A while ago I read an interview with one of the evictees who said that one of the contestants had been having dancing lessons for 4 months before everyone else started. I assumed it must have been Austin as he started out as the best dancer. But the other night they kept referring to how he started dancing 16 weeks ago, so I dont think it was.

Now please note, I have NO problem with anyone learning 4 months before fellow contestants, after all anyone could have done that. But I am curious as to who it was.

Anyone know????

Sergeant

4 months' does seem a long time, when you think about it. The series started end of September. The actual couples were in training for 8 weeks before that - so end of July. Take it back another 4 months and it's April.

If they were, would it be more in hope than expectation of being on the series? Are the contestants in place that far in advance?

I had heard it was Austin.

Yes, I heard it was Austin - think Claudia may have mentioned it on an early ITT

I read an interview with Gary Rhodes where he said he turned up on day one of practice expecting everyone else to be starting from scratch like him, only to find that most of the other contestants had actually been in training for some time.

If I had to pick one who'd had four months training before the others then I think it would be Austin.

I formed the impression that they only had a couple of weeks practice before the show started but I defer to the poster who suggests it was eight weeks. Is that eight weeks with their actual partner though?

According to Cherie Lunghi's BBC webpage she's skilled at aerobics, ballet, ballroom, jazz and tap dancing so she obviously started out with some degree of advantage.

And of course Rachel started out with no advantage whatsoever!!

..yes, and Rachel because I'm sure having learned choreographed routines in the past gives you a bit of an edge.

However, that idea was shot down in flames on another thread if I remember.

I must have missed her saying that

hasn't this been discussed already about a bazilion times??

to recap for those who missed it there was no proof or evidence provided that any of it was true

Just looking at Lisa Snowdons biog.

Read very much like Kelly`s - both models, worked with Johnny Vaughan and both attended Italia Conti stage school - spooky!

It's Groundhog Day kittles

A Times reporter followed Brendan and Lisa for a while before the start of the series and during a rest break from rehearsing, predicted to her what was to come:

""John Sergeant will stay in for ages because he’s had loads of publicity and everyone thinks he’s funny,” Cole says, with the calm wisdom of an old Strictly hand. Cole has been in the show since the first series, which he won with Natasha Kaplinsky. “They will expect stuff from us – because it’s me. And because you have dance experience.""



It was published over a month ago. Here's the link: http://entertainment.timesonline.co....cle5074609.ece

Austin has just said on Loose Women that he had no dance experience beforehand and came into the competition "fresh" because he wanted to see how challenging it would be.

I think that this was a smear at Austin based on something someone in Gary Rhodes' camp said - he has just denied this on Loose women
Last edited by Eittol96 : 09-12-2008 at 13:29

You beat me to it with this post FT!

A disadvantage if anything. Have you seen S Club's dancing?

The significance of that would depend on when he thought he came into the competition.

16 weeks is approximately 4 months, give or take the odd few days. So both statements mean the same thing.

Both also presented Select on MTV. (Lisa after Kelly.)

He also specifically denied it in person on the BBC SCD message boards.

That was in response to a rumour that was spread on DS by someone claiming to be Gary Rhodes' sister.

If it was Austin, I think we'd've heard from his supposed dance teacher by now - after all, s/he could make some money from selling the story to the papers ... So I think we can rule that theory out!

Rachel obviously has an advantage - this theory may have been shot down in flames by her defensive supporters, but it's not the steps that are relevant: it's the fact she is used to spending hours working with a choreographer, and to the physical routine of dancing on stage every night on tour. Regardless of what training they've done in their formative years, nobody else has that background - so it's not surprising that she can pick up the technical skills so well.

But whatever - the OP's question, however innocent, has plunged us back three months ... ARGH

Well please excuse me for posting. I did try to stress in my post that I had no axe to grind on this, I was just curious to know who it was and thought some kind soul might tell me.

I should have know that this forum isnt the place to find many kind souls! !! !

There are some kind souls here - but this subject was rather a sore point a few months ago when misinformation and rumours were used by unkind souls to launch vicious personal attacks on some contestants … which became very tiresome.

And even kind souls have been known to get exasperated ...

Just for completeness, the interview I'd seen with Gary Rhodes actually said:

"Some people had been having dancing lessons for several months - and, in one case, four months. There was a group of us who just had two weeks before the show, spending just two hours on one day and three hours on the next."

So I did recall the interview pretty much correctly. Whether what he says is true is entirely another matter.