So sad about Strictly.

[CurlewKate]

It's been part of our family life since it started. I really wanted to think it was as wholesome and joyous and life affirming as it looked, even though I knew it probably wasn't.

And there are celebrities that I feel differently about now because they didn't blow the whistle.😢

I stopped watching it a few years ago because it started to make me feel really uncomfortable. I felt that it was really artificial. And that there was a lot going on behind the scenes that we didn’t know about. Did Will Young not leave because of his mental health?

I feel the same about a lot of television programs now. Programs like talent shows, especially - everything just feels so false and forced.

Italian men are probably why Italian women are so.........feisty. cos they have to be😐

This is not the point, but: Georgina Bouzova being a last-minute replacement for Gaby Logan – Gaby Logan was on it a subsequent year, wasn't she? With James.

It’s become more and more about the professional dancers over the years than the celebs. You hear more about them than the celebs.

Oh gosh pop idol, Popstars the rivals etc were probably even worse! That strictly contestant must have been no more than a size 8 or size 10 at an absolute max!

I’m pretty sure the producers probably did want the professionals to really push the contestants, otherwise the producers might have thought there wouldn’t have been a show at such a high standard.

They would also be prioritising opportunities to film the drama of how hard it all is and of the celebs individual transformation to be a great dancer. Plus it gives kudos to their team of professionals if they turn out well trained dancers so there is a double incentive for over-pressuring.

So actually I think the producers are more culpable than the individual professionals. Because the professionals will have been terrified of being replaced by someone else if they didn’t do the job.

The producers can easily create a toxic climate of normalising much too intense pressure/bullying. But they will pass the blame to the individual not the toxic culture they work in. When it was actually the production team’s job to nip things in the hud and be aware not to over pressure for results at the expense of any dancer.

Your whole post is extremely smart but this bit in particular:

The other thing I’ve noticed is the almost cult-like culture that prevails on the show; getting both the pros and celebs to constantly talk about how wonderful it is to be “Strictly-fied” and what a privilege it is to be there and how we are “one big family”, constantly on repeat; and now all of these accusations have come out, it makes you wonder how deliberate that is to get everyone to comply or feel that they can’t speak out?

You've described something I've always felt about Strictly but have been unable to verbalise. The way it's talked about on the show and indeed in the media...it's almost like it's a national religion, or cultlike. An alien visiting earth would surely believe that Strictly was a much beloved religion which everybody in the UK adores and worships. And that can't be right, I'm sure some people love it, some people don't care and some people like me will watch it but not obsess over it.

And yes it does give me bad vibes as that sort of enforced adoration usually hides something toxic.

Same here.
I used to do amateur dramatics (teen dancer) and my God you had to have a thick skin. It was not even paid or competitive but it was taken very seriously. There was favouritism from the choreographer, pointy elbows, bullying. I really hated it and left even though I loved dancing on stage. When I watched strictly with those smiles plastered on their faces it reminded of the fake smiles we used to wear. You wonder what really goes on. Shirley often showed favouritism I felt and it took me back to dance lessons and how our teachers were. Some students were hit with walking sticks and screamed at (ballet).

Does it matter. I never watch it. But what's the big deal. Nobody is forcing any of them to take part. We are becoming a nation of softies. If you can't stand the heat .......

" They're on their feet Aw Oh Aw"

What the fuck are BBC producers thinking? They are responsible for the wellbeing and safety of those involved. Surely very strict protocols are shared around the training procedures, boundaries and legal framework. The culture of ego and ‘no pain no gain’ doesn’t translate to celeb amateurs. These producers are in huge jobs, why aren’t they aware of this. Their heads should roll.

The production team definitely has serious questions to answer. It’s going to be hard for Strictly to recover from this. I wonder if they will tone down the ‘happy family’ script this year.

I wonder if this is impacting celebs wanting to do the show this year…also suddenly the old rumours that some contestants only agreed to do the show if they had Anton starts to make sense.

Being spat at and kicked shouldn’t happen in anyone’s workplace. If a soft nation is one where the majority of people think that shouldn’t be tolerated, I’m happy to be soft one.

This is such nonsense. It's perfectly possible to train someone effectively without bullying or abusing them. There's no need for it, plenty of the pro dancers manage without hitting their partners and production will not have been advocating or encouraging this kind of behaviour. The only person responsible for assaulting Zara is the man who actually did it.

This was why I stopped watching it, feels fake and forced. I always hated the training videos and all the back story stuff and as the years went by it began to really grate with me. I just wanted to watch the dancing.

Nothing excuses the abuse.

But for the general atmosphere on the show I think they should cut the celebrities with dance training (I know that will reduce the pool of possibilities, as so many will have had some form, but there's a difference between a bit of ballet when you're 5, and being like Leyton), and put a limit on the training hours. Make it more so it's just genuine amateurs having a go. Don't limit the training hours ridiculously, you don't want them not being any good, or not improving. But just take the heat out of the competition a bit.
Force the professionals to accept less than perfection.

Yes, her and her husband were on it, paired with James and Ola Jordan.

Also, she was good, and as a former competitive gymnast perhaps used to tough training (and even maybe abusive training like people have talked about on here).

The fact that the It Takes Two footage subtitles Brendan and James as
"Mr Angry" and "Anger Management Candidate" says it all.

That Georgina was last minute and had had less training than the others doesn't justify calling her "fat belly", a "cow" and making her do push-ups or skip.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor likened the whole Strictly bubble as a cult, with its hardcore messaging what a positive thing it must be being hammered at you daily.

Alison said you had 2 days alone in training, 3 with camera. Lovely Reise on our fan thread has just found out that they are having chaperones full-time now.

Dancing on Ice - Coleen on LW said training was hard and the skaters wanted to win and that you got frustrated sometimes and had to shout back at them "Because I'm not a skater!" when asked why they couldn't do something.
Interestingly, both James and Brendan thrived on that show as contestants with the ice boot on the other foot.
Caprice famously insisted on another partner after a clash or she'd walk.
She was eliminated not long after.

No one is trying to exonerate Graziano. But it's a point I agree with: the producers wield a lot of power. It can't be easy for dancers who are past their professional best, which happens brutally early, to find a new career; I can well imagine them being desperate to stay on a show that gives them such a good public platform.

I wonder how this came to light now - they must be doing a big investigation as a result of the Giovanni allegations.

I have been watching the last few years, but it’s not longer the event it once was- where it once was a mad rush to get snacks and drinks ready, then plonk on the sofa waiting for the intro music. I think I actually missed the first few weeks of the last series.

Does anyone think that had Brucey and Len had still been here, it wouldn’t have happened?
I feel they brought a stewardship, sort of elder statesmen energy that brought a calming effect. I’m sorry to say, Tess and Claudia just don’t have that air of authority. I cringe everytime Tess appears and always congratulate her (in my head) when she manages to get through the autocue and tell a joke she doesn’t understand.

The only person on the show I respect is Craig. He is strictly for me. I don’t have a high opinion of Anton and Shirley publicly standing by Gio when the outcome of the investigation isn’t known yet.

I won’t be watching this season. It’s ruined. Not only because of this but other factors too. Including:

-) awful computer graphics becoming part of dance routines
-) Too many props
-) ridiculous number of theme weeks! Get rid of them all.
-) Mincing about at the start of the dance
-) Telling a ‘story’
-) Too many sob stories
-) screaming dancers on the balcony
-) High stakes emotional interviews by Claude on the balcony.
-)dancers being the new celebs

For me, if it’s to go back to what it was -

-) Sack Tess and Claude. Replace with a comedian with a theatre background?
. I like the idea of Jason Manford and maybe an ex contestant like Aj Odudu. Or maybe Michael Ball? I know he’s not a comedian but he is jolly. Or Tom Allen! How swanky would he look!!!

-) Half the number of celebs dancing.

-) No more theme weeks

-) Set training hours. 25 hrs a week max

-) All celebs have a male and female dance instructor. So if a female celeb, they also have a female teaching her how to make the steps and movements too. Think dirty dancing!
think this would help with teaching and also cover the chaperone element.

-) Focus on dancers that have a teaching background. Not the hottest thing straight from the continent. I would also appreciate maybe seeing some of the older dancers from pervious series. Even if they aren’t partnered with the celeb, they could be part of the male/female training partnership.

-) New judges. Obviously keep Craig, he is the best at what he does. Get rid of Shirley and Anton. They’ve shown their true colours. Motsi? Not bothered either way. But make it less about judges, none of this extravagant costumes every week. Have a proper judge who has experience of judging ballroom/latin.

-) Don’t make celebs out of the dancers and don’t hammer home the whole strictly family nonsense, how much it’s changed your life etc. we all know they ain’t gonna keep up the dancing

-) No more of the dancers and celebs going nuts in the balcony. It’s annoying.

-) Get rid of the high emotional energy and make it a fun, light watch.

-) New set sans all the crappy props, graphics.

BBC just go back to series one, and tone everything down!!! They’ve thrown too much money at it and it’s become bloated.