Just a warning: this post will contain spoilers for the celeb-pro pairings for this series. This will be further down so I'll give you a warning when the spoilered part is coming up :) Let's get started then:
Abbey Clancy (Model/TV Presenter/WAG of Peter Crouch)
- Abbey is one of those people that I don't particularly like or dislike. I've only seen her doing the fashion segments for 'This Morning' so I haven't formed much of an opinion of her. She seems likeable enough though. I know some people don't want to see her on Strictly due to being a WAG, but really, it's nothing that we haven't seen before. Models don't tend to be great dancers, but I believe that with the right pro, Abbey does have potential. I can see her being a little stiff in the Latin dances at first, but once she lets go and shows us her personality, then I think she could do well.
Ashley Taylor Dawson (Hollyoaks actor)
- I've always liked Ashley, even from his days as a member of the pop band *allstars. I'm surprised that he signed up to be honest, but it's a pleasant surprise. Hollyoaks actors have a decent record on the show, so that's a good omen for him. I think he'll be one of those that will enjoy the experience, even if he doesn't turn out to be a good dancer. He will probably be somewhat decent at the Latin, but I wonder if he might initially struggle with the Ballroom routines - most male celebs tend to find the hold and technical side a bit difficult to start off with. I think he'll go far, but I'm not sure if he'll be the winner.
Ben Cohen (Activist and former rugby player)
- I don't know that much about Ben; I've heard of him, but haven't really seen him before. He's partially deaf so he may be struggling at the beginning, but from Kirsty on SYTYCD UK (who was also deaf), it should still be possible for him to turn in some great performances. His pro will have to be quite patient with him, and they might need to put in more training hours than others to get to the same standard. He's apparently quite nice to look at, so I can see him being popular for the first few weeks at least. The launch show group dance should give me a decent idea of how he might do. Rugby players haven't really been good dancers, but they have got far (5th for both Kenny Logan and Gavin Henson, 4th for Martin Offiah), so there's definitely a benchmark set for him.
Dave Myers (Hairy Biker)
- From the various 'Hairy Bikers' shows, Dave seems very personable and easy-going and I have a sneaking suspicion that he'll be the Russell Grant of the series. We haven't had a chef since series 6 (I think, may have been 5) when Gary Rhodes spectacularly failed, so not much previous form to go on. His Latin probably won't be great, but depending on the pro, his Ballroom could be good. He could make it to about week 6 I think.
Deborah Meaden (One of the 'Dragons' from TV's 'Dragons' Den'; entrepreneur)
- Deborah might have shown her steely side on 'Dragons' Den', but her Strictly journey (yes I've used the j word already) should be an interesting one. I see her as a mix of Dave and Abbey in terms of prospects; she might struggle with the Latin to start with, but once she starts to come out of her shell then I reckon she may surprise us.
Fiona Fullerton (Former Bond girl)
- I must admit, Fiona was one of only 2 celebs that I hadn't heard of before the rumours started. I don't know anything about her at all really, so the launch will form my first real impression of her. Having said that, what's the betting that she'll get Anton? :D She's supposedly had ballet training, so she may be the new Cherie Lunghi.
Julien Macdonald (Fashion designer)
- You just know that he'll get really into it, won't he? He'll have the best costumes every week, just you wait. Julien has his 'Star' range of fashion and homeware going at Debenhams (his homeware stuff is quite nice actually), and also appears on ITT as a fashion pundit. The question with him is which side of camp is he going to go for - the Jason Donovan camp, the Russell Grant camp, or the Richard Arnold camp? (please let it be Jason if only for my own amusement). I get the feeling that he may be better than we expect him to be, so I'd say at least half-way for him.
Mark Benton (Actor, mostly known for Waterloo Road)
- Mark's intriguing in that I haven't really seen him in anything and yet I still like him. That bodes well I guess :) . His 'Waterloo Road' co-star Chelsee Healey finished in 2nd place in her series, but it will be difficult for him to top that. Apparently he's been in 'Hairspray', so he should have some decent rhythm. So why do I picture dad dancing? His Latin will be atrocious, I can see it already. I hope he proves me wrong, but I think he'll be out by week 5.
Natalie Gumede (Former Coronation St actress)
- Ladies and gentlemen, we have this year's 'ringah', or so I've been told. Natalie has been dancing since a young age, so perhaps has even more experience than DVO (is that even possible?). I do think that she'll feel more at home in the Latin dances than the Ballroom, and that she may be popular enough to override the inevitable 'ringah' criticism. I'd say semi-finals at least.
Patrick Robinson (Actor, mostly known for Casualty)
- Probably one of the more unknown members of the cast. Patrick competed in 'Let's Dance for Comic Relief' a few years ago, reaching the final by performing a version of Riverdance (with Lisa Maxwell iirc, and I think they got 3rd place) - so he's no stranger to dancing. Will he be more Colin Salmon than Colin Jackson? Who knows. I don't believe that SCD has had a Patrick on before, so there's one for you stat fans. Bit of an unknown quantity, so I'll go with the same prediction as Mark and say that he'll have an early exit.
Rachel Riley (Countdown maths guru)
- I take it that the males of the country will be jumping up and down with glee. Similar to Abbey, I don't really have much of an opinion of her yet, but I have seen an article where she says that she wouldn't do Strictly as she 'can't dance'. Well she's on it now, so I wonder if like Pamela and Jason D she's taken some lessons in advance? Having said that, for some reason I can picture her having an arc similar to Victoria Pendleton, but without all the Pendledrama (credit to Monkseal for that phrase). I think she'll get to top 7 or 8.
Sophie Ellis- Bextor (Singer)
- Sophie is another that I'm surprised at signing up. She doesn't do much dancing in her videos (and it may have been a double used for 'Murder on the Dancefloor') so can't take much from there. I get the feeling that she'll fit into the 'nice but a bit bland' role that Kimberley held for me last series. She's tall at 5ft 9, so her Jive will certainly be interesting. I think she'll get to about the same stage as Rachel, so top 7 or 8.
Susanna Reid (Newsreader)
- Susanna won the newsreader Children in Need special, so we know that she can dance. The question for me will be her popularity; she might be good, but if she's struggling for a fanbase then she'll be a shock exit. I can see her being quite a graceful Ballroom dancer, and decent in Latin. Hmm, I'd say a top 5 placing for her.
Tony Jacklin (Former golfer)
- Tony was the other celeb besides Fiona that I hadn't really heard of. Cannon fodder and will almost certainly be first out, fulfilling the 'week 1 male' curse (for the stat fans out there, the first eliminated celebrity has been a male in 7 out of the 10 series so far - exceptions being series 3 (Siobhan Hayes), series 7 (Martina Hingis) and series 9 (Edwina Currie)).
Vanessa Feltz (TV Presenter and radio broadcaster)
- I think Vanessa could be a surprise package this series. She seems quite personable, and will definitely provide a good, fiery relationship with her pro partner. She might have the same issues that Lisa Riley did in the Ballroom department, but I reckon her Latin could be good. She may just be the Pamela Stephenson of the series.
So that's what I think, and I'll attempt to predict the elimination order:
1st - Ashley Taylor Dawson
2nd - Natalie Gumede
3rd - Susanna Reid
4th - Abbey Clancy
5th - Ben Cohen
6th - Julien Macdonald
7th - Rachel Riley
8th - Sophie Ellis Bextor
9th - Vanessa Feltz
10th - Dave Myers
11th - Deborah Meaden
12th - Mark Benton
13th - Patrick Robinson
14th - Fiona Fullerton
15th - Tony Jacklin
Here's your warning. The spoilers for the pairings will be underneath. Don't say I didn't warn you. If you don't want to know, then now's the time to click off the page :)
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That should do it. Ok, so here are the pairings for this series, and my thoughts underneath:
Abbey Clancy - Aljaz Skorjanec
- Not much scope as there's so many tall females in this line-up. We haven't seen Aljaz before, so we don't know how good a pro partner he will be, but I bet there'll be some choreography where Abbey's modelling skills come into play
Deborah Meaden - Robin Windsor
- Think we were all a bit surprised on this one, as we thought Deborah might go to Pasha, who was due a 'duffer' this year. Robin's accused of having limited choreography, so this partnership should test him - we'll know whether he's a one trick pony after the first few dances.
Fiona Fullerton - Anton du Beke
- Bit of an obvious one. I think we have to presume that Fiona won't be good. No comedy gold potential though as far as I can see, which is a good thing considering what we've had to endure the last few years.
Natalie Gumede - Artem Chigvintsev
- Will this be Artem/Holly all over again? They certainly have the height difference for it. But I suppose they needed someone with interesting choreography for Natalie, and again, there weren't many options for her being tall.
Rachel Riley - Pasha Kovalev
- Pasha gets a young female for the third year in a row. We all thought he might have a 'duffer', so this begs the question of whether Rachel will be a duffer, or if Pasha will get to the final again (and get 2nd place again, after a bad Showdance, again)
Sophie Ellis Bextor - Brendan Cole
- I reckon they'll have a good friendship, Sophie seems quite easy-going and I doubt that she'll cause Brendan problems like some of his previous partners have.
Susanna Reid - Kevin Clifton
- Our other new male pro, we haven't seen Kevin in action yet, but word is that he's a fantastic dancer. Just a question of whether he's a good choreographer too. They do seem suited to one another.
Vanessa Feltz - James Jordan
- The partnership that we all wanted, they will provide much entertainment I'm sure. I can see Vanessa being a toned-down version of Denise.
Ashley Taylor Dawson - Ola Jordan
- I don't think many of us predicted this pairing. Ola, like Robin, is also accused of having limited choreography sometimes, so this series will test her. I think they'll work well together. Team Ashla anyone?
Ben Cohen - Kristina Rihanoff
- The 'height mismatch' of the series, with Ben being a whole foot taller than Kristina. There's a theory that Natalie was going to have Ben originally, but they didn't want him with Aliona, so Aliona and Kristina swapped partners. Kristina imo goes for camp and cheese a bit too often, so she'll have to come up with something different for Ben.
Dave Myers - Karen Hauer
- Another one that not many would predict. Karen and Nicky didn't have a good partnership last series, so it'll be interesting to see how she gets on with Dave.
Julien Macdonald - Janette Manrara
- The two shortest paired together, sounds about right to me. Janette is a new pro and so we haven't seen her yet. She's a SYTYCD alumnus so there are some question marks about her Ballroom experience.
Mark Benton - Iveta Lukoshiute
- This one surprised me too. We saw a bit of Iveta last series, but we don't know how she'll be yet. This could be a comedy pairing, so we'll see how she gets on.
Patrick Robinson - Anya Garnis
- Anya's another new pro, but I don't know about this partnership. Has memories of Spoony/Ola and Colin/Kristina for me, and both couples were out early on. I'll have to see them together on the launch to make up my mind.
Tony Jacklin - Aliona Vilani
- Well we did want to see how Aliona did with a duffer, now's our chance. I think that even if Aliona threw the kitchen sink at the routines, then they'll go out first.
^^ So that's just what I think, but what do you make of the celebs and the pairings? Who are your early favourites and who do you think will win? Comments are always appreciated :)
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