To feel ever so slightly bereft now Nicola & Katya are out of Strictly?

[PoulePouletteEternellement]

Honestly, before this year I pretty much turned my nose up at the whole thing and couldn't have cared less. But an increasingly drab lockdown has turned me into a fan of huge grins and sequins and joy and cheese. And, actually, their freestyle dance was utterly life enhancing.

But Sky says Katya has tested positive, so they both have to withdraw. Cannot express how sad I am. (Guess they must be, too ...)

Good point about Debbie McGee. Great partnership with Gio. Nicola is lovely, hard working, smiley and friendly. However she doesn't seem to have much musicality and was lucky not to have left last time. Bring back Jason!

i was watching Zoe in Strictly, she was unfairly robbed wasnt she? in the final it is down to popularity?

People assume that sportsmen/women will be good because of their dedication to training and generally good fitness levels (depending on how long since they retired!). However people forget that some sports will have ingrained all kinds of bad habits re posture, etc.

I remember Erin commenting many years ago on how awful a Peter Schmeical’s ankles were - he was just not used to “using his ankles“ and the ligaments were tight as a result - use of the ankles to raise and lower is crucial in ballroom.

Similarly boxing encourages poor posture as far as dancing is concerned - hunched and rounded shoulders - and there’s no way a couple of weeks of training can undo years of training the body to shape and move in a certain way.

Conversely some sports - gymnastics being a prime example - will be beneficial due to posture, use of joints and the concept of moving the body in a fluid way through a set routine.

In what way were they dressed as men?

I deliberately put 'as men' in inverted commas to indicate that I was referring to the context of ballroom dancing where the female traditionally wears a dress. In their first dance they both wore trouser/waistcoat combi and last Sat they both wore boiler suits and leather jackets.

@musicalfrog

Wild how many people still don't understand the concept of a bubble. It doesn't make you immune to covid!

I was really surprised by some of the comments here too, as if there's no way to get it, but you must be right

couldnt they have all gone to a hotel then like bake off

Err no. They were not good. And overmarked last week!

@GabsAlot

couldnt they have all gone to a hotel then like bake off

It would be a very very long time for the entire crew and cast to be isolated away from family.

Plus look at bake off, despite everyone living on site someone still picked up a cold, if you can catch a cold you can catch covid.

@GabsAlot

how did bake off manage their bubbles does anyone know

They moved into a hotel as a group. They all had to isolate for 10 days and be tested a couple of times then they moved into a hotel for 6 weeks (including partners and the children of any single parent). Then they filmed it in 6 weeks

It's a myth that boxers are all good dancers. I used to be a coach and there were some right sights at our club discos

Thanks @Maireas. The joy of strictly is the suprises. Of course to some extent it is a popularity contest but also it relies on bloody hard work, throwing yourself into it and just the joy of winning the glitter ball. Of course it can open doors, as can Bake Off, but you have to at least put in some work and commit to learning new skills rather than eating bugs. And no meddling to create drama and fall outs, contestants actually having fun and supporting each other. We also need Sewing Bee back!

Favourite dances of all time anyone? I love Argentine tango done well so as already posted, Debbie McGee. Also Jill Halfpenny's jive was a game changer and Jay's Jive was the coolest thing ever in the ballroom.

Loved Rinder and Oksana "What a Night" dance. Anything with Danny and Oti.

Strictly preparation starts in August and the series ends in December, so that’s the best part of 4 months to isolate a cast and crew that will run potentially into the hundreds (production staff, lighting riggers, camera crew, set builders, make up artists, hair stylists, costume design, plus all the dancers, presenters and judges and any dependents).

Trying to isolate that number of people, and finding a situation where it is possible to house and feed them all, plus provide training and rehearsal space, would be a logistical nightmare.

Bake Off was a lot easier in comparison - smaller number of participants, no live shows, much smaller production crew, etc.

@willstarttomorrow I’m old school, but for me Jill Halfpenny’s Jive was without doubt the best dance, with Mark Ramprakash’s Argentine Tango a close second.

Not possible this year I know, but I wish they’d go back to getting competitive dancers back to give demos on the results show - Vincent and Flavia first appeared purely to demonstrate the AT and Joanna Leunis and Michael Milatowski were a joy to watch.

Bereft is not how I feel. I'm glad they're out, they should've gone last week. I got sick of the shadow boxer and I can't bear Katya.
Roll on Saturday!!

i guess it being live doesnt help-we vote so thats cant be changed

noone can beat flavia and vincent doing the argentine tango saw it live was outstanding and i still gt goosebumps remembering it

Just because she was in a bubble it doesn't mean she wasn't allowed to do general day to day things... It just meant she couldn't be in contact with another person.

Katya could have caught it on the bus, in a taxi, on the tube, at the food shop, etc.... Loads of places she could of picked it up that doesn't mean she "broke the bubble".

It is a shame they are out but she wasn't very good anyway so would probably be gone soon... They weren't contenders for the glitter ball

@CaveMum totally agree. Vincent and flavia were just incredible. In my alternative life I tango life they do.

Ps. My alternative life is totally in my head and exists outside Leeds

@CaveMum

Strictly preparation starts in August and the series ends in December, so that’s the best part of 4 months to isolate a cast and crew that will run potentially into the hundreds (production staff, lighting riggers, camera crew, set builders, make up artists, hair stylists, costume design, plus all the dancers, presenters and judges and any dependents).

Trying to isolate that number of people, and finding a situation where it is possible to house and feed them all, plus provide training and rehearsal space, would be a logistical nightmare.

Bake Off was a lot easier in comparison - smaller number of participants, no live shows, much smaller production crew, etc.

Plus they compressed Bake Off into half the time by filming on weekdays rather than on weekends round the contestants’ jobs.

You can’t teach dances quicker than they already do.

hasnt Ranvir had some sort of experience, mention was made of a dance teacher
Claudia said Ranvir's ballet teacher in her childhood used the word 'elephant' in her dance report...

@IntermittentParps

hasnt Ranvir had some sort of experience, mention was made of a dance teacher Claudia said Ranvir's ballet teacher in her childhood used the word 'elephant' in her dance report...

🤣 I had ballet lessons growing up and my Dad referred to my practices in the living room as “Elephant Lake.” I wasn’t destined to be a dancer!

I've just realised Nicola Adams is an entirely different person to who I thought she was. Im so confused.

That was me last year, user1471565182 - all the Strictly headlines entirely passed me by.

This year - I need all the glitter I can get.