SCD '23 #10: It's Hallowe'en night and sone scary things are happening on the dancefloor! NO SPOOKY SPOILERS

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Previous thread

Starting it a bit early as we're chatting fast, please check the other thread first!

Probably not in heels.

So bored of Layton in heels and dresses.

It’s great watching two men dance together as men, if I want to see heels and dresses I only have to watch any of the other couples. What does it add? Fuck all.

i find all bobbys dances a bit twee. Angela R was good, but i think in a more "omg she is 79" way.

None of the other male celebs dance in heels and dresses. Why should Layton be allowed to?

I mean, can you imagine Bobby trotting out in a dress?

I think Bobby in a dress would be an improvement on some of his costumes. Poor chap, Vicky Gill hates him.

As the mother of a stereotypical Mumsnet Teen Beanpole (not as tall though) I'd think that Bobby has a lot of trouble getting clothes to fit him off the peg. In theory being on Strictly should finally give him the chance of properly fitting trousers made to measure, but alas not in practice.

I think Bobby gets his clothes tailored IRL.

But on Strictly he's looked awful every week.

Yes, Gorka and Vito's trousers are always so snug.

Sorry if it has been mentioned before but I am coming to like Bobby more and more - just so cheerful - but I can't bear the way he drapes his arm over his partner. He's a big strong lad and that I would find really uncomfortable I wish he would stop it. I don't think there is anything amiss by the way just a tall chap draping his heavy arm around your shoulders I would just want to shrug it off. Maybe just me.

I suspect that Layton won't win, simply because in the final the public tend to vote for who has had the biggest 'journey'. I think that's why Ore won rather than Danny.

Matt Baker and Louis Smith got lots of opportunities to show their gymnastic talents as they danced in male roles. The only examples I can think of among the women are Victoria Pendleton and Claudia Fragapane. I remember one of the VTs showed Victoria lifting some of the male professional dancers with ease, including Brendan Cole. However, in her actual dances she never seemed to show her full potential. The same seemed to happen to Claudia Fragapane who obviously had huge gymnastic ability. Maybe both Claudia and Victoria would have done better if they'd been partnered with Katya who is so good at choreographing to her partners' strengths.

Layton certainly won't win because the public don't like obvious ringers like him.

He might be in a DO though. The judges will save him, of course.

I will bet my entire fortune that Layton won't win.

Layton won’t win

Also pretty sure he’ll get couples choice at Blackpool

I'm not a Layton voter, but I do think that the flack he's got for that move at the end of his tango is unnecessary. Pros have always shoved in flashy moves to showcase their celeb's abilities.

Louis Smith's zombie Halloween tango was one of my all time faves. Ditto Matt Baker's samba and Colin Jackson's quickstep. All three ended up with spectacular moves well outside the ballroom/Latin medal curriculum. Apart from Len harrumphing about Colin (in a pretty homophobic way tbh). I don't recall any of them getting pushback from fans. A lot of people objected to Louis's showdance because they didn't think that any of it really counted as dancing, but that's a different problem.

I didn't know Matt Baker was a gymnast, I wondered why he does the presenting on gymnastics tournaments on BBC. I thought he was a farmer (Countryfile) 😆

Also.. Gabby Logan was a gymnast and a fairly terrible dancer!

Lots of the celebrities seem to cartwheel all over the place. Helen Skelton had a cartwheel in about half the dances she did.

I think much of the UK press is pretty homophobic and a lot of this stuff about ill feeling towards Layton is cooked up by them.

Matt grew up on a farm. I a not sure he was ever a really high level gymnast but was a competitor as a youngster (as well as a dancer) and did lots of the sporty/ daring stuff on Blue Peter. He did a drama degree.

I think Layton is suffering from two separate problems. One is the homophobic backlash. He's outrageously camp, and if that's who he is then good for him. Unfortunately it's likely to bug some people, so it knocks down his votes. The second is that he is such a ringer that he goes clang. He's not decades out of dance training like Debbie McGee, he's not mainly working in other areas like Nigel. He's unashamedly clanging all the way around the dancefloor.

If he has a big enough fan base then he could win. He's an excellent dancer and has a brilliant partner. And he'd need to be amazing with those two strikes against him.

I don't think that Layton is a brilliant partner at all. I have enjoyed the dances where he was mostly solo- like the salsa- and not enjoyed the ones where he was in hold- because he seems to be tussling with Nikita. He is a brilliant dancer, though. But Strictly is about partnering.

Is this the right place to share that I saw an article in the Mirror saying that Katya had split with her boyfriend to concentrate on Nigel Strictly Come Dancing?

It's a nice change of gossip

Edited to add - nice change of gossip unless you're Katya, Nigel or their families.

I assumed Ellie and Vito were meant to be Shrek and Fiona?

Oh sorry @nomdegrrr1 I misread your post. You said Layton has a brilliant partner. I agree with that. He doesn't seem to partner well with him, though.

Apparently meant to be zombies 😬

I don't like to judge the dancers because I'm fairly clueless. I just like watching Strictly. But Nikita has done brilliantly and I keep going back to watch him and Carlos dancing to 'Mad About the Boy'.

I wonder how much co-operation and how much negotiation is going on in the background. I mean, Layton has the experience to put in their own ideas so he may be pushing back on stuff.

I completely agree- I want to watch the last one again to see where they were changing who leads and where he was just refusing to let go! There were knee bumping moments, I’m sure!
I was amused by Layton’s anxiety about being lifted. Heels and corsets, fine. Surrendering control, no thanks!