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.😢

Ginger Neil apparently is a contender! The most boring person ever.

I wasn't surprised I have never fallen for all that "journey" "all one happy family" stuff because it is clear that the training must be gruelling and of course the professionals are competitive and want to win.

I do enjoy it and the one they did during the Winter 2020 lockdown saved my sanity as it was a tiny slice of normality, happiness and glamour in those grim times. I think more revelations will come out now and not just about Strictly

To me, this no different to when a husband abuses his wife. They hide the extent of the abuse well, under the guise of training hard in this situation, they act very different around other people - an abuser is always someone you would never suspect.

The victim of abuse is conditioned into believing things aren't that bad or it's for their own good

For Zara, before the show started, it was all about how she had no rhythm, 2 left feet, etc. she happily joined in with the joke and was self deprecating. So she obviously believe Graziano was being hard on her in training because she wasn't "good enough" it fed on her insecurities and she was scared to speak up.

None of this is surprising

I always imagined it was gruelling , but hitting and kicking someone just for better marks is just appalling.
I know they will do a 20th anniversary special and front it out, but it's definitely tainted now by all this.

Didn't know about the spitting, it is all horrible but there is something so contemptuous and deliberately demeaning about spitting on or at someone. Repellant behaviour

Yes this makes absolute sense.

Abuse aside, the fact that so many contestants have dropped out, or get injured, in order to reach an improbably high standard of dance, in a ridiculously short space of time, is evidence of the high levels of pressure that they are all under, which lays the foundation for abusive work practices imho.

Added to that, as mentioned above, many of the professionals will be inured to shouting, manhandling, subservience and compliance from a very young age. Of course that does not excuse insulting, abusive behaviour.

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?

This is speculative but the same is true of many toxic work cultures which “big themselves up” while knowingly covering up poor employment practices.

Poor old BBC, 🙄. I’m not sure there’s any way back for Strictly.

I limped through the last series.
The first few look so old-fashioned now, low budget and the dancing isn’t brilliant but I enjoyed them at the time for what they were. And obviously Jill and Darren’s jive was the OG 10 performance.
But now it feels like a huge juggernaut.
I can’t stand themed weeks or couples’ choice.
However you dress it, it is unfair that trained dancers on the celeb side have an advantage.
The dance world is a tough one but this is a TV show.
Kicking, hitting, spitting and screaming as a teacher means you aren’t a good one.
The whole thing needs an overhaul but I’m not sure I can bothered this year.
And a final one - what happened to the beautiful costumes? You get a decent one now and again, but most of them now look cheap and shoddy.
Please pray for me. I’m turning into my mother!

My dh's old work place was incredibly toxic and nothing much happened to horrible nasty managers there despite some whistle blowers. Some places seem to think it makes for a better work place I think :(

That's a bit of a reach. I've been in the audience for a few TV shows, including Strictly. Of course the applause is forced, they're making a TV show - they need you to clap on cue. That's literally why warm up people exist.

I much preferred the earlier Strictly. I really haven’t enjoyed seeing celeb dancers perform, it seems to have got worse.

Of course applause is part and parcel of participation, but the manner in which they enforced the applause was so nasty. I've never seen anything like it.

I’m not sure what you mean - it’s always been celebs.

it needs a year off now to rest i know they wont beause of the annversary but two in one series is alot

It must be difficult for both professionals and celebs to be thrown into such close proximity and expected to produce something special from week one. Though this doesn’t excuse bad behaviour and aggression from anyone.

Thank heavens for Sewing Bee and Pottery Throw down, though if anyone comes on here saying they have heard rumours about sewing machines thrown on the floor or fingers poked through pots I will be very upset, I can just about cope with the Bucket of Doomed Clay, but anything else………

It certainly wasn't like that when I went (10+ years ago). We had a brilliant time.

Sorry I meant celebs who are clearly already dancers. 🙄

I have not really watched SCD for a few years but have loosly followed it enough to know bits and pieces. What i find shocking is people like Anton and Shirley 'supporting' Giovani when 3 women have come forward with complaints about his behaviour along with others too.

I can well imagine some celebs do SCD thinking it will be easy or are not prepared for the hard work but what i have found is that the pro's are now treated as celebrities themselves when that is not their purpose on the show.

SCD used to be wholesome family entertainment.....the Bruce and Len days, with the odd bit people like Brendan Cole shown into the mix. Its lost that factor which is one of the reasons i stopped watching it each year.

@cupcaske123 cu
Where is the accountability and safeguarding? Why didn't Zara feel able to speak out?

I read something interesting about this I think from a dance professor type who said that all dancers are aclimatised to what is basically bullying from their trainging and dance training is a 'toxic' environment.

what he was saying that professional dancers - any dance ballroom, ballet - start very young and the training is very black and white. you perform it correctly or it is wrong. wrong is not acceptable. do it again. so they internalise and normalise a bullying dialogue ' I am shit. I must be better'. They live in that world. Again. Again. Again.

If you then take someone who has had an abused or difficult or bullying start in life , a non-dancer- and put them into that world, they will just tend to accept it because it triggers their childhood reactions and they accept it as normal because they grew up with bullying or wahtever.

This results in some celebs dropped into this not likely to complain

I bet most of these shows have their skeletons !
Remember the fall out over someone taking an ice cream or something out the freezer on bake off ( bbc days I believe !) on a hot day.
The masked singer people have a disguise so could have been horrible and nobody will know who it was ..

I used to work in the industry and I wholeheartedly agree with you.

It took me until my mid twenties to see it for what it is and decide to get out, and I can honestly say I don’t regret leaving.

I've never watched Strictly or anything similar, but have always assumed that these kinds of shows have that kind of culture. Massive egos, motivated by fame, harsh judgments, public elimination. I can't imagine why people put themselves through it.

I think he should be prosecuted especially for spitting at her

Didn't Rachel Riley marry her dance partner?

Here's an idea for any budding authors.
Bursting The Strictly Bubble.
Bonus points for mentioning the following...

conflicts with pros:

Sarah Manners - rows with Brendan (he stormed off set week 2 after their rumba and wouldn't talk to her and said it was like "dancing with a brick wall")

Georgina Bouzova (James's first partner and last minute replacement for Gaby Logan) - rows with James (the audience allegedly booed at the footage)

Claire King - Brendan said he wanted to be partnered with Emma Bunton or Carol Smilie. Negative/indifferent attitude towards her and allegedly didn't realise she was in agony because of her arthritis.

Laila Rouass - the P word fiasco
Lulu - conflicts with Brendan. She never understood the pairing. No love lost between them. "Bloody Lulu".

Fern Britton - alleged that Artem kicked and shoved her in training

Steve Backshall - interesting one this. There was a leak of bullying claims/chaperone but he did go on to deny them/united front at the time. He had a fused left ankle so dancing was excruciating.

Laura Whitmore - uncomfortable pairing, unhappy with forced proximity and publicity, crying every day,
left broken mentally and physically.

Ranvir Singh - reported unease with training
Amanda Abbington - vomiting and crying after rehearsals, reported feet stamped on/lewd behaviour (denied/under investigation)
Zara McDermott - kicked, hit, spat on according to tabloid reports

injuries:

Jodie Kidd - fractured rib
Jade Johnson - right knee
Mark Benton - both knees
Tameka Empson - knee
Will Bayley - leg
Jamie Laing - foot
AJ Odudu - foot
Nigel Harman - rib
Tony Adams - hamstring

stresses/disappointment/other:

Zoe Lucker - long term effect of Strictly nerves/shaking at a song
Sophie Ellis Bextor - "cult of Strictly"/emotional care should be provided
Jennifer Gibney - underestimated what went into it
Sunetra Sarker - nervous when music comes on/left feeling vulnerable
Helen George - naive going in/also said the repetitions in rehearsal took toll
Rev Richard Coles - brutal awakening he couldn't dance
Simon Rimmer - so tired he was hallucinating
Alex Burke - trolling from public/conflict over Gorka's commitment
Vick Hope - therapy after being stressed, nervous and worried
Faye Tozer - intense training, broken down off screen
Michelle Visage - clashed with Gio
Mike Bushell - trolling from public, denials that he was desperate to leave
Robert Webb - brutal and weird set-up of reality comps
Richie Anderson - reported clashes with Gio
Will Young - left for personal reasons (mental health) wanted to break his leg
Caroline Quentin - claimed some pros (not Jojo) "so ambitious they don't care what they put their guest through"
Johnny Ball - alleged Aliona exaggerated her injury to avoid partnering him
Rachel Riley - reliving the experience when music heard, scary and unnerving

judging/voting:
Anthony Ogogo - upset at producers partnering him with Oti (racist GBP)
Craig Kelly "putting the boot in" (judges)
Jan Ravens "hope you're happy now" (Craig)
Will Young told by Len to "shut up" (turn up and keep up)
Ricky Whittle - wanted to see the public vote figures
Jamelia - dance off rigged/fake applause
Kelly Brook - criticised when Len knew her Dad was dying
Jonnie Peacock - incorrect posture he had no control over

(That's all before you include implosions of relationships and bad PR)
Seann Walsh - claimed career dead after it/battled depression and anxiety
Danny John-Jules - claimed producers had maligned him

The pros will have their stories to tell, I'm sure.
Karen was hinting at other dalliances (she knows where the bodies are buried, I wonder if it was a deliberate comment).
On top of which, female pros will have had their fair share of hassle. Amy and DJJ conflict regarding routines was reported on before his elimination.
I am old enough to remember at least three male slebs who seemed a bit handsy with their pros.

Get writing! There's a Xmas book in there somewhere! (Can the Beeb sue if it's true?!