is it really that awful??

It wasnt the best but there's always the chance it could improve with less contestants etc
Best thing is to check it our for yourself and see what you think The first week will probably be repeated at some point so you can catch up.

I have just watched it on "catch up" - so I was able to fast forward the tediously long advert breaks. The comments on this thread are very interesting. I agree with the views expressed saying that the female contestants were not obviously obese, indeed a couple were just a bit overweight. I also did not like the cheap dance hall and judges table, and the lack of proper introduction of all contestants - the whole set up seemed a bit messy and lacking direction. In my view this problem was made worse by the messy elimination set up. The SCD type countdown seemed muddled. They tried to build in tension but letting all feel safe as per SCD results show seemed pointless as the person who had performed the worst in the fitness test was not subsequently safe and had to be called back. Perhaps announcing the contestant who has come last in the fitness test before the dance would be better so they know they have to really shine on the dance floor (a point Odette, aka Miss Attitude should have thought about anyway having gained weight).

Is it on catch up then? So is it on the website?

The review just below was in in The Times (by Tim Heeman). It's probably an interesting perspective, as the reviewer is not specifically a dance fan, as we are, and presumably sees the program from a different viewpoint, probably more typical of the average viewer. Though Tim Heeman is male, and typical Living viewers are female, so perhaps his views are not typical of Living viewers. He does have a couple of perceptive observations about Karen...

"... Diet on the Dancefloor, one of those productions that’s an unruly, cacophonous mess of familiar parts: a diet programme meets Strictly Come Dancing. Some unfit people try to lose weight by ballroom dancing, but naturally there’s a knockout element every week, in which the person who hasn’t impressed the scary nutritionist goes up against the person who’s the worst dancer. The ballroom judges are Matthew Cutler, the pro who won the last Strictly Come Dancing with Alesha Dixon, and Karen Hardy, another dancer from the show who has a horrible talent for mangling sentences. There are many problems: the format feels too forced, the contestants not at all distinctive and therefore mundane, and the judges, who are stuck between playing fleet-footed therapists and the desire to be mean and make a name for themselves as the new Craig/Bruno/Arlene/Len. But they are not nasty enough, and the tension is lacking, and so every cha-cha-cha feels a pale, pointless exercise – and reminds you what a thoroughbred Strictly is."

And the review just below was in The Mirror, no name given for this reviewer, but I think this reviewer may be female, as it's a more sympathetic review. It also makes a good point that, if the object is to help people lose weight, then the person who has lost the LEAST, should be kept in the show, because they need it the most...

"Cleverly feeding viewers' insatiable appetite for weight-loss shows and ballroom steps at the same time, this diet show takes the Strictly Come Dancing format and replaces the "celebrity guests" with "overweight punters". Ten men and women who all want to lose weight are partnered with professional hoofers. Each week, they'll learn a new dance to perform for the judges. Sound familiar? It ought to. Even half the judges are nicked from Strictly - Matthew Cutler partnered Alesha Dixon, while Karen Hardy (in off-the-shoulder ruffles and a hairdo more suited to falling out of a club in Magaluf) helped Mark Ramprakash to victory. Dancing has got to be lots more fun than slogging it out on a treadmill - but cha-cha-cha-ing in spangles on TV when you're feeling like a heffalump takes guts. So-called stylist Nick Ede doesn't do them any favours either. "I look like a porn star," moans one girl. She's not wrong. Nick is also a judge, as is sports physician Dr Catherine Spencer-Smith. The contestants all have their own reasons for wanting to lose weight. Each week, whoever has improved the least in fitness gets eliminated. But as they are the ones who need the most help, wouldn't it be nicer if they got to stay?"

And there's also a very readable review here:
http://www.tvscoop.tv/2008/07/tv_review_diet.html

A few choice quotes from that:
"It was surely only a matter of time before someone thought to combine Strictly Come Dancing with The Biggest Loser, but I kind of wish it had been the Americans since this new UK series seems like it's been done on the cheap.... It was all boringly introductory until the first tears were shed. By Kimberley: "My tits are massive! I don't want to a professional dancer, but I'm not going to look good with these tits!" I don't know if I've ever heard anyone crying over the largeness of their bosoms before.... They didn't show much of the dances, understandably since it was the first week.... I was a bit concerned about Kimberley's "massive tits" since they were hanging out of her dress while she was just sitting there, so I wasn't sure they'd stay corralled during the lift and hold, but she did it beautifully. In fact, I was struck by how fabulous all the women looked. Considering how low their confidence is simply because they're overweight, they all looked sexy and gorgeous. It's sad, really.... What happens if one week the worst dancer and the worst dieter are the same person? Self-fighting?.... it was all a bit slapdash, but it was entertaining enough. I guess how long I carry on watching for will depend on the personalities of the contestants and whether, in a couple of weeks, I find that I actually care."

I read the Times and Mirror reviews, thought the Times one was ridiculous. The judges aren't nasty enough? The programme would be extremely irresponsible if they took people with low self esteem and then let the judges be as nasty as they wanted in the name of good TV.

As for keeping in the person who had lost the least weight, don't really agree there either. I thought the person they eliminated last week who had actually gained weight had a really bad attitude and didn't deserve her place compared to the one who danced the worst but actually cared about doing better. The one who eliminated was one of the smaller contestants, so can't really see how she 'needed' to be on it more than the rest of them.

Bit of an improvement on last week I thought.

The show flowed a bit better editing-wise as it wasn't as jarred or cut and pasted together - still haven't been "introduced" to all the contestants though e.g. via VT so watching their dances is still a bit meaningless.

Dr Vile actually expressed some emotion and enthusiasm for any weight loss! Her position on the judging panel is a bit redundant as all she says is "so and so lost 2lbs" and that is it. The stylist who chooses the clothes (and I use the term stylist loosely) hasn't a clue about how some of the women are feeling with regards their self-esteem in those dresses - which are very tacky and cheap - they really need Gok! Also I think they need to mention what kind of dietary changes the contestants are making in conjunction with the dancing and exercise - otherwise I don't see how this would be a lifestyle change that they will maintain after the show has finished and they are not dancing so intensively under such supervision.

Thought Karen looked lovely tonight! Some balanced comments from the judges but they tend to only mention the performance element, although I think they are being edited too much - most of the time you only get Karen's opinion.

Also, did anyone think the pro salsa at the start was a bit rubbish?

I would have liked to hear more of what Matt had to say, it did seem, a bit like the Karen H show (sorry Karen fans - no offence intended). I could easily do without Doctor nasty and her comments, as I do not find she adds any value at all.

Where was Nicole?

I think it is a major fault of the programme not to introduce all the dancers from the beginning. It is difficult for the audience to identify or care about people where you only see a few seconds of a routine, or a few seconds of a soundbite or two.

Have to say I am not that impressed with some of the so called professionals on the show; their timing has left a lot to be desired on occasion, so lord help the amateur who is trying to learn.

That said, I will continue to watch, as my way of supporting Team Cutler.

That's what I thought! Was watching it with my mum and we were both a bit at some of the so-called professionals - am in no way a dancer so thought it was just me being a dance dunce!

Wholeheartedly agree with the last sentence

I actually like the doctor, she was on a BBC programme where they trained unfit people to run a marathon, and yes she comes across as harsh, but to be honest I think she tries to remain objective as her job is assess the physical condition of the applicants. From what I've seen before she doesn't favour the softly softly approach and doesn't suffer time wasters.

I think the the programme needs to show more of a balance as there is not enough emphasis on the training/ exercise hours to be put in for a diet programme and not enough dance for a dance programme.

When they went out for a salsa night with all the alcohol - any other weight loss programme the judges would be having kittens over all those calories.

The style guy is totally unsympathetic - is he actually trying to make the contestants feel good about themselves? If he is then he needs a new job.

I also thought the amateur girls executed the lift much better than the pros, some looked like they had only been taught it in rehearsals!