Ashley Roberts on Strictly Come Dancing

[Smellbellina]

She’s ruining my enjoyment! She’s a professional dancer and it’s very obvious. It’s like a professional ice skater competing on Dancing on Ice, why??

She won't win. Either Joe or Stacey will IMO.

I love watching brilliant dancing. And Ashley was brilliant tonight. It doesn't bother me about her dancing experience before the show.

I didn't like her dance tonight at all. It seemed all spikey and ugly.

Also interestingly, on Dancing with the Stars they don't seem to mind ringers as much as we do in the U.K. Several have actually won.

How is Ashley pronouncing Asia's name? I pretty much tune out apart from the actual dances so haven't noticed.

The jive was really good tonight although I'm not generally a Ashley fan but her score was justified.

I found the judges really fawning tonight. Swanky, who they said didn't miss a beat, was often behind and not properly synced. Faye was fantastic but Joe again mixed beats. I can't really remember who else was there.

Agree with lots of others. My favourites are Stacey and Lauren. I'd love to see Stacey win, especially as Kevin is my favourite pro dancer.

I would like to see a random non celeb put in. Preferably someone from the voluntary sector, who is not at all self promoting. Would be interesting to see them progress too.

I personally think Ashley is too good, she has been good from day one. Faye hasn't been so good, theres obviously dance training there but she's still improved.

I don't mind so much when they have people with some dance training. Realistically they will hard pushed in the sleb world to find people with no training but Ashley is a professional dancer. I don't care so much about her dances because I know they will be good, and it's a bit boring to watch. I like to see improvement.

I think Joe will win because he has a massive fan base, his dances get 10x the views of most on YouTube. He will have a loyal core of voters that the celebs wont often have and then a share of normal strictly voters.

I know Darcy is a better dancer than Ashley but she's a ballet dancer and she has done ballroom dances on there before. Ashley will most likely have done some ballroom in the past, even if not officially and they even have the contemporary/jazz round this year and she will definitely have training in these styles.

You could say that the gymnasts have an unfair advantage too though, Claudia Frangipane and Lewis Smith would always be more used to using their bodies than a presenter or newsreader for example.

A huge proportion of people working in show business have been to the sort of drama schools that provide an all-round training in dance, singing and acting. So every year on Strictly you're going to get a large bunch who are actual trained dancers.

Ah yes KurriKurri that's right -

“The first thing I should probably confess is, contrary to what you’ve heard, my name is not actually Pasha,” he wrote.

He went on to explain his birth name is Pavel, saying, in Russia, everyone has “a couple of names”: a nickname people call them by and the one used on formal documents.'

I'd had a couple of wines (and a reading fail!) when I read that!

I only want to see people like Kate Silverton

It's outrageous that the BBC haven't made a programme that adheres to your specific preferences 😡😡😡😡😡😡

I’ve noticed that Ashley is normally on last. What’s that about?

They always try to place a 'wow' dance near the end, to close the show on a high. It's reality tv, every aspect of the show is carefully planned for maximum entertainment value.

Just like the fact that they have a range of dancers, from no-hope plodders to those with previous training. Watching 16 Susannah Constantines staggering around would not make for good tv, hence the variety of abilities. The participants are auditioned beforehand, so the BBC know exactly what they're getting each series.

It's a light entertainment show aiming to gain maximum ratings. I'm genuinely surprised people think it's an actual ballroom/Latin dance comp. If that were true they'd have 4 qualified Latin/ballroom judges, rather than a West End choreographer, a ballerina, and a dancer from pop videos

alright love keep your hair on

It is annoying when they are clearly dancers, have no time for Ashley, Stacey is the most annoying person on the television, the only one that we felt we wanted to win was Joe!!

I want Lauren to win but only because I fancy the pants off AJ

Love Lauren - real gutsy woman - think she might go this weekend though.

Graham Swann is giving it his best, and although I'm not a Stacey fan, I think she's doing really well.

But come one Joe......didn't know who he was, but anyone who brings that pleasure to his Nan deserves to win!

Ashley and Faye leave me cold - sort of like cheating in the open.

@Fallingout
"Stacey is the most annoying person on the television"
I am so glad you said that.... I was beginning to think it was just my own irrational prejudice as everyone else on here seems to love her.
The only reason I won't be gutted if she wins over Joe is that, as I said before, I am very fond of Kevin and think he deserves to win the competition ......

How on Earth is it cheating? How ridiculous. They get harder dances to do and they put on a great show. Faye injured her hips practising the jive and had to wear ice packs in her pants - they’re putting everything into it, it’s not coming easily to them as they’re doing such complicated routines and they give us something spectacular to watch. Strictly wouldn’t be as good without the fingers and that’s why the show puts them in every year and will continue to do so. Get used to it!

*Ringers not fingers. I am not suggesting people should compete without their fingers.

I’m not a fan of Stacey either, though I really like Kevin - the ideas, concepts and choreography is amazing!

There was one week (I can’t remember which) when the camera cut from whoever was performing to the other dancers watching/supporting and Stacey just looked completely bored.

I don't think it's the fact that she's pretty (Caroline Flack is quite stunning), I don't think it's the fact that she's American (she was popular on the Ant and Dec thing), I don't even think that it's because she's a professional dancer (several ringers have won in the past) ..... I think what puts people off is the constant bleating about how hard it is and the surprise at high scores, Denise Van Outen was the same. Just own it, you're a brilliant dancer, enjoy it!

alright love keep your hair on

Was that directed at me?

I suspect it was Greece - you had a lot of anger going on in that post !

I agree that you'd be hard pushed to find actors who haven't had some degree of dance training. The Strictly cast has to be a good mix of people from lots of different backgrounds. They always have someone from Holby/Casualty/Eastenders and most will have been to drama school.

But there's a difference between going to a stage school where you get a few lessons a week covering all styles of dance, and actually making your living as a dancer over several years. Like Ashley Roberts or Debbie McGee. People like Caroline Flack or Denise Van Outen had had lots of training, but were known for being on telly or the radio (and not dancing).

Also agree that Ashley won't win as everyone can see through the "little old me" routine. Personally I'm not a Stacey fan but I can appreciate she's a great wee dancer. Would much rather watch someone like Joe, Graham or Kate who have no dance background at all.