Of for goodness sake. Kristina is Russian she may not quite use the right words to explain herself. As someone else said John told the story about being approached many times at the beginning of the show. That is all this bit is about. She is trying to get across that he was 'wanted' by BBC to do SCD & then they (the judges) go out of their way to criticize verging on ridicule.

This whole thing makes me cross as I've read week after week this year on here that the judges have been overly critical & personal this year. It seems for some it is only a problem if it was against their favoured 'proper' dancer & OK if it was John as he somehow deserved it. At least they do seem to have learned their lesson as their feedback to the contestants was much more restrained even if there was unnecessary bickering amongst themselves.

If it pleases you to think so

Popularity IMO. No offence to Nicole, but I think Kristina has built up more support with the public over the last few weeks then Nicole managed over the last few series.

Hmmm ,still not convinced if they can treat one professional that way they won't treat another the same way. I hope I'm wrong but the BBC are quite old fashioned in many of their attitudes

Will Arlene also get the chop for speaking to the NoTW last week?

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/show...-Strictly.html

The difference being the judges are treated 'better' than the pro's...better money,more laxity in speaking to press ..they're part of the management so to speak whereas the dancers are just employees ..thats how I think its viewed at least

This makes it sound as if I'm arguing against Kristina,which I'm not. Personally I want to see both her and Nicole back next year treated with the respect they deserve

I think Nicole had a lot of fans, they were all up in arms when she didnt come back.

Im not sure Kristina would want to come back and work in such a place......she must have wondered what she had got herself into.

In the interview Arlene gave to the NoTW, she sounded like she thought there was a possibility she may be dropped

I'm more pleased for you than for me. I'd hate the thought of you wasting valuable time noting people's posts and then making illogical assumptions based on that 'data'.

Hopefully I've saved you some time and effort.

Salary renegotiation?Seems to be hinted at most series. Wouldn't be any great loss if they did dispose of her services would it

Not really

PS: She confirms she's had botox treatment in the past in that interview :sleep:

I have no idea if you are male of female, so please don't take offence. I often read your comments in a very Dorothy Parkeresque fashion.

I agree with you lots, not only here but on other forums on DS. In fact the only time I can remember me not thinking 'Good old Dotty P' is on the subject of John and Kristina, although I seem to remember you being a bit more for them in the beginning. Or is my memory playing tricks again?

Oh and, erm, honestly I am not a stalker. I just tend to remember names of people whose comments I mostly agree with. Honest.

More than botox I venture.

I concur!

I hadn't read that interview with Arlene before. It's horrible.

I've heard her and the other judges banging on about "we're here to judge the dancing" all week. It's one thing to critique the dancing, but to go to the press and publicly accuse someone of wasting rehearsal time by reading the papers and to put it bluntly perving over their dance partner... I'm not going to rehash the old "you don't lose 30lbs by reading the paper" argument, but once again I'm reminded of John refusing to comfort a crying Kristina on ITT... it doesn't seem nearly so baffling to me now.

As for her comments about Kristina removing her clothes with the implication that it's to garner more votes for her and John - has anyone else seriously thought Kristina's costumes have been any more revealing than anyone else's?

I was uncomfortable when I saw her make allusions to these accusations on ITT last Monday, but to see them this starkly has been a bit of an eye opener for me about Ms Phillips.

Shame on her.

Well perhaps Arlene will not be asked back next year and that will teach her a lesson.

Well she was certainly poo faced when John thanked the judges for building up support for him & Kristina. The other judges laughed but she clearly didn't find it funny.

Nicole's interview totally slated the show. Not saying I believe she did or did not say it but what was printed slagged off the working conditions, some of the other dancers, the hosts and the judges. Kristina's interview is sweet and complimentary and says nothing more than has already been said. No comparison.

Any licence payers who believe the BBC is out of touch with the nation they serve, can bypass bureaucratic layers and email:

Elaine.Bedell@BBC.co.uk (Head of Entertainment, she was at John's press conference)

Mark.Thompson@BBC.co.uk (The Director General)

I enjoyed the contributions of both of them this year. However I didn't really share the escalating enthusiasm for Kristina's choreography because the bottom line for me was their routines were very samey (not to mention basic). You may be right that I liked them more in the beginning but the 'joke' or whatever you want to call it was over for me several weeks ago. Also my suspicion is that John is not quite as 'cuddly' as perhaps he came across on the show.

The reaction they provoked was far more interesting than their dancing. It seemed to me that bandwagon effects, reactance and a number of other interesting phenomena were very evident in their support...judging by this forum anyway.

I've a weakness (but maybe no talent) for armchair psychology and forums are a safe place to indulge it.

Perhaps, Arlene is jealous of Kristina! There is absolutely no need for criticising the way Kristina looks and dresses . I suppose it's ok for Arlene to perv over Mark Foster

I think it's highly likely that she in particular has been hauled over the coals for her contribution to this debacle.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...-Rihanoff.html

I doubt very much that either Arlene or Kristina have actually spoken to the NoTW at all. If you look at Kristina's web site she has already said that comments attributed to her by the Sun and the Mirror are simply not true and she has never spoken to either publication, so I doubt she has spoken to the NoTW either. They are very good at making a story out of nothing. I shall watch Kristina's web site with interest to see if she confirms or denies this article. It just doesn't sound like her.

I was only responding reasonably to another post, who had jumped on the comment. I could not care less what she or anyone else says in the tabloids - particularly the NOTW, which is not fit to line my wheelie bin.