Strictly Come Dancing '24 Thread 1 : Who will be our celebs and Pros?

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

Starting a new SCD thread for chat prior to the series as the last is about to fill.

These threads are usually helmed by @PolkadotsAndMoonbeams and I normally deputise, but I haven't seen her around in a while

This thread will discuss who has been chosen for the show, but not who has been paired with who as that's a spoiler for the first show.

This is a NO SPOILER thread

Get Ready To KEEP DANCING.

Ugh. I didn't enjoy that stroppy fit at all. Particularly Brendan smacking Fiona's bum.😯

As long as Strictly changes its behind the scenes culture I don't see why it shouldn't come back. I think it would be a mistake for the show to address these issues on screen. They need to do a Don Draper Lucky Strike ad and change the conversation to something reassuring and business-as-usual. People don't watch Strictly for public struggle sessions.

At the moment it feels that the show has some genuine duty-of-care issues to sort out but the media is working hard to keep the headlines going by dredging up stories that were never a secret anyway. I mean, Brendan was an arse to female celebs and Anton belongs in a music hall; who knew?

Brendan was fuming for ten years about getting all the gorgeous leggy presenters, then finding out they had no rhythm!

I agree - all very real. Tough stuff but nothing abusive there at all. I wish they had kept it like that rather than the saccharine road they went down!

Separately, I didn't watch that series so it was lovely to see Fiona Phillips looking so lovely & vivacious given her dementia diagnosis now.

How young does Craig look in that video?!

She has dementia now?

She's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the last 12 months

Yes she was diagnosed with the beginnings of early-onset Alzheimer's two years ago aged 61: she was very alert for the symptoms because it's rife in her family.

She's on trials for all the latest drugs, but it's a grim thing to happen.

Oh that's horrible for her and her family. How sad.

Oh that’s terrible, I had no idea.

It really is sad & I've read some stuff where she's impacted quite badly by it too.

Yes she was on TV talking about her diagnosis she hasn't been on anything for a while though . Its incredibly sad.

Oh that’s so blooming sad.

I think they'll do the anniversary series this year and then maybe take a break. I do love it but it does seem tarnished somewhat now.

I feel a bit sad about all the stuff coming out. Really takes the shine off the whole thing.

If the celebs can’t hack the training then it’s on the pro to dial it back. No excuses for the behaviour, it’s a TV show ffs.

I think they'll just carry on regardless.

They will air the show, and never mention any of these controversies.

It'll be business as usual.

I mean, they have never ever mentioned any of the affairs that have ended up in the news.

They drew a veil over Amanda Abbington's withdrawal, despite all the stories in the papers.

Now Will Bailey is saying he was pressured into doing the jump that injured him and forced him off the show. Says he was invited onto the show for inclusivity but the producers didn't accommodate his disability. Doesn't blame Janette but, at the same time, feels she didn't listen to his and his coach's objections about leaping off a table and he was doing it to please her.

Stefania, the casting director, comes off badly in Will's version of his time on Strictly. I remember reading an interview with her and feeling that she was an integral part in the dumbing-down of the show. It just makes it all obvious that the producers have favourites and push them on the audience. His story also confirms that the producers pressure the pros into pushing the celebs too far and doing all fur coat and no knickers routines.

Considering Will Bayley participated in 2019 and was winning medals in the 2020 Olympics they’re very lucky he wasn’t more badly injured. It’s completely irresponsible to put celebs in that position, especially sportsmen/women who rely on their bodies.

And all this is simply going to mean that no one will want to sign up for Strictly in the future.

Have this years contestants already been decided?

God, what a horror story. The poor man and his poor family. It sounds like it had a big impact on all of them at the time and he's still suffering the consequences. I do think they're going to have to admit to some wrong doing but I think they're going to try to minimise their role in it all by picking out a few people like Will and Zara who really do have very unambiguous stories of not being treated properly and try to make out that there were a few bad apples but by and large everyone else was just expected to work hard and is being unreasonable complaining.
Those who ended up being diagnosed with PTSD will probably not be taken as seriously because it's an invisible injury. I think they're going to do everything they can to avoid admitting that everyone was being forced to work under excessive pressure and being asked to do things that weren't safe, including spending such long periods with shouty, pressurised professionals who were focused on making the bosses and the public happy over keeping their pupils safe.

How do they compensate for injuries at the time?
Do you think they pay out straight away or there will be a caveat in the contracts? I think it's fair that Will speaks out, especially if his coach said it was a bad idea.
I listed the other injuries upthread. I think Carter Ruck will be going for a swift class action potentially.
The Laila Rouass claim (if she has joined the action) will be interesting, in that Craig in his memoirs implies it wasn't quite as clear-cut as relayed at the time.
The show's had a good run. It could bow out in December.
As someone who's a super fan, I'd be saddened but not devastated (not since Monkseal stopped blogging and Ultimate Strictly hung up her stilettos).

Surely though for someone like Will, given he said he felt it was dangerous, has some personal responsibility to take and should have said no? I don't mean to victim blame, but if someone tells you to jump off a cliff (or table), then it's up to you to not do it.

Allegedly, he'd done it a couple of times already but was told he had to do it again with a smile and more passion, wasn't taken to hospital straight away and didn't have much after care - they were more bothered about trying to get him to dance.
Bayley says the BBC denied him compensation for loss of earnings, but paid for his surgery in 2020.

That jump was ridiculous no wonder he injured himself! There Is sometimes a pressure on disabled people to fit in and be like everyone else and "normal "
I've experienced it myself especially growing up so I see where Will is coming from
it's sad that there hasn't been much progress and seemingly it's worse because they wanted to prove that the man with arthritis could jump off a table and recreate a ",moment".