It Must Be Summer, Strictly Rumours Are Rife!

The Strictly rumour mill has stepped up a gear, meaning that summer must finally be in full swing.

According to The Sun, a number of celebrities have turned the show down, and others have been approached.

Peter Andre was on the wish-list, but will be embarking on an arena tour, which will mean he has no free time.

Lennox Lewis was also approached, but turned it down. He's a serious sportsman, don't you know?

Former England captain Will Carling has also said no.

Producers have reportedly turned their attentions to EastEnders stars Tiana Benjamin, Rob Kazinsky and Charlie Clements. They are also considering Hollyoaks actress Carley Stenson, girlfriend of last year's finalist Ricky Whittle.

Ali Bastian At West End Live

I went along to West End Live at the weekend, and saw Ali Bastian performing with the cast of Burn The Floor. Ali is going to do a great job in the show, I'm sure.

More Celebrities Linked With Strictly

The Mirror has linked some new names with Strictly Come Dancing.

These include Patsy Kensit, Matthew Wright, Nicole Scherzinger, Penny Smith and Ben Shephard.

An interesting bunch.

Patsy Kensit leaves Holby City in September, leaving her free to devote herself to training, and Strictly would help her move on from years in soapland quickly. The power of soap is a good thing to have behind you when it comes to the Strictly votes.

Matthew Wright would be interesting. He's a fan of the show, and regularly has Strictly stars as talking heads on his panel. He'd be a natural fit for Strictly, and I'm sure his Five bosses would be beside themselves.

Nicole Scherzinger was over-qualified for Dancing With The Stars and won with ease. There is no way she should be permitted to participate in Strictly. Remember what people said about the fact that Jill had done a bit of ballet in her past? Nicole was a professional dancer for years. She probably has more dance experience than the new pro men joining the lineup. Big names are all good, but not if they are already professional dancers and DWTS winners. No-one else would show up!

Penny Smith is leaving GMTV, so would have the free time to commit. She's a great personality and I think she'd do a good job. As long as her dancing is better than her singing...

Ben Shephard has an army of admirers, and would get heaps of advice from all his GMTV colleagues who have been a part of Strictly over the years. I think he'd do a good job.

The Mirror needs to get their facts right though. The article says Madeley's been approached for the second year in a row. According to various articles over the years, it seems he's been asked every year since about 1996. Just search the archives on this blog and you'll see that. I hope it's not true. I really, really do.

Darren & Lilia Interview

Darren & Lilia are interviewed at Fairfield Halls in Croydon about their Latin Fever tour, which arrives at Fairfield next week.

Bruce Threatens To Quit

Bruce Forsyth has threatened to quit Strictly Come Dancing unless the lineup of celebrities improves.

A source told The Mirror: "We're desperate to hold on to Bruce but at the moment he wants to know who's going on the show before he makes the final decision. He's the figurehead and we're hoping to sort things out soon. Bruce wants what is best for the show and he is adamant the celebs must be the better than before."

The difficulty here is that some celebrities don't comit early enough. We've all heard tales of eleventh-hour additions and partnership shuffles at the last minute.

Perhaps now even Bruce, always one of Strictly's biggest advocates, has had enough...

Brendan Cole: Live & Unjudged

A couple of weeks back I went to see Brendan Cole: Live & Unjudged at Wycombe Swan theatre.
The show features Brendan and his assembled company (Nicole Cutler, Izabela Hannah, Hanna Haraala, Andrew Cuerden and Scott Cole) performing a mix of ballroom and latin dances.

The music selections don't stretch too far, but the show is full of classic ballroom and latin music that get the crowd tapping along.

I especially liked the silhouette rumba to Purple Rain and an excellent Argentine tango number featuring a mock fight between Andrew and Scott for Nicole's affections.

Brendan links the numbers with chat. He's very at home behind the mic, and his love of his profession comes shining through. It's so great to see him being able to see him bring his own choreography to the public.

And he even throws in a couple of singing numbers.

All in all, a very entertaining show.

Keith Allen Will Never Do Strictly

Actor Keith Allen has stated that you'll never catch him on Strictly Come Dancing.

He told the Press Association: "Never say never, but I can honestly say never to Dancing On Ice and Strictly Come Dancing. I can genuinely say no. I wouldn't watch it, so why would I be in it?"

Oh no! How will we ever manage..?

Three New Male Pros

Three new male pros will be joining the competition line-up in 2010.

They are Artem Chigvintsev, a former contestant on So You Think You Can Dance? in the US, Jared Murillo, who was a dancer in the High School Musical films and Robin Windsor from Burn The Floor.

They will replace Ian, Matthew and Darren who have been demoted to show dancers only. The most surprising news has to be the survival of Anton du Beke as being one of the competition group.

More details can be found on the Strictly Come Dancing website.

Brian Quits Strictly

Following the news that he would be reduced to a supporting role as a show dance performer, Brian Fortuna has decided to leave Strictly Come Dancing.

A BBC spokesperson told BBC News: "We would like to thank [Brian] for all his hard work over the last two series."

Brian said: "I really enjoyed working on Strictly over the years - loved the fans and loved all the people I got work with - but there are changes planned for the next season so I've decided not to return to the show. Both Ali [Bastian] and I are looking forward to seeing all our fans at the Shaftesbury Theatre."

Fortuna & Bastian will be star performers in Burn The Floor at the Shaftesbury this summer.

Five Pros Will Not Partner Celebs

Five of Strictly's professional dancers - Ian, Matthew, Brian, Darren and Lilia - will not partner celebrities in 2010, and will be show dancers only.

This is according to The Mirror today, which claims that the five will now form a dance group which will perform while votes are counted.

The report also claims that the number of celebrities will be reduced back to 14 to stop the series being too long.

Oh Yes He Is!

You may remember me raving about Craig Revel Horwood's panto debut last Christmas.

Well, this year he'll be reprising the role of the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this time at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley, West Sussex.

Go see it. He'll be FAB-U-LOUS!

Brendan Chats To David Frost

Brendan was recently interviewed by Sir David Frost for Al Jazeera TV about Strictly's success, his experiences and Live & Unjudged.

From Walkers To Dancers?

Could Gary Lineker and wife Danielle heading for the dancefloor?

Accordning to the Daily Mail, producers are keen to sign the couple and have approached them about appearing on the show, although the article doesn't appear to be based on any facts or 'sources'.

Gary said back in January that while Danielle would be great, he wouldn't be ineterested: "I can't dance at all! I'm completely useless, so I wouldn't go on that show. I could possibly see Danielle wanting to do Strictly. I'm sure if she had a go at the dancing, she'd like it - it's nice and glam. And she looks like she moves all right to me...".

Intesting...

The couple rivalry worked well (if briefly) for Gabby & Kenny Logan. But Gabby and Kenny were well known with the public. Danielle is known as a model, but I suspect wouldn't ring as many bells as Gabby did. Still, that doesn't matter. I doubt Chris Hollins' recognition scores would have been that high this time last year.

Flavia's Tour Talk

Flavia Cacace has been talking to the News Of The World about the Strictly Come Dancing Professionals tour.

On dancing with pros instead of celebs: "I love dancing with the celebrities. It's great fun and it's a real challenge. But at the end of the day nothing beats dancing with other professionals. You can really give 100 per cent and perform to your very best. When you're on the floor with a celebrity - even the really good ones - you're always looking out for them and you have to hold something in reserve."

On who she hangs out with backstage: "They're all good fun. I've obviously worked with them all before on Strictly but I think perhaps I'm closest to James and Ola Jordan. They started Strictly in 2006, the same year as Vincent and I."

There's loads more good stuff in the interview. Well worth a read.

Alesha Set To Return

It seems the Daily Star has heard stright from the judges's mouth that Alesha will return to Strictly Come Dancing as a judge this autumn.

She told the paper she's going to work around promoting her next album: “I’m doing Strictly. The plan is for my new single to come out in August. And then the album will be dropping just before Strictly, so I can do all the major promotion first. That way I can balance Strictly and the solo stuff.”

Interview With Kristina

Kristina gave an interview to the Sunday Mail at the weekend.

She tells of her love of teaching: "I love teaching somebody from scratch, a newcomer taking their first steps. It's challenging and so rewarding to see them do well."

She also explains how great it is when someone compliaments her and the show: "You don't get much positive feedback [competing]. You don't get it in the environment we work in because it's a very competitive world. It's very negative in a way because you are trying to outdo each other all the time. It can be quite a cruel world, to be honest. So when all of a sudden you have someone saying how much they enjoyed seeing you dance or you go out into an arena and dance in front of thousands of people and hear them applaud, it's an amazing feeling."

The whole article is worth a read if you're a Kristina fan.

Alesha Set To Return?

The Sun claims that Alesha Dixon is about to re-sign as a Strictly judge.

Journalist Jen Blackburn writes: "Alesha Dixon is about to sign up for a second series of Strictly Come Dancing despite a backlash from fans last year. She revealed her plans as she put me through my paces in her Dance Fusion class." Although there is no actual quote from Alesha saying as much.

Alesha did tell her: "If I set myself a challenge I like to complete it. I wouldn't have taken the job if I didn't feel I could. I rode the storm and everyone on set made me feel so welcome because I knew them from competing. "When I was a contestant it was ten hours a day, every day for four months. As judge I sat there and got to watch some great dancing. The pressure of having to dance live was tough."