It may sound too harsh, but, seriously, I was very disappointed last night. A man with Mark's physique and athletic background is not supposed to look like a moving armoire.
Perhaps I set my expectations too high...

No...but I thought he was the most disappointing.

It wasn't the worst routine but it was arguably the most boring. Not all his fault of course...hopefully it was largely a case of nerves.

I think after you have said Austin was great , Tom has potential and John was Ok , the rest were weak to say the least .

I thought that he was better than Phil, Gary, Don and Andrew. So I wouldn't say that he was hopeless.

I thought that he seemed very nervous. But his performance wasn't that bad. I quite liked it, deserved more then the 3 Craig gave him anyway. He could get better as the series goes on. So I see how he does next time.

I thought it was boring as hell and he was stiff as a board. Craig's 3 was the correct score.

He looked too gentle to me, like he was afraid of hurting his partner.

I think Mark's looks have so far compensated for his lack of dancing ability and entertainment value.

It's early days so I won't write him off just yet, but he was very bland last night. Craig was spot on.

I am not sure why everyone had such high expectations for Mark- he is a swimmer not an actor or performer so there is no reason to think he would come straight in and act his socks off and blow the judges away.

Most of the sportsmen have been poor to start with as they are nervous and unused to performing- they are only used to being themselves.

I think he has potential but Hayley may need to work on the choreography more and the performance side of things- where is Lilia and Matt's acting coach??

I am giving him the benefit of doubt and think that some of the other men will improve too

I can't believe you feel the need to ask this. What right have you got? Would you ask if he wasn't hopeless? It doesn't matter if he is hopeless or not, and it has nothing to do with Colin Jackson!

Honestly, the private lives of these private individuals who want to keep themselves private is none of our business, even if they are a screaming hopeless!

Sorry - this is the same thing, right?
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=902278

In a word NO
He is 6ft 6 and to dance a well controlled dance, and to have movement around the floor ( which is more than Phil did he was unsteady when dancing) was great.

three of the judges said if he could live the dance more he would make a dancer, which is difficult for someone who is shy like Mark.

I wouldn't write him off just yet

winnie

No, I don't think he's hopeless - just seems very nervous. A bit of a fish out of water (bad pun, I know).

He was far better than Don, Andrew, Gary and Phil.

There's room for improvement.
There are men in there that I would define as hopeless cough *Gary and Andrew* cough
I think Mark will be one of the better male celebs they have. But I will expect him to get a few votes on looks too.

Poor Mark: I think it's too early to tell. Maybe Latin will be his "thing".

Being so tall is an obvious disadvantage for him. The routine wasn't that great, which didn't help him either. Don't think he was hopeless though and in years gone by, it would have been quite a good first night for a male celeb.

I was all ready to chuck my hopes for Mark in the bin last night, but after watching it back today it wasn't as horrible as I remember. Perhaps it was coming after Austin that made it so tedious yesterday.

Let's wait for the Latin, which will be the acid test - either he'll prove that the control and closeness of the waltz, not the steps, was his problem, or he'll do a Rhodes and have legs flying all over the place. (Well, with Gary it was arms, but the principle's the same).

Either way, good luck to the lad - it's a tough ask for a fella that tall

It's only the first week!!! Definitely not hopeless and I'm sure he'll improve as he gets more used to the process and so less nervous.

I reckon he will be like Peter Schmichael was; hopeless at latin but will do some good ballroom.

When he gets the jive or salsa he will be out

I was looking forward to Mark very much, and as much as I hate to say it I actualy thought that Len, Arlene and Bruno were too kind to him. He looked very wooden to me.

*fff pulls on her boxing gloves* watch it buddy

I can't believe you've singled Mark out like this ... are you going to this for all the celeb dancers??

OK ... maybe he wasn't the best dancer but he was far from the worst. He was clearly very nervous ... cut him some slack it was the first week after all!!!

I think they all did brilliantly seeing none of them claim to have danced before. They've had, what?, 3-4 weeks training and they've had to dance in front of a live studio audience AND live TV.

Onwards and upwards ... I'm looking forward to see him in a coupla weeks time.

Mark was far from the worst male this week. Unfortunately, I think he is too tall for Hayley. I know he is 6'6, so it would be difficult to find a partner for him. But in the only dance we have seen, he seems to be hunching down to her.

Maybe another female pro would have been better for him.

Mark is disappointing, perhaps. But I think Haley is the boring one. Maybe she's playing safe with the routine, and not knowing the name of the game in SCD (she's new to the UK version), let's hope she improve on her choreography.

As for Mark, look for the acting coach! The judges all said he has potential.

Not if I have anything to do with it.

I thought Mark did well last night, but he is clearly nervous.

I would love to see more of his personality come through, he can't just be chest and pecs.

As one who knows someone who knows someone who knows Mark - he is great fun - he is also modest and self effacing; maybe not the best credentials for SCD - but the pecs won't do him any harm.