Strictly 2025

[sheepdog]

@Cleoriff @RunrigForever 

And how time flies! Time for the annual reveal of this years Strictly cast of celebs. Oh who am I kidding, let's just pick the anonymity out of the dustbin that is the BBC budget for a flagship show. So before the exciting questions of "Who is this" and "Que?" followed by "Weren't they on Eastenders a decade ago?" and the inevitable "Guess who's needs a career boost", we must mention the new and exciting changes.

First, in a very thoughtful and provoking group session in the BBC canteen, same old judges line-up and we'll get more of I, Claudia propped up by Tess Daley emerging from her yearly hibernation box who may sport another subtle cosmetic procedure. DAO is likely to return as Oasis are still on tour. 

Though in rather more salacious news, there is a drug investigation by the BBC into two "Strictly stars". Which was submitted in March but hey, a new series of Strictly needs all exposure as possible so was announced a few days ago. Must disengage cynical mode....and two new dancers to join Neil Jones as backing dancers: Alexis Warr and Julian Caillon. Usual pro-dancers and yet we still have Katya Jones? 

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey

First up, because the BBC really need Gladiators to be successful and everyone will be copy & pasting his name cos I ain't typing it. Former athlete and er, current Gladiator. Could do reasonably well but may find himself in the dance-off mid-series because someone has to.

Alex Kingston

Various roles over the years and this years older woman contestant so far. Could be fun or could be not. 

Dani Dyer

Not Danny Dyer and just to remind you who she is, the BBC has kindly put up a photo with Danny Dyer. Famous for being Danny Dyer's daughter and being on Love Island but mainly being Danny Dyer's daughter as seen in the photo. Dubious EE link but we await to see if Danny Dyer will be announced as a contestant to remind everyone who the daughter of Danny Dyer is.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

Legend. And my favourite so far to bring the entertainment. Possibly some decent footwork coming from a footballer but we'll see. Probably won't help him find a new club to manage though.

[sheepdog]

I'll be disappointed if there is no green body paint! 

Oh dear, you might want to turn the volume down for the DAO interpretation of that Lady Gaga tune. All the way to off. Hopefully it will be a mirror image of Ellie's dance which will put her in the dance-off and out. 

But the not-quite-random predictions for the dance-off, I'll go for Balvinder and Amber. 

[RunrigForever]

It's being said the powers that be are setting up Lewis to fail at the last moment ?  !

No doubt then for Ellie to win.

@jonsie you called it early on in this thread .......  

[TallTrees]

It's all about me .. darling

 Craig's naked 2026 calendar 

Craig's light bulb 💡 moment to promote men getting checked for prostate cancer.

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has put down his number 10 paddle and stripped off for a fab-u-lous charity calendar.

Inspired by the film Calendar Girls, villagers in King's Cliffe in Northamptonshire rallied round to create a naked edition after their neighbour was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2024.

Calling themselves the Heritage Hunks, the group have been photographed against historical backdrops of the village, with proceeds going towards Prostate Cancer UK and local charity King's Cliffe Heritage.

Featuring as Mr December, Revel Horwood said the shoot took place at his house which provided the perfect space despite ongoing renovations.

"I'm 60 now... I said boys come on let's do something wonderful get your kit off and we had the biggest laugh.

"All the builders were there at the same time as everyone was getting their kit off... I said there will be some naked men, I am doing a naked shoot for prostate cancer at the house."

 🤣

[TallTrees]

Strictly it takes two 

THURSDAY 

rara talks to

Lewis and Katya wading through last dance again 🙄

Next dance is going to be fun, jazzy, brassy, qwerky.   Hope so!

Karen and Carlos general love in and not much about next dance.

Costumes with Vicky and rara 

La Voix.. black lace, red corset sparkly with red hearts and with a bustle at the back. 

Hmm wonder what that's going to look like. 

Alexis  .. is an evil queen in this theme so she is wearing black ⚫️ and purple 💜 net with string fringing.... looked like a rag.

Mannikin 1

Vicky's costume .. .. for the American Smooth .. up-cycling a cream and white rag .. says not too sparkly 

Mannikin 2

Amber's costume  .. she's Little Red Riding Hood  .. up-cycling/remodeling a very sparkly black and red sequined bodice which has a red cape.  

[Cleoriff]

Yes I saw this on BBC news at lunch time. He was in the pub with his friends who are doing the calendar with him.

One of the guys said he had no symptoms but just felt he should be tested. He had cancer of the prostate but as they caught it early, he was now fit and just needed checking every 6 months. 

I think he was Mr May on the calendar. 😉

[TallTrees]

Strictly I.T.TWO 

On Friday didn't amount to much.

All about Halloween 🎃 

However the chit chat with Fleur did result in a guess with her Star studded Friday Panel 🙄 .. who are they we wonder 🤔 

Two cooks and one wine expert  🤣

Wine expert thought Voix would go

2 Cooks thought Balvinder 

So there we are 🙃

I think Balvinder because Voix is a comedian and makes the show a joke.

[Cleoriff]

Halloween 

Vicky and Kai.  American Smooth A nice dance. Good heel turns. Nice storytelling Score 31

Ellie and Vito. Tango. Weirdest tango I've seen. Out of time frequently Scored 27

George and Alexis . Cha Cha Cha. Danced very well and undermarked Scored 28. 

La Voix and Aljaz. Paso. What a dramatic dance. Loved it Scored 35

Lewis and Katya. Couples Choice. One of the best dances I've ever seen on SCD. JUST BRILLIANT. Scored 40

Balvinder and Julian Rumba. Quite good but a few hesitations. Need to improve footwork Scored 28

Harry and Karen American Smooth. This didn't float my boat. Made a mistake Scored 26

Karen and Carlos Argentine Tango. Just superb. Excellent dance and footwork. Scored 38

Alex and Johannes Salsa. Great dance with plenty of energy. Scored 35

Amber and Nikita. Viennese Waltz. Lovely storytelling. Shirley felt it wasn't a 'real' VW Scored 35

A great week of dancing. Everyone upped their game. . 

[TallTrees]

Strictly Saturday 

Thanks for the score board information @Cleoriff 

Wow have to say enjoyed all the dances

 Couldn't believe Voix brilliant so enjoyable 😀 

Ellie tried hard and worked well but it was clumpy.

Balvinder's dance was good.

Agree with all your comments.

Surprisingly the dances were just fantastic. 

[sheepdog]

So Tess in a dress found deep in the closet from 20 years ago. Carried that off quite well I must say. Claudia in "jumpers for goalposts". Craig with bumfluff on his face, Shirley doing Tess on Monday mornings just out of the box, Anton doing Claudia before make-up and did anybody notice Motsi do anything different this week? 🤔

Vicky: Quite tense leading to shortened elongation so needs to relax. Probably more to do with nerves being the show opener which wasn't atrocious either. 

Ellie: This week we saw a little less arms in the air but got rather a lot of hand waves. And legs in the air. Zero progression and the judges should stop pandering to her. Overmarked. 

George: I think his main problem is that whilst he can do some moves well, there isn't a flow to him and that might be his inability to flex. Alexis needs to stop covering up his lack of technique at times.  

La Bomba!: Where did this come from!!! Best dance so far and whilst a touch overmarked, got the essence of the Paso absolutely right. Minus marks for a second audition to be a host of the show. 

Lewis: This is the link you need to watch again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcKn15Vz_H8 If you find a fault, you are wrong, so very very wrong. Also who expected a version of Creep to sound better than the original? 

Balvinder: Tonights the night she's likely to be another dance-off. Not her best and not exactly a night to be average. 

Harry: Oh. Oh dear. Not enough smooth transitions overall for me. I really hope he isn't kicked off as the show is completely dead for me then. 

Karen: Another awesome routine with some minor issues but who cares, it was brilliant especially after the last couple of weeks. 

Alex: Well Horny is a rather risque tune for prime time saturday evening being performed by a mature lady. Did I detect a touch of embarrassment but reasonably well done anyway. 

Amber: I'm guessing the running order person didn't pay attention to Lewis's effort in making this the closer? No matter, I liked it a lot and Shirley decided to mark her down for a newly made up rule. 

Judges scoreboard

Notice Amber isn't quite safe on 35 just like last week and the voting public should seriously look at themselves if she's there again. But Ellie is right down there so we may see her finally in the dance-off and gone. We'll probably get Harry v Balvinder though. 

MMA is "the outstanding Cat Burns". So outstanding I've never heard of her. Youtube says probably a touch above average but depends on what song is being performed. Or being halloween, that should read "executed".

[Cleoriff]

@sheepdog 

The dress Tess wore, reminded me of the gorgeous black number worn by Princess Diana when she was putting 2 fingers up to Charles and Camilla!!

Thanks for the Youtube link to Lewis and Katya's Couples Choice. I've watched it 3 times. 😂

Absolutely stunning and faultless. I didn't think I'd ever find a dance to beat Jay and Aliona's jive and now I have.

Congrats to the Dave Arch orchestra for their version of Creep. Brilliant. 

I've not heard of Cat Burnes either and can't be assed to look her up. 

Changed my mind. Looked her up. Singer Songwriter who appeared recently in Celebrity Traitors. (Which I don't watch!)