Strictly 2025 : Post Series Debrief And Christmas Special

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

In case anyone wants to keep chatting

@Otterdrunk I’m with you on most of what you say. The judges like someone for weeks and then comment on them harshly. Eg Lewis and the West Side Story dance. They like confidence in the celebs to dance separately, and then, suddenly they don’t. They engineered him being in the dance off. Bal was over-marked near the end and dances are allocated according to strengths unless they think it’s time to go. Ballroom gets sidelined and many dances seem like show dances from day 1. Len would not have been happy.

New presenters? A man who could dance a bit would be great! People with experience of live tv essential.

Even worse when they're not good at either!

I think we lost some big personalities like Alex, the gladiator and lavoix which was a shame. So the final was nice but dull? Perhaps it needs to be shorter with fewer contestants next year? So they don’t get injured? Less filler of videos etc. I don’t value the Clauditorium parts as it’s the same things said all the time. Surely that can be shorter. I’d like more focus on the singers in the band as they do such variety and we don’t usually see who’s singing.

new hosts could be former contestants Zoe and perhaps Tyler and Molly?

There was a lot of comment about Lewis as a ringer. Much less about Karen, who danced for at least ten years I think. Lewis had dance experience, but it was hip hop and therefore more gymnastic rather than ballroom or Latin. He’s much more known as an actor, so it’s reasonable to compare both of their experiences.

I agree. It hasn't been a very good series at all.

James Jordan might be the man! Shake things up a bit

Gawd.

This is doubtful as James didn’t leave he was sacked wasn’t he ? They kept Ola on for either one or two series but he fires shots at the show whenever he can. Unlikely to be hired back.

Saw ‘Westlife’ on Royal Variety show this evening. They’ve aged alot better than ‘Five’ on Strictly last night and were dressed alot better. ‘Five’s’ outfits looked like they had raided the dressing up box and tried to look like a 90’s boyband.

Yes, he’s quite anti Strictly and will pass comment at any opportunity.

Been reading reports that La Voix is going to be one of the new presenters. I very much hope not.

Me too. BBC tries to shoehorn drag queens in everywhere. I just about put up with him for this series but I deffo won't be watching if he's a presenter.

I wanted George to win but I enjoyed the show and I thought it was good that they didnt make it all about Claudia and Tess .

As in confirmation that she will be one of the presenters, or just someone who has put their hat in the ring?

BBC must know that viewing figures would plummet given how marmite drag is.

I was conflicted because I actually found him pretty witty and funny but no way would I watch him presenting. What are we meant to believe? That he's the female part of the presenting duo? I don't think so.

I liked La Voix/ Chris as a contestant, but I don't think he has the skill set to be an anchor/ presenter of the show.

No i don't think so either Chris really is hardworking and obviously wants to go mainstream with La Voix so maybe ITT would suit better than main.show even the "clauditorium" is like herding cats sometimes and would La voix be up for that.

It’s an interesting one. I’m not a fan of drag, but although I agree it’s a marmite topic, I don’t think I’d be put off watching Strictly just because one of the presenters was a drag artist. I guess plenty would be, but then the show would surely attract a new audience. That said, I don’t think the been would want to mess with the format too much and risk losing an army of loyal fans…?

La Voix on ITT would depend on Fleur and Janette not being there.

I think in either capacity, (s)he’d make it too much about him/herself and not enough about the slebs. The banter is amusing, but I think it would get old very quickly.

“I really didn’t warm to Amber and didn’t want her to win, but I did feel a bit sad for her tonight. She was obviously the best dancer, so knew it was because she wasn’t popular and that must’ve felt uncomfortable. Yes she agreed to appear knowing she was a ringer, but I still feel for her a little.”

I agree with @Bougainsillier & @m00rfarm. I really felt that Amber got too much hate, it’s not her fault she had so much dance experience and she didn’t deserve to be treated like that by the public. You could see that she knew she wasn’t going to win, and that must’ve been disheartening on a personal level. People need to remember that when they say horrible things about someone online it’s a real person and it’s bullying, always remember Karen Carpenter, and be a bit nicer.

I’m happy to see Karen win, her AT was fantastic and she seems to be a genuinely grounded humble person, but, in my eyes George was the one who learnt and improved the most and turned into a genuinely great dancer.

Yeah i think 1 of them will get a promotion maybe Fleur ?

I'm late to this (didn't get to watch it til Sunday pm) but I thought it was a pretty good final. Very emotional, right from when Tess and Claudia came on and got the world's biggest ovation.
My gut always said Karen and, even though George arguably had the better night, I knew she would win.
Amber's paso underwhelmed me the first time and did so again. I just don't like a rock paso.
Show dance was boring and I agreed with Craig it was a series of tricks and poses more than a dance. Rubbish song and I hated the sleazy-pop-vid-outfits. Why does everyone want to dress like that?
Jive: I thought it was overpraised the first time and this time too. She wasn't into the ground enough and didn't have the right pumping leg action.
She was sweet when talking about how she'd love one of her friends to win though, so good for her.

George's VW was great. I loved how he turned out to be a ballroom dancer more than Latin.
Show dance was a bit earnest, but he danced it well and it showed a range of skills.
Didn't really like his paso and I wonder if it was misjudged; I think at that stage of the competition people want less drama and more fun.

Loved seeing Karen's AT again, and she danced it even better than before. Spine-tingling music, great gender-bending concept, beautifully acted, ganchos were fab.
Show dance was (surprisingly) slightly underwhelming, but showed off her athleticism and their partnership and was clearly fun.
It was a stroke of genius to do the jive again; reminded everyone of what a nice surprise she was the first time, and they clearly had the time of their lives.
I think she won it when she said to Tess how much she'd miss her and Claud and how lucky they were that Tess was the first person they spoke to after their dances.
And she won it again when she talked about wanting to make Birmingham proud and how she'd missed having a team.
And Carlos won it when he broke down talking about how 'self-centred' he'd been and how she made him a better person.

Although my favourite Karen moment was probably a couple of weeks back (I think) when she just simply said about Carlos, 'He's my guy.'

I was in bits through most of it TBH

It was a really good final it felt like they were really enjoying it and it was heartfelt.

A new audience that would see it shift in the same direction as Eurovision? I.e. way too sleezy for cozy family viewing.

La voix on it takes 2 makes sense - see how she is presenting. I think she’s fun and witty