Strictly Update.

I am beginning to feel very different about the Show which I have watched since the first series.

It feels akin to wanting to see a Circus even if I knew animals were being whipped to perform.
I can’t condone it, sorry.

I am in the same position as you Tillytrotter watched and loved it from day one. It’s been a shining light when I’ve had tough times but with all this news I’m at a loss to comprehend the future for the show. It’s tarnished Strictly for sure.

I don’t actually watch Strictly but I have heard people talk about how stressful it is to take part in it ( eg the lovely Sophie Ellis Bextor). What I don’t understand about Zara though, is that I’ve been aware of her for several years. I’ve never watched Love Island but I do watch Made in Chelsea and, throughout her life she seems to have gone from one crisis to another, sometimes making the same mistake twice but always wanting to be in the limelight.

MayBee70

I don’t actually watch Strictly but I have heard people talk about how stressful it is to take part in it ( eg the lovely Sophie Ellis Bextor). What I don’t understand about Zara though, is that I’ve been aware of her for several years. I’ve never watched Love Island but I do watch Made in Chelsea and, throughout her life she seems to have gone from one crisis to another, sometimes making the same mistake twice but always wanting to be in the limelight.

always wanting to be in the limelight.

So you think she made it up and the other people in the room who witnessed the abuse were complicit and lying too?

I’m not saying that. I guess I don’t understand why people want to be celebrities and appear on reality tv shows when it doesn’t seem to make them happy.

Well, you'd think it would be hard work but lovely, learning all those dances, being on TV in loveku0y costumes.

Not so lovely being abused and kicked behind the scenes. As it's all been kept such a secret, how would new contestants know?

The BBC is at fault here.

If Graz has admitted he was physical and verbal then he is a bully and the decisions to for him not to be In the show was correct.

I’m not sure what I think about this, first of all I 100% agree with the last comment from Rafichagran, no excuse for that under any circumstances.
But I feel that any celebrity in the show must realise from the start that if they’re going to be turned into a dancer in twelve weeks, then they are going to have to work extremely hard, and their professional partner, whose aim is to lift the glitter ball, is going to be very demanding, unless evidence comes out to the contrary, I am still inclined to think Giovanni has been treated unfairly.

Well, I for one would not be bothered if we, the viewers, see far less of the rehearsal room plus silly walkabouts with each other, often (obviously) pretending to be ‘friends for life’ when in reality some of them patently dislike each other.

Plus endless wittering after the dance with Claudia.

What does that leave?

Well, the actual dance routines, the judging, a much shorter show, but far more interesting, not being dragged out over a couple of hours and evenings.

I don't understand why grown women would be hit and kicked and not leave the room at once! it should not be kept secret till production crew who saw it reported it.

They are paid £25,000 to appear on the show and if they stay till near end get £60,000.

copied;Last year’s final few – DJ Fleur East, presenter Helen Skelton, EastEnders star Molly Rainford and eventual winner Hamza Yassin – reportedly made £60,000 for getting to the quarter-finals.

It's obvious a lot of the celebrities do it for the money - why on earth would you set yourself as a laughing stock who can't dance a step otherwise? Some are so appallingly bad and clearly don't/won't improve under any circumstances.

Look back on the first couple of series and it was all about the celebrity winning. Now it's "Kevin has won at last" "Gorka is in the finals again" etc. It's supposed to be about celebrities with no dance experience learning to dance - not which professional is going to win.

Too much emphasis on the pros who now want to be celebrities themselves. Hence things have got out of control during training. Back to basics BBC!

A third professional dancer is now being investigated. Time to shut down the show.

I agree ferry23

Some of them haven't been in the limelight for a while, ferry23 so it could be the money or perhaps the publicity.

Some of the dances are quite extreme and ridiculous and the dressing up, eg Hallowe'en week, annoys me.
Hallowe'en is for children dressing up, apple bobbing etc, not an adult extravaganza.

Yes, it has lost its way.

News today is big changes to rehearsal room. There will be production staff in all rehearsals and counselling staff for both dancers and competitors.

Sara1954

I’m not sure what I think about this, first of all I 100% agree with the last comment from Rafichagran, no excuse for that under any circumstances.
But I feel that any celebrity in the show must realise from the start that if they’re going to be turned into a dancer in twelve weeks, then they are going to have to work extremely hard, and their professional partner, whose aim is to lift the glitter ball, is going to be very demanding, unless evidence comes out to the contrary, I am still inclined to think Giovanni has been treated unfairly.

That’s my gut feeling too. There’s no excuse for bullying or physical abuse, but any show which seriously tests your abilities is not going to be easy for celebrities, they are going to feel like failures at some points in the training process and will have to push through that. I think some of them fail to understand just how testing it will be before they join.
It’s interesting that Giovanni has had a lot more support from fellow celebrities and the judges than Graziano, I suspect that they know more than we’ve been told. I really hope the show can get through this.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/article/2024/jul/16/strictly-come-dancing-professionals-will-no-longer-be-left-alone-with-contestants

www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2gkrlvkyno.amp

NotSpaghetti

News today is big changes to rehearsal room. There will be production staff in all rehearsals and counselling staff for both dancers and competitors.

If they need counsellors then there is something very wrong with the show.

I love Strictly and I really hope this doesn’t turn out to be yet another case of the BBC brushing something nasty under the carpet.
But I still think that during twenty years on air, if there was a serious culture of bullying, we would have heard about it before now, not all of those contestants over the years would have kept quiet about it.
But yes, I agree that Graz definitely has a case to answer.

I'm Strictly's biggest fan, but I do agree with the comments on here. I would happily get rid of all the training session stuff from the show, and the slushy relationship clips. It's not necessary for tv audiences. I'm watching for the dancing, the costumes, the lighting, the music etc. There's no need for all this adoration of the pros, even though they can bring out the best in lots of competitors. That's not to say I want bullying brushed under the carpet, and the BBC needs to carefully monitor this.

What I would say as an aside, from my own rigorous training in ballet, is that it can be brutal. Our teachers used to pull and push our bodies all over, stopping just short of abuse. The better you got, the harder they pushed.

Callistemon213

NotSpaghetti

News today is big changes to rehearsal room. There will be production staff in all rehearsals and counselling staff for both dancers and competitors.

If they need counsellors then there is something very wrong with the show.

👍

Joseann

I'm Strictly's biggest fan, but I do agree with the comments on here. I would happily get rid of all the training session stuff from the show, and the slushy relationship clips. It's not necessary for tv audiences. I'm watching for the dancing, the costumes, the lighting, the music etc. There's no need for all this adoration of the pros, even though they can bring out the best in lots of competitors. That's not to say I want bullying brushed under the carpet, and the BBC needs to carefully monitor this.

What I would say as an aside, from my own rigorous training in ballet, is that it can be brutal. Our teachers used to pull and push our bodies all over, stopping just short of abuse. The better you got, the harder they pushed.

My DD did ballet and when older DD was about 6 or 7 she went to a teacher who was Rambert trained. When she started crying before lessons I knew something was wrong, then found out the teacher (and her elderly mother) were both dreadful bullies.
We moved, she joined another very popular school and spent many happy years dancing. A couple of the children DD knew went on to the Royal Ballet School where I'm sure the regime was far stricter.

This is a tv show, yes, they are getting paid but there's no excuse for abuse.

I was reading that Giovanni and Graziano both went to an extremely strict dance school in Bologna from a very young age, and it was "brutal" (As Joseann says above regarding her ballet training).

It sounds like they have used the same sort of tactics when training their celebs.

There's absolutely no excuse for people being hit and kicked, but on the other hand, some of the celebs probably have an "entitled" attitude and don't expect to do much work or have no idea how much practice will be involved, which must really frustrate their pro partner.

I remember Jayne Torvill saying that Christopher Dean could be "quite bossy" when they were training. Male partners obviously have greater strength and energy than the women, and probably don't understand the differences.

However good a dancer someone may be, they may not be a natural teacher.

However good a dancer someone may be, they may not be a natural teacher.
Very, very, true.

Frustration is no reason for abuse, fault is with the abuser