Strictly Come Dancing 2023 #35

[Boring Monday]

I thought she came across as a bit of nervous wreck on Strictly. This is a really intense experience, I think there should be some kind of psychological assessment before they are offered a place to make sure they can handle it. I get that a few weeks with Gio might not be a very pleasant experience (it’s certainly not something I would want, Nikita would be a different matter) but to get diagnosed with PTSD would suggest to me there is something else going on there. She doesn’t appear to be very emotionally robust.

I think the pressure mist be immense. Week 2 and she is being hoisted aloft and spun round by her ankles. At some point she did the spits. She acquired a rib injury that must have made training difficult. It doesn’t matter how much ballet you did as a kid or how flexible you are when you get over a certain age you don’t snap back as quickly and some moves are a one time only (after a glass of wine) with a good run up manoeuvre not something done repeatedly for 4 days.

If you compare Amanda and Annabel … both ladies in their 50’s with a history of childhood ballet and still fairly active … one was given the series of a 1000 Viennese Waltzes and the other was told to be an acrobat from early doors.

 

[jfletcher]

Strictly has made a rod for their own backs. By expecting every series to bring higher scores earlier and earlier and (absurd) records being broken every week and it never being “too early for a 10 from Shirley” and it always being “the best week one we’ve ever had” and there being no room for mistakes because “this is week two now,” the pressure placed on the pros and celebs to achieve that standard is ridiculous and forces them into this excessive training routine.

When a couple aren’t pushing themselves to the limit, it’s seen as not enough. For example, Katya mentioned in one interview that she stopped Nigel training at 5 each evening because it was important he had time to rest and be with his family and DS was filled with comments about them not taking it seriously and how she had gone soft because she wasn’t pushing him hard enough.

Strictly has created an environment where 12 hour training days are seen as the norm and it’s no wonder celebs are ending up injured or struggling with their mental health when it’s meant to be a light Saturday night entertainment show.

 

[Boogs]

Definitely, they need to stop being so risky with the celebs wellbeing. What happened to Nigel was ridiculous (being dropped by pros) and what could of happened to Ellie was just downright dangerous. It doesn't need to be bigger and better every year with more stunts that have the potential to go wrong. We just want good dances.

I’d initially written off Nigel’s injury as bad luck (or sabotage by Glitter ball obsessed Dianne) but I was gob smacked by Ellie’s show dance. If Vito hadn’t had such quick reactions and she’d face planted she could have ended up with a really serious injury.

I’m never that impressed by all the crazy lifts, they detract attention from the dancing. Zara spent half the competition in the air whilst Graz desperately tried to buy more time in the competition by trying to hide the fact that she was an awful dancer. The muff diving lift Fanny Rat threw Amanda into was ridiculous, I personally thought it looked awful and it was week two.

 

[soccergirl]

I kinda hope he doesn't, he just doesn't have a kind face. I never warmed to him even though when I initially saw him I thought he was fit as duck that quickly went away.

There is a pic of him as the cover image for one of the Strictly eps that gives me such massive ick - his 'quasi-sexual ecstasy of dance' face made my ovaries shrivel up and die.

 

[whoareyoukidding]

There is a pic of him as the cover image for one of the Strictly eps that gives me such massive ick - his 'quasi-sexual ecstasy of dance' face made my ovaries shrivel up and die.

View attachment 2673112

I was going to mention his sex face when he dances massive ick

 

[ButtonDownTheHutches]

It will also put celebrities off signing up, imo, if there are a lot of negative stories emerging.

I get the impression they already have an issue with this - for every ‘celebrity’ desperate to be signed up (hi there, Quickenden and Collins ), there are many others who won’t go anywhere near it because of the workload, the potential tabloid/SM backlash, etc.

 

[Boogs]

If you compare Amanda and Annabel … both ladies in their 50’s with a history of childhood ballet and still fairly active … one was given the series of a 1000 Viennese Waltzes and the other was told to be an acrobat from early doors.

One had a partner with a history of being compassionate and supportive to partners who always appears to be gracious and humble.
The other had a partner who is very focussed on winning and thinks he is bigger than the show as evidenced by his perfume and the amount he charges for his solo tours.

Gio and Jojo are polar opposites.
---
I suspect that as Amanda had this bolshy persona they thought she would be able to put Gio in his place like Michelle Visage did. Interesting that most of Gios former partners are also on Amanda’s social media too

 

[Boring Monday]

Strictly has made a rod for their own backs. By expecting every series to bring higher scores earlier and earlier and (absurd) records being broken every week and it never being “too early for a 10 from Shirley” and it always being “the best week one we’ve ever had” and there being no room for mistakes because “this is week two now,” the pressure placed on the pros and celebs to achieve that standard is ridiculous and forces them into this excessive training routine.

When a couple aren’t pushing themselves to the limit, it’s seen as not enough. For example, Katya mentioned in one interview that she stopped Nigel training at 5 each evening because it was important he had time to rest and be with his family and DS was filled with comments about them not taking it seriously and how she had gone soft because she wasn’t pushing him hard enough.

Strictly has created an environment where 12 hour training days are seen as the norm and it’s no wonder celebs are ending up injured or struggling with their mental health when it’s meant to be a light Saturday night entertainment show.

In the very dim and distant past, Mr BM and I used to low level compete at a club sport. The training competition was ridiculous. Training diaries were filled with miles run and cycled just for bragging rights and so people could say ‘I trained 30 hours a day and ran 2 marathons’ for no other reason than to say they were super trainers. The only problem was, they had junk trained so much when it came to actual competition time, they were beaten by a girlie with under half their training.

Sometimes less is more. Sometimes you can train so much all you are doing is reinforcing bad habits and just turning your brain to mush and that’s without the injuries accrued from doing things repeatedly and possibly wrong.

 

[ChastityDingle]

I’d initially written off Nigel’s injury as bad luck (or sabotage by Glitter ball obsessed Dianne) but I was gob smacked by Ellie’s show dance. If Vito hadn’t had such quick reactions and she’d face planted she could have ended up with a really serious injury.

I’m never that impressed by all the crazy lifts, they detract attention from the dancing. Zara spent half the competition in the air whilst Graz desperately tried to buy more time in the competition by trying to hide the fact that she was an awful dancer. The muff diving lift Fanny Rat threw Amanda into was ridiculous, I personally thought it looked awful and it was week two.

I agree.
I hated that lift that Gio and Amanda did. It just looked awful. I remember cringing at the time, thinking oh no, please.
And, yes, Graz lifted Zara a lot to cover up for her lack of skill.

That stunt that very nearly went badly wrong, in Vito and Ellie's dance added nothing whatsoever to it. Vito was visibly shaken afterwards, in the Clauditorium. I remember Gorka patting him on the back and giving him a thumbs up as if to reassure him. That should never have been attempted, imo.

And Nigel's accident, just crazy stuff really.

 

[Boogs]

Episode one - I'm surprised it's still going 20 years later, I don't remember it being this awful

Brendan Cole demonstrating the humility that he demanded from Nigel by slagging off the judges in the very first episode

 

[Bagpuss20]

Amanda was a divisive personality before she went in- some loved and knew her from Sherlock whilst others noticed she was vocal on her views about certan thngs and had done a social media clean up to remove certain opinions.
She went onto the show having had a highly emotional previous 2 years- whirlwind romance and engagement abd then her partner has a sudden accident and becomes wheelchair bound and she goes from new fiancee to carer whilst he's at the other side of the world.
Considering how intense strictly is was she ready?
Im not a Gio fan, he's thought he is bigger than the show fir years and somehow has got away with it.
A previous poster is probably right when they say 2 of the reasons his relationship worked is a) he'd got Danny Dyer looking over his shoulder and b) the near constant presence of a signer meant there was always a witness to anything he said or did and so on his best behaviour

 

[Ablemabel]

I agree.
I hated that lift that Gio and Amanda did. It just looked awful. I remember cringing at the time, thinking oh no, please.
And, yes, Graz lifted Zara a lot to cover up for her lack of skill.

That stunt that very nearly went badly wrong, in Vito and Ellie's dance added nothing whatsoever to it. Vito was visibly shaken afterwards, in the Clauditorium. I remember Gorka patting him on the back and giving him a thumbs up as if to reassure him.That should never have been attempted, imo.

And Nigel's accident, just crazy stuff really.

Vito and Ellie's show dance was akin to the show dancers they used to bring in during the first few series to demonstrate a proper show dance. I think there was one with one of the very early pros Hanna Karttunen? to Back in Black which was just mental. There's a reason professionals do it. Strictly are really pushing limits expecting a celeb to take those risks.

Found it:

Not as mental as I remember

 

[Sprezza]

I think claiming PTSD is Amanda being her drama queen attention seeking self but does Giovanni sound like a dick? Absolutely. Strictly need to let him go and put proper rules in place about training hours and lunch breaks etc.

 

[ChastityDingle]

I get the impression they already have an issue with this - for every ‘celebrity’ desperate to be signed up (hi there, Quickenden and Collins ), there are many others who won’t go anywhere near it because of the workload, the potential tabloid/SM backlash, etc.

Oh for sure, but I think this will make it even more difficult.

Lol re Quickenden, there's barrel scraping and then there's him. (Not sure who Collins is, Gemma? Oh please, no).

 

[Boring Monday]

I get the impression they already have an issue with this - for every ‘celebrity’ desperate to be signed up (hi there, Quickenden and Collins ), there are many others who won’t go anywhere near it because of the workload, the potential tabloid/SM backlash, etc.

They might keep the internal squabbles and general difficulties away from the public by sheer force of contact stipulations, but celebs Are going to talk to each other and know. I would imagine that the behind the scenes machinations are an open secret among the celebs most likely to be approached.

I imagine it’s why we seem to have so many ‘filler’ celebs from various BBC programmes who possibly didn‘t realise that point 10 of their contact … ‘and any other duties’ … meant Charlestoning as Beyoncé.

 

[Redline]

If he does go I wonder what would happen to his travel thing with Anton too.

 

[ilovedogss]

Ellie's showdance would've been really good without the lifts. They put the lifts in to be showstopping, but it ends up looking clumsy, and awkward to watch. It distracts too much from the dance, and doesn't flow.

Amanda's lift was like something from dancing on ice (not a good thing..)

 

[Woolmercardington]

I wonder if Amanda had requested Gio? She looked absolutely over the moon when he was revealed. Like genuinely hyped.

 

[ButtonDownTheHutches]

I think claiming PTSD is Amanda being her drama queen attention seeking self but does Giovanni sound like a dick? Absolutely. Strictly need to let him go and put proper rules in place about training hours and lunch breaks etc.

There’s no actual evidence (as yet) that Amanda has claimed to have PTSD; an unverified ‘source’ has stated this.

 

[Boogs]

I wonder if Amanda had requested Gio? She looked absolutely over the moon when he was revealed. Like genuinely hyped.

I think most of them look over the moon with their partners, even with new pros who nobody really knows. It’s just part of the act isn’t it? Also you are going to be working closely with this person so you want them to think you love them.