To be peed off about the fact that Arlene Philips will no longer be a judge on SCD

[forehead]

I have just found out that Arlene Philips is to be replaced by Alesha Dixon as a judge on SCD and i am really annoyed. I have nothing against Alesha Dixon she seems to be a really nice girl, but she does not have the wealth of experience that Arlene Philips has
The sexism and ageism at the BBC is a disgrace. Both Len Goldman and Bruce Forsyth are of a similar age to Arlene Philips but have kept their jobs. I for one will be boycotting SCD this year. I urge others to do the same.

[traceybath]

I thought this rumour was doing the rounds a few weeks ago - is it actually official now?

[nigglewiggle]

I think she might be even more pissed off than she already is if she reads that she is thought to be of a similar age to Bruce (he is 80)!

It does stink of the BBC's female ageism tendencies though.

[Fimbo]

Agree with Tracey is this official information?

I doesn't matter who is on the panel because it comes down to the viewers at home at the end of the day. Just look at Kate Garraway and Sargentgate.

I for one will not be boycotting it, Arlene Phillips or no Arlene Phillips it is fab Saturday night entertainment.

[traceybath]

Just saw it on bbc so guess it is official

[traceybath]

They're just trying to change the viewing demographic though aren't they to get younger people watching.

Will be interesting to see who the competitors are this year.

[Fimbo]

Actually my dd will be delirious with joy that Alesha is taking over.

[potplant]

That's a real shame.

As much as I like Alesha, she can't possibly match Arlene. Aleash is a good dancer, but Arlene is a massively experienced professional dancer and choreographer.

At least Darcey Bussell will know what she is talking about.

[Oblomov]

This is a real shame.
I went racing at Windsor the other day and bet on a horse called Arlene Philips.
She was good, entertaining and knowledgeable.
Now I loved Alesha and wanted her to win. But that was as a contestant.
Replacing Arlene ? Oh come on. That is so weak. I mean Alesha is a bit ... 'wet', isn't she ?
Are we sure that it was not arlenes' decision to quit. and then they stupidly decided to replace her with alesha. why do you think it is an ageism thing ?
Sorry, where does Darcy Bussell come into it ?

[Sunshinemummy]

YANBU. I loved Arlene and her saucy comments and, much as I like Aleesha, I don't think she'll be as good.

[Nancy66]

it is official now and I think it's terrible.

Tv is so ageist towards women.

Arlene knew what she was talking about. Alesha is a great girl but she's had no formal dance training and shouldn't be on the panel.

However I'm looking forward to Arlene dishing the dirt on the show, which she's bound to do now.

[NigellaTufnel]

Arlene was on Desert Island Discs two weeks ago saying she wanted to keep doing Strictly forever, and that she would be gutted if she didn't get the gig again.

[EffieGadsby]

I found Arlene pretty painful to watch with her obviously rehearsed comments, and those weird alliterative things she says, but it's pretty poor to replace an experienced and knowledgeable choreographer with someone who has only being doing ballroom & latin for less than two years. However they do have that West End singer woman on the ITV ice skating show, and she's not an ice dancer herself - I guess that seems different because she didn't replace anyone.

It does seem an unfortunate move on the Beeb's part, given how many cases there seem to be of older women being shoved off-screen. They should have got rid of Len instead - he's becoming a bit of a fruit loop, and marked so erratically in the last series.

So no, YANBU at all.

[FairLadyRantALot]

it is utter bollox...Arlene knows what she tallks abot when judging dancing...Alesha, whilst lovely...well...she won one dance competition....so...not sure how the proffessional dancers will take any critism from her....I mean...surely someone who judges you is meant to be better at something than you....iykwim...
as for they doing it to get more young viewers....erm...those young lads already have enough gorgeous proffessional dancers etc..to look at....putting a younger woman into the panel is not going to make a difference...surely????

realllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyy annoying me...

it will be the same annoying as when watching Dancing on Ice and have that gay man for straight guy (or whatever that programme was called) guy jusging someone dancing on ice....I mean...what exactly does he know about it? Always makes me go argh!

sad thing is though, whilst I feel like I would like to bycott SCD now, it would feel like cutting my nose off to spite my face....

[muppety]

YANBU. When I read it I just thought it screamed of sexism related to age. I am actually quite outraged.

[FabBakerGirlIsBack]

YANBU

I think the BBC have made a huge mistake here.

AD will be even more unsufferable now.

[moffat]

YANBU - I think that having knowledgeable and experienced judges adds a lot to the show. Not happy about this development.

[Ineedmorechocolatenow]

YANBU - What a crock of shit. I like Alesha, but she is not a professional dancer, won't know all the technical stuff, other than what she picked up while doing the show herself.

Is she really going to be honest and say what she thinks...? Or is she just going to say how much she enjoyed the overall performance, every time...?

Grr....

[edam]

Combination of sexism and ageism is so depressing but I wouldn't go to the wall for Arlene Philips. Nasty piece of work IMO. Although I could say the same about at least one other member of the panel...

[FairLadyRantALot]

also....another thought....will her dance partner still be dancing....and if so....doesn't it maybe mean an unfair advantage...surely it's just not right

[RawChocolate]

4 judges and they replace the older female - how ridiculous.

Heard Arlene talking on the radio once saying she remebers her mum sitting her on her knee and singing to her when she was little (think her mum died when she was quite young.) When she became a mum she decided that that was the kind of mother she was going to be and I thought it was really rather sweet.

Boo to the bbc.

[FairLadyRantALot]

anyone know where one could complain about this at the BBC?

[LovelyTinOfSpam]

I am fuming about this too. They want to add a "different flavour" to the panel? Ditch boring and elderly len then, and have the pretty young thing instead of him. The whole thing stinks.

[ottersRus]

Ageist and sexist to get rid of Arlene, I agree.
Aleesha D will be there to look pretty and not say anything controversial. She should have more self respect than to take the job.

[pinkteddy]

complaints to BBC As you can see a lot of people have already complained as they have put a statement on there. YANBU, we already had a thread moaning about this when it was just a rumour. It is utter sexism. Much as I loved watching Alesha dancing she has always been open about the fact that she has never been trained. Poor Arlene. Really shitty treatment by the BBC IMO.

[forehead]

Anyone who wants to complain should ring BBC complaints section. The number is

03700 100 222
I think that it is very important that we complain about this . It is this type of decision which causes older women to have low self esteem. I say this as someone who is the same age as Alesha Dixon.