Robert Webb on Strictly

[imitationleather]

I may not have achieved much, but I am really pleased I don't have to appear on stuff like this to earn a living.

[mothman]

I'm really curious to know what criteria the production uses as to who they have on each year. Sure there are plenty of celebs ranging from C-list to Z-list and lower who're gagging to do it, because, well, it's telly isn't it?

But on average any given year's cast list is perhaps slightly less impressive overall than, say, the same year's I'm A Celeb, but nowhere near the yawning void of "Who?" that characterised any iteration of Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 5.

I know that Rebecca Adlington really wanted to do it - in 2012 maybe? - but they went with Victoria Pendleton as that year's Token Or Hot Olympian. Star Trek's Marina Sirtis has said she'd be up for it. Either would be more interesting than yet another Eastenders-or-Corrie actor...

[Emotional Support Peacock]

I'm really curious to know what criteria the production uses as to who they have on each year. Sure there are plenty of celebs ranging from C-list to Z-list and lower who're gagging to do it, because, well, it's telly isn't it?

But on average any given year's cast list is perhaps slightly less impressive overall than, say, the same year's I'm A Celeb, but nowhere near the yawning void of "Who?" that characterised any iteration of Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 5.

I know that Rebecca Adlington really wanted to do it - in 2012 maybe? - but they went with Victoria Pendleton as that year's Token Or Hot Olympian. Star Trek's Marina Sirtis has said she'd be up for it. Either would be more interesting than yet another Eastenders-or-Corrie actor...

I think it's probably a huge commitment that when it comes to the crunch not a lot of people have the money or time to make. Multiple hours a day for multiple weeks - then you have to convince your spouse/spouselike partner that you're not going to get involved with the professional dancer.

[Stone Cold Steve Austin]

I can't remember who, or even where (maybe a RHLSTP) but I recall someone saying they were only approached very late, maybe a month beforehand, and couldn't possibly do it because it was too late and they'd already committed to doing other things in that time.

Looking at they year Susan Calman did it, she tweeted about cancelling her Autumn tour on July 18th, she was announced as a contestant on August 15th for a series which started on September 23rd and ran until December 16th. That's giving up potentially 3 months of doing any other work on a month or twos notice

[lipsink]

According to Google there is a bit of a Strictly curse where long term relationships suddenly break up after one of them appears on Strictly Come Dancing. Apparently Rachel Riley left her husband for her dance partner!

[Rolf Lundgren]

I'm really curious to know what criteria the production uses as to who they have on each year. Sure there are plenty of celebs ranging from C-list to Z-list and lower who're gagging to do it, because, well, it's telly isn't it?

But on average any given year's cast list is perhaps slightly less impressive overall than, say, the same year's I'm A Celeb, but nowhere near the yawning void of "Who?" that characterised any iteration of Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 5.

I know they struggle with celebs signing up for panto early in the year and definitely earning more money from that than Strictly although potentially not better for their career. I imagine they have their favourites who they go for early but know they can always tap up someone already at the BBC (Dan Walker or any other news/weather reporter) or a social media person nobody under 20 knows but will definitely be available. Definitely seems to be thinning out in recent years with the star quality.

[dissolute ocelot]

There are always several BBC TV people, several Breakfast presenters, lots of Casualty/Holby, Eastenders, etc, who I assume do a deal and are given time off their shows. And the former sportspeople probably aren't doing anything else: it's a natural way to transition from playing sports to being a TV personality. You have to wonder if it's slightly fixed with the big sports stars agreeing to do it on the understanding they'll a nice run and good pr, while there a few obviously terrible people who have nothing else to do. Some like Alisha Dixon might be getting set up for a future judging/presenting role, or else getting set up for another BBC project, so it works well for career development. But you have to ask why Robert Webb was on there, other than because he's past it.

[Icehaven]

I've never seen it but presumably like all elimination shows they have obvious fodder contestants who are going to be the first few out in the early weeks while viewers get invested. Maybe Webb realised he was going to be one of those and just decided it wasn't worth the effort for relatively little screen time.

[Huxleys Babkins]

It must be depressing to be a shit dancer, but also too bland to get the sympathy vote. Knowing you're not going to get as far as Halloween, let alone Blackpool, knowing your dance partner doesn't fancy you and there's not enough time or swivel in your hips to change their mind.

Craig's calling you all sorts of useless pricks and barely anyone is booing him to defend you, the other judges can barely find a word of encouragement. Not even Anton. Motsi's just glad you're nowhere near her sister. You're the black sheep of this year's Strictly family and nothing will save you now.

Colleagues and family sat in the audience to support you just looking embarrassed to even be there. Told your daughter you could use this to boost her social media numbers, but she's just getting abusive messages about you. "I'm gonna rape your dad so hard his cummerbund will fall off" they say. "AIDS rhumba dad bitch" they call you. Wife's seen enough of you with the professional to bear a grudge. Saw how you looked at her, how you touched her. You didn't shag her, but you would have, wouldn't you? If you hadn't gone on week 3? Well let me tell you something, her thighs won't look like that after she's had three kids, you ungrateful prick. She's half your age, you daft bastard, you think she'd look at you twice? Flat footed cunt. You fucking waste. You fucking sequined prick. Get the fuck out of my house.

[gilbertharding]

It's harder to spot the cannon fodder this year. It's like Bake Off - the standard has risen over the years, so it was only a matter of time before something like The Fifty Six Year Old Comedian actually winning it happened. This year the Dragon's Den lady is quite good, and so is Judi Love (though neither of them will get close to winning for various reasons). Adam Peaty turns out to be a good dancer as well: very often the athletes are revealed to have three left feet.

If there's any justice the lanky Breakfast Show twat will be next to go, closely followed by McFly.

[checkoutgirl]

According to Google there is a bit of a Strictly curse where long term relationships suddenly break up after one of them appears on Strictly Come Dancing. Apparently Rachel Riley left her husband for her dance partner!

What's the word for the opposite of cures? Oh yeah, blessing, the Strictly blessing. They spend 3 months with their genitals glued to another person's of the opposite sex. Why would their spouse not be happy with that? How could that possibly end up with affairs?

[checkoutgirl]

they have obvious fodder contestants

I don't watch it but I remember John Sergeant being on a dancing show and repeatedly getting to the next round despite him being terrible. It might have been a public vote thing and the people wanting to see more of him just to laugh at him. I'm sure he quit when he sussed what was going on.

[mothman]

Basically, yes.

I do think the judges have gotten a bit more tactical with their scoring, especially with non-white contestants, because Strictly has a massive problem with race and the public vote. For quite a few years PoCs were routinely ending up in the bottom two because until they got to vote for Brexit this was the only chance the great British public had to be proper racist. The judges' disgust at having to so often choose to evict someone who didn't deserve to go was palpable.

[gilbertharding]

I'd never underestimate the capacity of the Great British Public to be racist, but I never quite understood that accusation.

It's not as if the people get to vote *against* anyone... they just vote for the people they like/think are best (for whatever reason - eg funniest, most fanciable, etc - not just based on dancing).

That said, I can remember cases where the outcome seemed a bit iffy... and I can definitely remember times when the judges on a Sunday had to choose between two couples, at least one of whom didn't 'deserve' to be in the dance off that week. I can't really remember anyone being sent home who deserved to make the final though.

[mothman]

I admit, it's difficult to see how it could be rigged, unless the public were deliberately voting repeatedly for the white contestants (or at least the ones with the lowest judge scores). And yet time and time again PoCs who were reasonably high in the leader board after the live show end up in the bottom two. Maybe it is completely innocent and coincidental. But you can't help but wonder...

[poodlefaker]

Anton's struggling to make his mark as a judge, imo. A man in search of a catchphrase. There's a spectre of Brucie haunting his features "Did I like it? I diddly-did!" "Elbows Elbows ELBOWS" "This week...it's a 10 from the Beak!"

[Consignia]

I've sure I've mentioned this repeatedly in the past, but my cousin used work in production on Strictly. If you squint real hard on the episode where Jill Hap'ney won, you can see me behind the judges. But irrelevant stuff aside, yeah the people of colour really got significantly less votes than any of the white contestants. It's why they had jiggle around with the vote out system in the early systems to stop it purely being a public vote, and it ending up being Honkey city. She did quote there being a element of racism in the polling trends.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Anton's struggling to make his mark as a judge, imo. A man in search of a catchphrase. There's a spectre of Brucie haunting his features "Did I like it? I diddly-did!" "Elbows Elbows ELBOWS" "This week...it's a 10 from the Beak!"

He's very reminiscent of Len Goodman in the way he speaks, so he's treading eggshells.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

They should have buried Brucie under the dancefloor so he'll be a part of the show forever.

[Twonty Gostelow]

They should have buried Brucie under the dancefloor so he'll be a part of the show forever.

"Let's have a look under the old floorboards."

[Huxleys Babkins]

They should have buried Brucie under the dancefloor so he'll be a part of the show forever.

With his dolly dealers so he can take them with him to the next life. Dave Arch and his band having to play extra loudly to drown out Emma Noble's screams.

[H-O-W-L]

I remember that Great Movie Mistakes shite, aye. I used to watch BBC3 all the time as I've mentioned here before, and I remember one of them aired right after New Year 2011 turned over to midnight, or something like that, and my parents had left me a bottle of champagne, and I remember getting absolutely technical fuck-housed on it by necking it in one go. I had a camping chair set up infront of my TV because my room was too small to have a permanent chair, and I remember vividly just sitting there staring at the TV and feeling the pure deso plough through my veins.

[gilbertharding]

I've sure I've mentioned this repeatedly in the past, but my cousin used work in production on Strictly. If you squint real hard on the episode where Jill Hap'ney won, you can see me behind the judges. But irrelevant stuff aside, yeah the people of colour really got significantly less votes than any of the white contestants. It's why they had jiggle around with the vote out system in the early systems to stop it purely being a public vote, and it ending up being Honkey city. She did quote there being a element of racism in the polling trends.

Like I say, I don't doubt for a minute there is a sizeable proportion of racists - both conscious and unconscious - among the British population, but I think it's a category error to label that phenomenon racist.

Again: people are just voting for their favourites. I don't know if it's a recognised psychological phenomenon, but don't people generally like people who they think are like them? If so, that will disadvantage members of a visible minority. Not saying it's right, you understand - or something which didn't need redressing in the weighting of votes to judges scores - just that it's not racism, as such.

Or have I just defined structural racism? Probably, eh?

*presses post*

[mothman]

I'm impressed - or depressed, or even downright desolated - by how much I actually know about Strictly, given I'd characterise my involvement as "trying my hardest to ignore it while it's on, because my wife loves it."

Though it could be because I discovered the Strictly Spoiler (@DaveJThorp, accept no substitutes, he has some mysterious inside source and is almost always right, unlike his great rival with a more-appropriate Twitter handle who makes it up) on Twitter, and I used that to pretend to predict the bottom two every week, and who was eliminated, just to annoy her...

[Twonty Gostelow]

Like I say, I don't doubt for a minute there is a sizeable proportion of racists - both conscious and unconscious - among the British population, but I think it's a category error to label that phenomenon racist.

Again: people are just voting for their favourites. I don't know if it's a recognised psychological phenomenon, but don't people generally like people who they think are like them? If so, that will disadvantage members of a visible minority. Not saying it's right, you understand - or something which didn't need redressing in the weighting of votes to judges scores - just that it's not racism, as such.

Or have I just defined structural racism? Probably, eh?

*presses post*

Almost all of the dancers on Soul Train were black and Strictly is just redressing the balance. Why do people have a problem with that?

[gilbertharding]

I'm impressed - or depressed, or even downright desolated - by how much I actually know about Strictly, given I'd characterise my involvement as "trying my hardest to ignore it while it's on, because my wife loves it."

Though it could be because I discovered the Strictly Spoiler (@DaveJThorp, accept no substitutes, he has some mysterious inside source and is almost always right, unlike his great rival with a more-appropriate Twitter handle who makes it up) on Twitter, and I used that to pretend to predict the bottom two every week, and who was eliminated, just to annoy her...

There seem to be at least three.

The one I used to see (@strictlyspoiler) seems to have admitted defeat because there's no live audience to grass. Then there's @Strictlyspoiled, which seems to have massive beef with @DaveJThorp, and who was apparently wrong this week.

I'll keep my eye on them.

[Huxleys Babkins]

I'm impressed - or depressed, or even downright desolated - by how much I actually know about Strictly, given I'd characterise my involvement as "trying my hardest to ignore it while it's on, because my wife loves it."

Though it could be because I discovered the Strictly Spoiler (@DaveJThorp, accept no substitutes, he has some mysterious inside source and is almost always right, unlike his great rival with a more-appropriate Twitter handle who makes it up) on Twitter, and I used that to pretend to predict the bottom two every week, and who was eliminated, just to annoy her...

That's a lovely bit of fuckery. I once baffled my ex by predicting the Euro Millions numbers during the 10pm news one Friday, pretending that I was hearing suggestions for the numbers in the reports. What she didn't twig is that the draw had already taken place two hours earlier, but the BBC didn't report them until after the news. I'd just written them down and memorised them.

[mothman]

It had its repercussions. Now she knows how I know, I can't say anything at all, express any surprise or opinions or whatever, during the pre-recorded Sunday show as she will then go off on one...

[mjwilson]

Like I say, I don't doubt for a minute there is a sizeable proportion of racists - both conscious and unconscious - among the British population, but I think it's a category error to label that phenomenon racist.

"people are racist but we shouldn't call that racism"?

[mjwilson]

"people are racist but we shouldn't call that racism"?

I don't know why I'm sticking my oar in, I don't even watch it