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.

I don't think anybody has left before the shows started, other than Jamie Laing when he was injured.

I feel as though there is a lot of speculation here and no-one will really know until the outcome of the complaint

Obviously people want to discuss the issue du jour but at this point no one knows better than anyone else and some comments aren't helpful to the debate. Nobody should be victim blaming in the absence of fact.

I really dislike being "thread police" so if people could be a bit more mindful that would be great.

I will say again that this thread has always been about a common camaraderie and it would be best if we can keep it that way.

Who has left before?

"Lazy journalism for gammon readers", though? This is all getting so personal - and frankly, nasty.

Please see my remark just below yours, I agree that posters need to rein it in.

No, nobody other than Jamie has dropped out after being matched and before live shows commenced. And once the show was underway, I think it's only been injury that got them a bye or led to them leaving.
Will Young stated he was leaving for his well being but was treated bloody awfully on social media and in the press. His treatment was similar. He had so much potential and then was picked on for being a snowflake/diva - not being able to take Len's comments (which I still think were bloody out of order) - not being able to hack it (despite producing three very good routines) and so on.
I think he may have fared better with Natalie rather than Karen but who knows?
Even when bereaved (Alexandra and Ugo) the show must go on.

They've never done switch-up and nobody has ever insisted on a partner swap other than Caprice on Dancing on ice (and was eliminated the week after). It's unprecedented and Gio being a fan favourite, impossible, unless they'd faked an injury on his part. They could have said an injury had returned (wasn't he out the group dances because of one?) but
a) how do you stop that pretence from leaking
b) she'd have been blamed/called a diva and out anyway
c) Neil, lovely though he is, may not have been able to save her
And of course, the main point...it bursts the Happy Family bubble.
Plus tensions e.g. Lulu and Brendan have equally fascinated viewers.

It was a comment based on the headline being used specifically to get people's backs up (i.e. a specific part of their readership) so not aimed personally, no. I know heid from old on these threads, no beef from me at all. Same as you muffin.
But with respect to our OP, I can rephrase or edit.
I read the publication too so am also prone to clickbait but mine would be showmances. Lazy journalism for tattle readers.

Jimmy Tarbuck - 4 - doctor's advice (high b.p.)

Kelly Brooke - 5 - her father died

John Sargeant - 6 - personal reasons (lots of backlash to him getting through, he chose to go rather than it continuing)

Jade Johnson - 7 - knee injury (after a bye)

Will Young - 14 - personal reasons

Will Bailey - 15 - injury (after a bye)

Nicola Adams - 18 - Katya had covid

Robert Webb - 19 - doctor's advice (heart-related)

AJ Odudu - 19 - injury before the final

Tony Adams - 20 - injured during show and couldn't do the dance off

Amanda Abington - 21 - personal reasons

Nigel Harman - 21 - injury

Yay polka good list

So really not that many over the lifetime of the show.

Twelve, of which five were injuries, and another three were physical health-related.

I was replying to the comment about Amanda Abbington should have just left after day 3, without trying to remedy the situation.

@PolkadotsAndMoonbeams

You forgot BVB

Didn't John also have a booked prior speaking engagement on a cruise ship?!

Cast announcements from 5th August
Who wants to take a bet on a builder-themed routine from Katya and Nick? Think Kev and Susan's This ole house but with added Knowles

We built this city
Build me up buttercup
If I had a hammer

(rumour only but I'd give him Katya as she had lovely Nige last year)

Pasha is on loose women talking after the break about Robin Windsor, hopefully he won't be bombarded with questions about the current situation.

He was a DNS rather than a DNF.

Say 12.5 drop outs then since he successfully did it the next year.

Watching LW now from the start - all four have been on Strictly - Kaye was early boot, Judi with Graziano, Penny with Ian and Sunetra with Brendan (they didn't have the best of times iirc as she couldn't do as much training as he wanted, because of Casualty. I loved her dances).

Sunetra has said they all know the good and bad moments but she doesn't want to take focus by talking about them (boo!)
She said the producers ought to take more responsibility for
Media spills
Difficult pairings - where to turn
Has to work both ways, pros should be able to complain too

Judi said everyone has different experiences but that doesn't mean if you have a bad experience, you shouldn't be listened to.
Penny had a camera on a tripod all the time. The others said, "Really?"
She and Judi both had a positive time. Kaye said Kai had the patience of a saint. Sunetra said most of them are good.

Amanda is on LW next week.

I love SCD and have watched it from the very beginning.
Sad the way things are panning out.

I'm sad too. I really think they might rest it after this series. It's too late for this one contestants already booked

Ed Balls talks a bit about his time on SCD on his Political Currency podcast today for the first few minutes.

Summary: Katya was tough but fair and he loved his time. Agreed that Gio and Graz had overstepped the line and it was right that they were gone. Felt that a lot of the pros perhaps were so used to the way they had been trained themselves that it had, wrongly, spilled over into their training of celebs.

I do think the message AA sent to producers in the first week saying ‘Giovanni hates me’ was quite odd. It’s unlikely that ‘hatred’ would have built up so quickly, so I can only suppose that she interpreted a relentless training regime ( which I’m not excusing) as dislike. I’ve seen a YouTube clip of an interview with her and her fiancé before she started Strictly where she describes herself as not good at taking criticism and wanting everyone to like her. I’m wondering whether she found his criticism hard to take and that made her defensive? I thought she had interesting responses to the judges comments too - so clearly really minding any criticism. Having said all that, both the producers and GP should have seen her as vulnerable and changed their approach accordingly. But she does have this outer facade of ‘I’m a tough old bird’ ( I think she even said so in the C4 interview) when she is clearly extremely sensitive.

I remember the papers saying they were not getting on either just before the show started or at the very beginning (can't remember exactly).

I watched the first show and was interested to see how they would be with each other. I was pretty surprised that they seemed to be getting on really well. They stood up with Claudia and were hugging a lot of the time. Gio tickled her and she was laughing and smiling the whole time.

I know she is an actress but she doesn't seem like someone who would willingly stand and hug someone she really didn't like.

I am not saying I don't believe that something annoyed/upset her but it just seems odd

Having said all that, both the producers and GP should have seen her as vulnerable and changed their approach accordingly. But she does have this outer facade of ‘I’m a tough old bird’ ( I think she even said so in the C4 interview) when she is clearly extremely sensitive.

nail on the head.

I think she’s someone who can’t take criticism (and a lot of people can’t) so it became a situation that escalated and spiralled into something out of everyone’s control.

but I also think if you said to her that she had been perceived as “vulnerable” before the show that it would be resolutely disagreed with.

Yes, I think she probably bit back at him and maybe cried ( she says on the same interview that she's at once extremely competitive and very emotional) and then he (used to being adored and also fairly fresh from the bantering relationship he had with the far more resilient Rose) became frustrated and annoyed ( esp as she was clearly a very good dancer) and as you say, things spiralled from there. Someone should have intervened but maybe to outsiders it didn't look as bad as it felt to her? More like a clash of personalities than abuse?

Same but I'd say the same about Zara and Graziano - no leak there incidentally and no hint of any tension on screen.
Both women blaming themselves and willing it to be okay.
Plus both women did want to stay in (not sure why given what they were going through but
a) it's a job
b) it's a dream
c) you pay the money back I think if you drop out early without a medical reason d) you get the bonus after a few weeks).

How many of us put on a facade/front at work?
Fake it til you make it?
Think things will improve?
Stay in a bad relationship and take the blame for it?

They all put on the smile and hug, because that's what they think the audience wants to see now and will vote them out otherwise. There's form for that when no united front.

The denials of conflict were vehement and did mean people were sceptical later but she explained she didn't want to rock the boat and hoped it would get better.
Plus conflict is always framed as a clash or feuding, suggesting it's just a mismatch/clash of strong personalities as opposed to anyone behaving badly and a natural response to that,