Strictly 2026 : It’s Emma, Josh and JoJo

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

First thread of the year! Let us reconvene here for further discussions

I see that Karen is going to be in Panto in Torquay, good to see there is life after strictly.

Strictly launching on 19th, first live show 26th (September obviously)

I'm getting that back to school autumn feeling today. It's cooler and I'm on the countdown to Strictly!

Schools are back in Scotland so it is already "autumny" here 😀

I saw The Voice trailer , Emma Willis is just going to vanish at some point be there one week and not the next.! I see her loyalties are not to the Voice where she said in an interview she was very "protective of " well untill Strictly calls😂

Giovanni is out there rocking the boat in the media these last few days. I doubt we’ll ever know what really happened there.

I believe the current series of The Voice was filmed ages ago so she'll be in this series but not the next one.

Yeah i was just trying to be funny.

Book to flog, innit?
Am amazed publishers think his memoir will sell but he also has a tour here next year.
He might be in the Italian but Strictly's such a big thing over here.

So he's still maintaining he was fine, she was the problem
she did a nazi salute in front of him
he was suicidal when allegations raised
BBC should have safeguarded better with pairing/psych evals

She's still pointing out 6/16 allegations upheld
BBC apologised to her
BBC paid her compensation
He was a monster

And you still have...

Her/Laura/Richie/Ranvir
vs
Debbie/Michelle (Tony Beak/Shirley)

Cannot recall if Faye/Rose ever picked a side but Rose and Michelle still had work reliant on the Beeb and Michelle was an odd one - it would never have fitted in with her sense of self to be anything other than a strong woman/fiery rapport/what she needed etc But I remember the stories of how it was a lot more than that at the time. You don't 💩 where you eat.

We won't ever know and it may have been a personality clash/high pressure/six of one and half a dozen of the other...but if pushed, I'm with Amanda.

And no interest in his book unless the whole of that report was printed in it! 😉

Six complaints upheld for inappropriate behaviour
(essentially, verbal bullying when teaching her/not adapting to her needs) including

1. Swearing (shit, fuck, fucker)
2. Belittling
3. Frustrated with her whilst teaching

‘I’m tired of it, if you want to look shit, I don’t care.’

1. Negative feedback (hands in air saying fuck)
2. Sexualised gesture (hand on his crotch)
3. Sexualised comment (I want to fuck you) when she did well

His defence was he was cleared of ten, including

1. physical
2. aggressive

and he had passion, was strict yes but just wanting to get best out of her...

‘You have such talent and you’re not using it.’
‘I don’t know how to ask you anymore,’
‘it has been four days now and I don’t know what to do’

He also claimed some of the things complained of was reciprocal banter 🤷🏼‍♀️

Timing of his book is interesting/taking headlines with him as victim given that it was announced last week that she received five figure compensation from BBC studios (not taxpayer) .

Having had some dealings with Amanda, I am 100 per cent team Giovanni

We'll have to agree to disagree, I think.
If you look at the above, any other workplace and you'd face a disciplinary too.
Two things can be true at once: he was out of order/inappropriate and she was a PITA.
I suspect this is why the Beeb gave them both a get out, a way to both "win" /save face.
But, agent or not, if you're going to state you're with Gio, you could at least explain why. 😉
I'll take Reece Shearsmith's decision to continue to work with her as a good sign.
It was brave of her to speak out and not toe the party line. I don't think it worked out well for either of them in the long run, but she wasn't the first to take issue with his teaching. Branding a woman as crazy for having the audacity to stand up to you isn't a good look either.

I adored Gio.He was my fave pro.
But in no universe is saying " I want to fuck you" and grabbing your crotch ok in a workplace.

Amanda strikes me as “difficult” but Giovanni strikes me as “careless with his mouth and his hands” Not a great combination of individuals

Well able to believe Amanda was 'difficult'
She was incredibly good too. Gio should have held back.

Yeah i saw his tours etc thought he was 1 of the good ones although he absolutelyloves himself and he probablythought Amanda would be "flattered" ! But his aggressive and sexuallised language, is not on and I am glad she stood up to him, just because a woman is seen as "difficult" doesn't mean she shouldn't be believed.

I thought they did group training and swapping partners beforehand in order to avoid personality clashes like this? I know they are somewhat limited by height, but they were both high profile people and if you were in that business you would surely have known ‘she’s tricky, don’t pair her with these three’ or something? There were male pro’s with personalities that would have brought out the best in her. I mean, that was literally Giovanni’s job, to bring out her best wasn’t it?

But I was also gutted she left, I looked forward to her dances the most but no matter how difficult you are you shouldn’t have to accept his behaviour in the workplace.

I wish she could have another go with someone else.

It would be good to have a series with people who had to leave for various reasons, or were voted out early etc.

I wish I could say more but ... let's just say Amanda was looking for trouble and I think there would have been trouble with any partner. In general she sees slights and aggressions when they are simply not there in the most innocent of interactions and tries to turn them into fights. She should never have been chosen for the show.

NTW Not saying Gio is an angel but he's right in saying he continually asked Amanda how to do things differently and was told (by her) he was great and she was the problem. Her issues with him were never directly addressed to him but to others. It was a very confusing situation and the BBC handled it very clumsily.

Oh okay. Thanks for following up. 💐
They should probably have put her with a Labrador like Vito then, instead of Ellie.
It was only his second series. I'm not sure he has an aggressive bone in his body!
I often wonder whether Rose and Gio worked so well because she could literally switch him off when she had to.

I read (after the report was published) that the producers wished they had put Amanda with Carlos because he is more laid back and Angela Scanlon who is incredibly ambitious and was desperate to win (we never saw her Irish dancing) would have been better with Gio.
The producers now pay more attention to partnerships. I have read parts 2 and 3 of Gio’s serialisation and he is rude about the other pros not supporting him but their hands were tied. Kai and Gio shared a flat during lockdown and I wonder if this fed into Kai not getting a partner in 2024.

I read (after the report was published) that the producers wished they had put Amanda with Carlos because he is more laid back and Angela Scanlon who is incredibly ambitious and was desperate to win (we never saw her Irish dancing) would have been better with Gio.

We wuz robbed 😭

That would have been a much better pairing. I still suspect AA would have casued trouble for any partner. She was spoiling for a fight. It's all very sad as no one came out of it well.

Where are all the impressions of AA as being 'difficult' and 'spoiling for a fight' coming from? I didn't get that at all. She was a beautiful dancer and got a lot of praise from the judges, and seemed thrilled to be there, as far as I remember it anyway

I put “difficult” in inverted commas as really no one knows beyond rumours