I prefer Ray and maria as I feel they do what the competition is about, dance on ice. I feel Chris was a talented skater but he would have been happier in a solo figure skating comp as Frankie also seemed like an add on to me not a partner.

Sometimes I wonder if people see what they want to see. I loved Chris from the outset last year and really wanted him to develop into something special. In my opinion he didn't. His partnership with Frankie never excelled in the way I hoped it would. Even at the end of the series, I still felt Chris, was to an extent, dancing for himself - he didn't quite seem aware enough of Frankie.

Suzanne, however, forged a lovely partnership with Matt and also developed her skating skills to an extent that made me think that she was the worthy winner - which I have to say, I didn't want to admit earlier in the series.

Ray, on the other hand, seems very aware of his partner. Okay, occasionally, his enthusiasm and ambition may get the better of him and he may seem to neglect Maria a little to showcase himself but those times seem few and far between.

I wonder if some people are letting their previous experience of Ray cloud what they are actually seeing. If so, I do sympathise. I too have wanted to slap him around the face on X Factor. However, on DOI I think he is brilliant. He has done the impossible. He has made me overlook the fact that he is, essentially, a hyperactive Scouse git (no offence to Scousers intended... okay maybe a bit - I'm a Manc - sorry) and made me look at his performances. Which I think are great.

Maybe that is the difference. I had no idea who he was at all, had to look him up, so no previous annoyance or baggage.


I really don't think you can be watching the same programme as the rest of us. If there's one thing that Ray does very very well, it's dance with his partner - the judges and almost everyone else have remarked on it. It comes from years and years of dance training, he can't help but be half of a pair when he's dancing with a partner, and I'm really very surprised anyone could say otherwise.

I think people mistake arrogance for confidence if you met him you would realise he really isnt arrogant at all

As a fellow dance teacher pointed out elsewhere, in dancing, a type of arrogance is ingrained. You are taught from a very early age that when dancing competitively, you step on the floor as if you own it. No-one else is better than you and if you enter the floor timid and self deprecating, then you shouldn't be there.

In truth, Ray has an enormous amount of self belief which is down to his success in the dance world. Unfortunately this comes across as arrogance.