Strictly

It obviously did, but he did it. I wouldn't but I'm scared of heights, getting up on the table would be hard enough for me, lol!

Now we have Steve Backsall(?) saying there was a day when Ola Jordan really shouted at him and he complained about her being frosty and horrible to him in a bullying way because he couldn't do the steps. He says he couldn't wait to get off the show. They did not get on at all and everything we saw on screen was a fake. 

So, you're a big boy Steve, walk. Tell the production team you're not doing it. Other people have left the show at different points and it hasn't seriously affected their careers. Was she the only person you have encountered in your career that you didn't get on well with, but had to work with? I doubt it. Shout back, get your coat and go straight to the production team and tell them you're not having it. 

He said they put cameras in the training room. Which means they did take it seriously and they did take action. He didn't get on great with her but they made a job of it. That's showbiz/life etc. 

I told you they would be trawling through every show in minute detail trying to find something else to print. The other day it was how sad Jowita made Hamza, because he thought they might become an item after the show and apparently he was too polite to ask during the run because he thought it might complicate things but then he saw her kissing Giovanni. Really, if everyone behind the scenes knew she had a thing with Giovanni it's not likely that he didn't is it, but even if he didn't, how is that Strictly's issue.  He hasn't said a thing about it. It's just the usual insiders and those friends of etc. 

Of course! Silly me, should have seen it earlier!

It was interesting the other day. Anne Widdecombe was being interviewed and she said they had cameras in the room all the time, but this stopped when instead of just showing clips of training, they moved the budget to make little films and story line videos. She said she was told the videos were to safeguard people and also for the insurers.

She wasn't very sympathetic about people who had a hard time and did point out that they are the minority, which is true. However some people do seem to have had an awful time and if that was their experience that's sad.

Stephanie Beecham said it was the most hateful thing she's ever done and she just wanted to leave. She said she was regularly insulted about her age and overheard awful comments about herself.

The BBC will have to tone it down. Richard Osman was discussing it on his podcast which was interesting. He said they need to show some bits of frustration and arguments because that's the reality but it is not SAS Who Dares Wins, it's Strictly and they have to make it a happier experience because it is such a great show.

It does seem that celebrities have regularly made complaints, even suggesting the dancers were doing a bad routine to get them voted off.

The remaining dancers are probably feeling very under pressure because most of them have never had a complaint against them in all the years they've been on the show. That's going to make this year harder so I hope they get support too.

Boris Johnson's sister has done an interview about how the BBC wanted to recruit her and she told them she really couldn't dance, but they persuaded her to have an afternoon session with one of the professionals and make her mind up after that. She did the session with Giovanni and she says they all concluded very mutually that she was a not good and might have done a very average salsa but ballroom was completely a no go. She says he was impeccably well mannered, supportive and showed a lot of patience.

She declined the offer because she can't dance and didn't want to be ridiculed on TV. She did say that she thought about it because the pay cheque is very good and it was tempting, but in the end common sense prevailed and she knew she would be useless. She also said that she wasn't sure she could dedicate the amount of time the producers told her would be necessary.

She made it clear that everything about the experience was supportive and that she has spoken to others who also had a dance session with a professional to give them a taste of what was going to happen if they took up the offer.

She didn't have much sympathy for celebrities who go on the show in order to further their own careers and launch themselves somehow. She is aware that people can make a extra career from being on Strictly and there are other benefits such as invites to events, free dos, concerts and low level sponsorship e.g. the BBC can't stop a dancer wearing an Omega watch and showing it emerging from their shirt sleeve on Instagram etc.

She ended up by saying that people have to be very clear about why they are going on the show, the pay cheque, the potential for future earnings, public exposure, magazine shoots and also very importantly they should be very realistic about failing and making a show of themselves and whether they are big enough to make potential earnings on the back of that. Ed Balls got through it with his sense of humour and fun, but others have been horrified to see how bad they actually were. She knows John Sergeant and he agrees, he went on for a bit of fun and to further his publishing career but got out when he realised that weeks of being useless wouldn't do him any favours even if the public were voting and it would detract from his serious career. He told her she was neither a public treasure or a comedian and she'd be best steering clear.

Re upthread, I still can’t believe people were rude about Stephanie Beecham. I mean she’s a real glamour puss!

I'm sure not all the celebs are lovely people either. And both dancing and acting are full of narcissistic self-absorbed drama queens. So there will be drama every day somewhere

Just when I thought this story couldn’t get any worse!