Strictly Come Dancing 2023 (Series 21)

Oh bless I hope Layton turns out to be a joy rather than an annoyance. Still waiting for some eye candy...

Here's Layton in action, featuring an Emmy winner an Emmy nominee and the latest recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship.

Does the gay contestant always have to be camp as tits?

John Whaite is as straight acting as you are R3

No one here watches the bad current teevee stuff from over there…try some UK GAY site.

Carlos is still there. It was Cameron who was dropped.

Oh yes R6 sorry about that, and apologies for my incorrect use of "to/too".

R4 John wasn't too bad, admittedly. But Richie followed by this guy?

Krishnan Guru-Murthy confirmed.

R5 needs a good, hard fuck, it seems!

I just finished watching "Case Histories," in which they try to make us believe the super-hot Jason Isaacs is attracted to the less-than-attractive Amanda Abbington.

MISMATCH!

Whaite's costume designer should have won an award for presenting his ass so beautifully.

Whaite is so fuckable until he opens his mouth.

Just stuff something into it. He'll respond.

No? Me neither.

Uninspired clickbait articles are now being rehashed based on a few angry TRAs saying they feel "unsafe" at a woman appearing on Strictly because she criticised a video where a man was slut dancing instead of kids.

ANGELA SCANLON!

I've heard of her.

R17 Haha I was about to come here to say I hadn't heard of her. Google tells me she's done more presenting for RTE in Ireland, with some relief presenting on BBC, but I can't place her.

As for Amanda Abbington, I hear there's a boycott of Strictly by some because she's on it. Which is silly. That said, some people are happy to boycott Costa while criticising Strictly boycotts.

Personally I went to Costa yesterday and I'll be watching Strictly. It's possible to agree or disagree with things without being all dramatic about boycotts.

Back to Strictly, hoping they're saving the better ones till last!

R18, I posted about the "boycott" at R16.

It's just a few nutters who feel "unsafe" at Amanda being on the show because she's taken the mainstream position that sex and gender are 2 different things and expressed disgust that a child in drag was performing in front of adults in an overtly sexual performance. And that was turned into a clickbait news article which has been re-written by other sites purely for clicks.

Her son is a performer and appeared in There's Something About Jamie.

R19 To be honest, I think most people who scream about boycotts (regardless of sides) are nutters and also liars.

I'm willing to bet a large proportion of people who rant about boycotts either never used the thing they say they're going to boycott, or if they were a regular user/buyer of it, they boycott it maybe once and then quietly go back to it. It's all about making threats in a "you'll be sorry you pissed me off!" than an actual desire for equality or justice. They hope the subject of their boycott will capitulate to them by apologising and getting on their metaphorical knees for forgiveness.

As for Amanda Abbington, I have no view on her. I remember her from Sherlock and that's about it. I'll judge her on her dancing alone. Fancy that!

Zara McDermott, Love Island star, Tory advisor and revenge porn campaigner.

Adam Thomas, a twunky soap star and some radio person called Nikita who has to be paired with Nikita, surely?

The Thomas brothers bounce from one 'celebrity' show to the next. I'm surprised it's taken Adam this long to appear on Strictly.

A Corrie girl, a Paralympian and Jade Goody's son.

Not feeling it TBH

I kinda dig Bobby Brazier. He could have been a train wreck, but seems to have turned out ok.

Faye from Corrie? Really?

possibly the STUPIDEST name for a show. WTF????

R26, it's as how title that makes a lot of sense to British people.

Come Dancing was a ballroom dancing show the BBC ran for years. Strictly Ballroom was a massively successful Australian film from the early 90s.

It's a much more suitable title for British audiences than the generic Dancing With The Stars, considering some of the celebrities don't come close to the definition of a star.

It should be Strictly, Come Dancing then.

Write the producers, I'm sure they have time for your boring lack of cultural curiosity and strange control issues r28.

How erudite a response, R29! However, it doesn't make up for your shocking ignorance of basic grammar. Imagine, in your attempt to seem both intelligent and superior, beginning a condescending response with a run-on sentence! Or is proper grammar now a matter of " cultural curiosity"?

Oh button it Mary. No one loves a smug twat.

There should be a comma between " Oh" and " button" and another between "it" and " Mary," since it is a direct address.

Why do you keep on putting a space after the first in each pair of quotation marks?

There's no one to match Tyler yet

Is it wrong I want to eat Bobby out?

Are you an Injun R35? You know Injuns eat with their fingers.

Same here, R35.

I love Ukrainian pro Nikita! He's gorgeous!! The new Chinese Carlos is hot, too.

That is all.

Fucking Faye from Coronation Street? Yawnsville. Couldn’t they have gotten the yummy Charlie de Melo? I think they probably have approached him but he turned it down.

Forgot to mention he played the gorgeous Imran in Coronation Street. And I’ll never forgive them for killing him off and not just sending him to New Zealand or somewhere.

He's dead?

Sad tragic glamourous Annabel Croft will look amazing and I hope she can do the basic steps.

Nigel Harman would be my early favourite. West End musical theatre ethic, handsome, plenty of exposure from Casualty role.

Croft is an anti-vaxxer and big Laurence Fox arse-licker, though she's apparently suddenly sanitised her social media. She can fuck right off.

Is Harman clioseted? He was so hot on EastEnders. I bet Strictly has been trying to get him on for years.

No he is straight

Proof, please. I don’t think he is.

Well he's married to a woman and they have a kid together.

Les bloody Dennis. sigh.

I doubt he'll be there long, R48. Older male comedians (e.g. Brian Conley) don't tend to stick around.

So no hot men, then.

R50, there's Bobby Brazier!

Somebody tell me about him

Bobby Brazier is the son of former tv presenter Jeff Brazier and reality star Jade Goody, who died at the age of 27.

It's quite hard to describe the impact Jade had on British life and how the media covered her for the 7 years she was famous, but OK magazine published a memorial edition of their magazine before she was actually dead.

I remember her - and I'm American. That was heart wrenching.

Cute boy - 6'1.5" and has done some modeling and apparently is on Eastenders. What else do you need to know? Maybe he'll get Nadiya.

Such is Jade Goody's impact on the British psyche I can't just call a poppadom a poppadom any more, I have to call it a Shilpa poppadom.

I’ll just call you a cunt, r54. Cunt.

I love Nadiya, R53, but I'm not sure how well she'd do with a young cutie. Her vibe is so cheesy Eastern European.

Oh no! I don’t care about the tv show, but I’m crushed to read that Mary Watson from Sherlock may be a TERF. She did this interview a few days ago.

[quote]In what is believed to be a reference to her “you cannot have a penis … ” comment, Abbington said: “I made a stupid comment a few years ago. I was ill-informed. I apologised and did my research and I’m much more informed now. I’ve said stupid things, of course I have, and instantly regretted them. Everybody is learning.”

I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt (unless she’s still doing it, but the article also says she quit Twitter. So I don’t know where she would be doing it).

We need to learn from mistakes and give people forgiveness. JK is a nasty piece of work. She just keeps doubling down. But also didn’t know that Amanda Abbington and Freeman got divorced. I loved that that played husband and wife on Sherlock and she was so good she almost stole the show from Bandersnatch.

Unsure whether R57 is parodying TRAs or genuinely posting that comment.

Just saw in the DM's sidebar of shame that apparently John Whaite fell in love with Johannes Radebe during his time on the show. Strictly curse, yadda yadda yadda.

Do you think they had full anal 59?

Considering Johannes may be the world's thirstiest bottom, absolutely.

How can you not fall in love with Johannes? Delish!!

And Carlos Gu's partner done took up with DJ Tyler West. On wikipedia: In March 2023, West confirmed that he is dating fellow Strictly Come Dancing contestant and actress Molly Rainford. Lots of pix of them on Insta, dontyakno. His partner was wild-haired Aussie Dianne something

Dianne hooked up with her partner Joe Sugg.

Gorka is still with that very large boned woman, Kevin Clifton is still with Stacey Dooley, Jimi Mistry and Flavia are still together any my favourites Pasha and Rachel Riley are going strong.

Ben Cohen is still with that Russian woman WHO I WILL NOT NAME.

If my homosexual husband was doing Strictly I'd much rather they had a female partner for obvious reasons. But not Karen obviously because she'll never win.

Men are angry at Amanda Abbingdon based on her choice of fridge magnets and retro Pride flag which didn't include the pink, blue, brown, black and circle bits.

I doubt Mandy is a big fan of us gays either, hence the prominently displayed pride flag to convince us otherwise!

Probably scared she won't get the pink vote.

Amanda was very happy with her son playing the lead role in There's Something About Jamie. Lots of straight women love gay men, they just don't like gender ideology that tells women they're bigots if they don't want to see a penis in the women's changing rooms at the local swimming pool.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Gender nonconformity! Groundbreaking.

Starts in 3 weeks. I could use the distraction.

I think I might actually give it a miss this year for the first time in many years.

Partly because I don't know most of the contestants but partly because it's getting a bit long in the tooth. It's a pretty big commitment, given the shows are around two hours long for the first few weeks while there are so many competitors.

One thing I've always done is look up the result on Saturday evening or Sunday morning as that saves the massive time waste that is the results show. I highly recommend it. :)

I've really enjoyed a lot of the series, but decided to give last year a pass for the same reason, R70. It sucks you in and then it's so much time. I'll just watch the interesting couples/good dancers on YouTube this year too.

[quote] Come Dancing was a ballroom dancing show the BBC ran for years. Strictly Ballroom was a massively successful Australian film from the early 90s.

Ah thanks, I was wondering about that myself. I thought it might be idiomatic british, but it’s a sort of semi portmanteau.

Well the series has been rather predictable so far.

Glad Les Dennis went in the first week and sad to see Gorka go last week, but he'll still be around for the group dances. His shirtless Ken was quite lovely.

At this point I'd say the final four will be Nigel and Katya, Ellie and Vito, Bobby and Diane and maybe Adam and Luba or Krishnan and Sally Bowles.

I'm enjoying Amanda and Giovanni, and think they'll get the TERF vote out and the older woman vote but I don't think they're going to ramp up the technical ability. I hope they get to Blackpool.

And Layton and Nikita are clearly way ahead but the public don't tend to vote for celebrities who have been professional dancers and don't show gradual improvement (hi Ashley!)

R73, there's no way Layton isn't making the final. Even if he lands in the dance off, he'd win it against anyone. I think it's silly for a pro dancer to be on as a celeb, but Nikita is great so I'm not mad.

Bobby is adorable and sexy too, but even though he's 20 (?) he reads as much younger so I feel like a dirty old perv.

I'm a bit bored this year tbh but now want Ellie and Vito to win after their American Smooth. She reminds me of Meghan Markle and he just looked spectacular in the white trousers last week. And his reaction to calling Claudia Tess.

And the opening dance choreographed by Oti was incredible. Johannes is a wonderful human being and his relationship with Annabel is lovely.

Amanda quitting was disappointing but the pressure she's been under from the trolls has been immense.

Irritated immensely by the focus on Krishnan's son and the "hate" professional dancer Layton is receiving. Two unnecessary narratives.

Thanks for the update on Strictly R75. I'm following along too and watching sometimes.

Nikita's knee is really in trouble. They called in Nadiya to dance with Layton during the week, which I thought was odd but ok. I guess I figured they'd ask Neil. Anyway, good for her. I think she should have been paired with Bobby as she's the tallest pro and he's towering over Dianne, with the scarlet hair that I think makes her look like a crack ho but I guess the BBC thinks she and her "influencer" partner are down with the yoof. Ugh.

I'm partial to Carlos. He's a looker but so awkward with the English - but other pros have been/are, as well. How long are we gonna have three Italian men? Seems a bit much and Giovanni has seemed checked out since Rose. Speaking of... poor Kai. Surely he's ready for this to be over - Angela Rippon looked pissed as hell to be in the bottom two. Oh well, enough of a ramble.

Are only 2-3 of us watching? (Well, since the BBC cracked down on VPNs I only watch whatever turns up on YouTube.)

NIkita is great and I hope they make it to the final because of him, but when I saw Layton doing those baby-Baryshnikov fouettés in the middle of a jive, I checked out.

I like Carlos too, but he probably has it harder than the Italian/Spanish male pros who self-brand as Latin lovers or now Vito as a real-life Super Mario. I get that he and Ellie are doing great dance-wise, but they haven't won me over otherwise. I'm still partial to Bobby, who is stuck with much-too-short for him, eternally bubbly, and yes, crack-ho-haired Dianne.

Is Kai really over it? I think they all want to stay in as long as possible--it puts them in front of a huge audience, which boosts their off-season pursuits.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Vito calls everybody 'my baby'

But oh well, play the game sweetie. You've learned from the best (showfaumancer Giovanni Pernice) who just released his parfum today - hurry gurls it may sell out!

He had to delay the launch because of the bad publicity around his partner Amanda pulling out of the show and her husband making snide comments about Gio. Or maybe the rumor's true and Gio insulted her partner on his disability (he's paralyzed and in a wheelchair)

One reason I can't get behind Ellie and Vito is that they're like a repeat of Georgia and Giovanni, but this time homely, short(er), and chunky.

Vito looked lovely with his chest on display. Are his abs naturally hairless I wonder?

So pleased Layton and Nikita didn't get 40.

Bye Krishnan and Krishnan's son.

Layton's dance was technically brilliant but just left me cold in terms of the Strictly narrative especially compared to Fleur & Vito's Beyonce tribute last year which was Fleur reaching new heights. Layton looked like he just turned up and did it.

At least they referenced his Billy Elliot experience. I didn't know he had grown up with a single mother.

I haven't brought myself to watch Layton's CC yet. The clips and stills I saw on Twitter/X were so cringe. Nikita slithering down a stripper pole in pleather/rubber, eyeliner and a sparkly corset. What in the world were they going for? Emo camp?

I don't think Layton will win. The posters on Digital Spy are convinced that the only reason people won't vote for him is that he's a "ringer". Yeah right.

But anyhow I still think they'll go for the 50 year old hetero soap star over the pudgy little plain girl of 22. But the show's pushing her because of their 20 winners, only 8 are women. (but that seems pretty balanced, actually, so maybe they don't care...)

Down to the top 6 and no more shit dancers. I'm rooting for Irish Angela and Chinese Carlos, but like Layton, fat chance. The right wing former tennis star Annabel has the glorious Johannes Radebe (again, she has no chance, but her husband died weeks before the show started and they've made a big deal about her mourning, so she'll probably edge out Angela)

Then in the semis, we'll have 4 and must drop one: I think it'll be Layton, but could be 20 year old Bobby, Jade Goody's son (he has a tear jerker theme this week himself)

We be ret ta go!

[quote]I don't think Layton will win. The posters on Digital Spy are convinced that the only reason people won't vote for him is that he's a "ringer". Yeah right.

2 years ago the public voted for John and Johannes to get to the final, they only found themselves in the bottom 2 in the semi final and had the misfortune to appear in the same year as Giovanni and Rose.

The public have no issue voting for couples where one of them is non-white (8 winners out of 20, the same number as runners up, more if you include Jews) so race isn't an issue.

Strictly fans like a story, they like a journey. Hamza was one of the least famous contestants last year and Jowita's first year as a pro. They had something the public liked. As did Gorka and Helen.

Bobby, Nigel, Angela and Annabel have all shown moments of brilliance but they're not *there* yet, whereas Ellie has gotten there over the last 2 weeks. Layton has been there since the first week and it doesn't inspire a lot of fans.

Current odds are

Ellie & Vito 1.22

Layton & Nikita 9.00

Nigel & Katya 11.00

Annabel and Johannes 13.00

Bobby & Diane 17.00

Angela & Carlos Woo 21.00

Sorry to interrupt your thread, but can any Brits explain the title of this show? I've never understood the origin story or even if the syntax. It's such a clunky title -- Strictly Come Dancing.

R88 there used to be a ballroom dancing show called Come Dancing. It was one of the BBC's longest running shows and was eventually axed in the 90s.

Strictly Ballroom was obviously the Australian movie about ballroom dancing which was massively popular in the UK.

When producers dreamed up a "let's teach celebs ballroom dancing" in the early 2000s they merged Strictly Ballroom with Come Dancing and came up with Strictly Come Dancing, which most people just refer to as Strictly.

Just had to the urge to watch this again.

Johannes clearly the highlight but Nadiya looks amazing and her little quick steps remind me of one of the models in George Michael's Too Funy.

Gorka's look into the camera at the end. That big northern girl he knocked up is very lucky.

[quote] Ben Cohen is still with that Russian woman WHO I WILL NOT NAME.

R63 I'll name her and even have a bit of tea from a poster I trust on the Tattle thread about Strictly: Kristina Rihanoff was recently trying to get a minimum wage job. Ha!

I remember reading that ex-pro Flavia Cacace was studying to become a dog groomer - and Camilla Dallerup was trying to be an online "life coach". Oh and new pro Lauren Oakley worked in a care home during Covid when she couldn't get any dance work.

R87 do you mean Carlos Gu?

He's gorgeous btw. Do you think he's straight? ahem. Do you have to be in China? Even Shanghai?

Speaking of Carlos - this is so cute, him crying after their Argentine Tango because she finally got good comments from the judges.

[quote] But anyhow I still think they'll go for the 50 year old hetero soap star over the pudgy little plain girl of 22.

I think the general public will go for the pudgy plain girl because she's pudgy and plain. Plus she's paired with a cartoonish Italian, and she's been dancing very well (while avoiding the ringer tag). The Digital Spy women of a certain age do love the aging soap star, but I doubt he'll win.

I'm dreading Bobby's contempo tear-jerker, but if it keeps him in for another week, I'll be happy.

I'm sure there's a long of people watching Bobby's dance and thinking "Maxwell? Oh so that's who did the song in the NSPCC advert"

Nigel Harman, the one I thought would win was dropped by some backup dancers and has withdrawn, so I guess it's the girl Ellie. He's was quite a silver fox at 50.

Please don't let it be the rightwing Annabel Croft.

Diane making a point of asking people to vote for Bobby because he doesn't have any dance experience and followed by trained dancer and regular West End performer Layton and Nikita and told they're the best ever on the show.

OKAY!

Poor Annabel and Johannes. But mostly poor Johannes. They'd have been saying goodbye last week had Nigel not been injured.

Betting odds: Ellie & Vito 1/14 Layton & Nikita 9/1 Bobby & Dianne 11/1

Vito's trousers in the first dance last night would have had Mary Whitehouse gagging. Beautiful man.

Those odds seem about right. Ellie's a shoo-in. Bobbie's the weakest left and most people assume Layton is a professional so they're less likely to vote for him.

Plus, if we're being really honest, while most people are accepting enough of two men dancing together - most don't want to see a same sex couple actually win the competition.

Well, no out gay man or woman in any sort of partnership has yet won Strictly. The BBC would like this to happen I expect and they would also like a woman over 40 to win. There is a 30 age range for male Strictly winners (23-53) -it would be still be 20 years if you discount Bill Bailey - against 8 years for women (27-34). Ellie winning would at least push it to 12 years, though obviously wouldn't answer the 'older woman' problem. Ironically, most Strictly voters are themselves likely older women.

[quote]Plus, if we're being really honest, while most people are accepting enough of two men dancing together - most don't want to see a same sex couple actually win the competition.

I disagree with this. Layton (and Nikita) has been on the receiving end of some vile comments but I don't remember John & Johannes being subject to that kind of nastiness two years ago. The idea that people don't like Layton because he's gay and black is ridiculous.

Had Rose and Giovanni taken part in another series then John and Johannes would have won in 2021.

Layton is box office poison. He insists upon himself.

Hurrah for the beautiful Vito and the Northern Meghan Markle

What do you. mean, R102. I've read on the Tattle Life Strictly thread (because I have no life) that Layton was "difficult" (a poster's sister worked with him on some show and said he was demanding or hard to get along with - something like that).

But he seems so sweet and his Ukrainian partner Nikita was crying like a baby with Claudia after their last dance, so how bad can he be? I do remember when he threw a fit, thinking Nikita was calling him "basic" when he was actually referring to basic dance steps.

Anyway, progress has been made. This gay partnership involved a skirt - an ugly one but nevertheless...

R101 I didn't say people don't like Layton because he's gay, I just don't think a same sex couple is likely to win Strictly in the near future.

I think most people are fine with gays on a personal level, but when it comes to a choice between a 'proper' male/female ballroom couple, that's who they'll opt for.

I guess the homely pudgy girl won on the strength of her homliness/pudginess and the showmance with the cartoon Italian. She danced well, but if she didn't function as a self-insert, would she have won?

I'm just glad I got to see Bobby for the entire series. A gorgeous young man and his irreverent attitude was fun.

[quote]I just don't think a same sex couple is likely to win Strictly in the near future.

Two same sex male partnerships have made the finals in the last 3 years. They got to the finals by people voting for them.

John and Johannes would have won in a different year.

I was looking at the highest average scores for Strictly. The top 4 didn't win.

1. Ashley Roberts - 36.94 points

2. Natalie Gumede - 36.87 points

3. Layton Williams - 36.80 points

4. Danny Mac - 36.63 points

5. Faye Tozer - 36.50 points (tied with Alesha Dixon)

R107 They didn't win, though. I definitely remember less than kind things being said about John and Johannes.

Look, I'd like to be as optimistic as you, but the GBP aren't gonna vote in large enough numbers for a same sex couple to win. Not yet anyway.