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.😢

Agree, Alexander Armstrong would be brilliant. Plus it would be great if we got a wee song from him too

"Do they literally not hang out anywhere? Chat informally as a bigger group? I assumed there would be some hanging around together given how slow some parts must be.
More fool me."

They don't even train in the same town but near the celebs home. They go home at night!

*Strictly is a huge public platform. Do you not think producers/casting directors on other shows watch it for potential candidates/pay attention if talent agents talk to them about their Strictly dancer clients? (how many Strictly people also turn up on other reality shows, not to mention things like Anton and Giovanni's Italian travel show?).
Plus many of them convert Strictly fame into live shows and tours.

If a dancer can stay on it for more than one season and start to build a profile, it's potentially a powerful springboard to other work and more exposure.

Combine that desire for work/money with a pro dancer's will to win and competitive nature, plus the 'old-fashioned' training methods many of them probably experienced themselves, and you can see how assaults might happen.*

@MarkWithaC

None of this explains the original point I replied to, which was that the Strictly producers are more culpable for the abuse than the pros. You said you agreed because producers wield a lot of power and dancers are desperate to stay on.

This doesn't make any sense - it doesn't really matter to producers whether Graziano and Zara are good or bad. There is no pressure there. Each week someone gets voted off and while I'm sure production are sometimes disappointed that their faves / ones with good stories get voted out, it really doesn't matter to them who it is. It matters to Graziano, but I can't see how there is a link there to his behaviour being more the producers' fault than his.

Even if Strictly producers were applying unbearable pressure on the pros to make their celebrities dance better, this is not the same as encouraging abuse. Most of the pros manage to teach their partners just fine without hitting them.

The producers you are talking about above are not the same people. Strictly producers do not have any say (and very little interest) in whether Anton or whoever gets picked up for a different series. They also have very little power on a show like that, they are there to do an awful lot of donkey work. The real power lies with production execs (who control the budget), exec producers (who have some say in the editorial direction of the series) and mostly, commissioning.

I suppose Brucie ( an utter embarassment in later years) and Len maintained some sort of old school/family entertainment vibe.
Its sad and horrible now.

@FailBetter

what happened with Laila Rouass?

'The GBBO is a good example of how to do competition. No one has spat at anyone over a badly turned out sponge.

Strictly obviously takes itself far too seriously.'

I mean you have to remember that the pros are world champion level dancers so it's fine for them to take dancing seriously. The problem is that being a good dancer doesn't necessarily make you a good teacher, there should be some kind of teacher training for new pros before they are let near a celebrity.

what happened with Laila Rouass?

He called her a racial slur starting with P.

Day one: Listen up everyone, no spitting on the slebs.

Lucy porter is also a great shout, I’d imagine she would be really lovely and warm with the contestants

Also Sian Gibson who was in Car share. Funny, warm and talented.

I do like Claudia but the frenetic energy is just too much with everything else that goes on with the show.
Needs someone who is warm, calm and naturally funny.

Also seen as I’m writing a wish list….Peter Kay would be epic. I know he would never ever do it but him and Sian would be fab

@LuckySantangelo35 what happened with Laila Rouass?

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/oct/05/strictly-anton-paki-complaints

Third male dancer involved :

www.thesun.co.uk/tv/29273517/strictly-probes-third-dancer-crisis-lawyers/

@ClownsFear thank you for linking. That is shocking.

@ClownsFear Fucking hell!!

I am soo shocked! How did I never hear about this? Having been at the receiving end of this slur many times whilst I was in high school, I can’t believe Anton said that! Thanks @ClownsFear for linking

I don’t think anyone has mentioned the financial incentives for the pro dancers yet- they are paid a low fee for being paired up with a celebrity (£30k apparently) and given sizeable bonuses for getting to Blackpool/ semi/ final/ winning the competition. It’s always struck me as super tight of the BBC only to pay £30k given it’s 6 months of their life including the prep. It’s also very hard work for them as they need to do the choreography as well.

Diane Buswell’s dad was going through chemotherapy in Australia and she wasn’t able to visit him until Christmas. It’s really not enough to compensate for their work and commitment… so no wonder some are desperate to get as far as they can. What’s their shelf life too? Surely it’s not secure season to season? Dianne has a very rich boyfriend who pays for their luxury lifestyle (along with the social media ads both of them exploit) there’s no way her strictly fees are funding that lifestyle!

I think they need to look at this because it’s incentivising some pros to drive their celebs to the absolute extreme.

Anton was building his brand as jolly, kind man … it took a long time to get the judge gig but that’s obviously what he was aiming at for years. He played the long game, but others don’t enjoy the job security he did. Yes otherd have turned to social media, presenting etc… but some really do rely on the fees to pay the bills.

I think this is just another example of creative people/ dance talent being underpaid… meanwhile Tess Daly is paid handsomely for a fairly generic presenting gig. That’s the imbalance they need to address.

Wonder what the final tally will be and how many of the old guard will be implicated

Of course the P word was taboo then. It's always been extremely racist.

It's always been racist; started in the 60s to refer to Asian immigrants. We had 'political correctness' in the 90s; you couldn't say boo to a goose.