I dont dislike ashley, she is just not my fave , every one has their fave dancer, that is how these shows work.
Someone has to be at the bottom, its not always going to be the worst dancer, its not really just a dance show, imo its also a popularity contest, thats why someone like joe can do better than ashley.
Totally agree Samcro and we all know that the best dancer doesn't always win and it's a combination of ability, personality, improvement and of course the partnership itself.
I don't necessarily want Ashley to win Strictly. I think given how many series there have been there is rarely a brilliant 'start to finish' dancer, with prior experience, who wins, if ever. it's someone on a (dare I say it) 'journey', who improves week after week. who blossoms from a clod hopping cart horse to a gliding around the dance floor Giselle in a matter of weeks. Those are the winners we like and want!
But what I don't understand is the vitriol that is directed at Ashley? She's a great dancer. She was a great dancer from week one and she still is. Some performances have been better than others but she delivers .. she works, she trains and she performs and that is what the producers of Strictly expect of her.
She signed up because she loves to dance and she expected, I'm sure, for this process to be enjoyable.
But instead of that it's made her sad, vulnerable, unhappy and unsure about how the British public feel about her. She's lived and worked in the UK for the past 7 years and calls London 'home' so she's not some imported celebrity just to make up the numbers.
I'm sure she went into this thinking it would be an amazing experience. Without doing the sympathy card thing, her father committed suicide at the beginning of the year and then a few months later, the invite comes from Strictly and you can just imagine someone in those circumstances thinking 'yes, this is just what I need'.
But instead of being the happy, upbeat experience she might have been hoping for, I can only imagine how deflated and upset she must feel that it has all turned so sour. And then having to go into the dance studio with Pasha to work on dances that she knows she's never going to perform because she will be the first one to get kicked out of the final.
Ashley is a great dancer, probably the best celebrity dancer that's every appeared on Strictly (and I'm quoting Brendan Cole there).
Maybe the producers didn't realise how good she was. Maybe they didn't care. Maybe they courted the publicity. Maybe she is just a victim of the whole process.
But whatever the reasoning is, she does not deserve the level of spite and vitriol that has been slung at her.