Confirmed celebs so far

Vanessa Feltz  (Announced by Zoe Ball on Thursdays Chris Evans breakfast show)

Tony Jacklin  (Fridays One Show)

Rachel Riley  (Today's Daily Mail page 36)

Abby Clancy  (married to Footballer Peter Crouch)

Anyone know of any others

Hi Poppet

Suzannah Reid from Breakfast BBC has been confirmed from Daily Mail last week! Lots of rumours flying thou!! Have you noticed in the SCD build up pre show VT only a few favoured? celeb dancers O.la, J.ames, B.rendan. Kristina highlighted!! Why?

Sax

BBC have just said Darcey is on the One Show and will reveal all 15 contestants

Tea is ready

I'm pleased about Susannah


got to go

Excited re the reveal on SCD! Darcey sweet!

The list

Vanessa Feltz will be a chatter back!
Abbey Clancey Needs career boost
Patrick. Robinson Casualty exciting
Sophie Ellis Baxter not sure why
Ben Cohen yummy
Tony Jacklin

Next batch celebs! Hit post too soon! The excitement!

Rachel Riley a good choice
Julian Mcdonald oh the flamboyance expected
Natalie Gumede had to say who?
Mark Benton
Deborah Meadon a Dragon

Fiona Fullerton mmm z list
Ashley.
Suzannah Reid why put her bottom?
Dave Myers Haiey biker!!!! yes love it


Sax

Patrick Robinson is my early tip.
Julien MacDonald, meh!
And why only 15?

I agree Fifty! Patrick is an early favourite with Ben Cohen & Sophie! Maybe 15 for a double elimination either week one or half way through?
Deborah Meadon a surprise! Wonder if her fellow Dragons will be in the audience? Tony Jacklin bless will it be an early exit to the 19th hole? I got my hairy bikers mixed up & convinced it was the other one appearing!! So it should have been both!!

Sax

Hi Sax

Well a varied line-up not sure who I'm looking forward to seeing dance,

I agree Ben Cohen yummy  (not as yummy as Austin though)

Not right putting Susannah at the bottom

I said who? to Natalie and Ashley but I know the rest

Will Dave present (bribe) the judges with food each week I think he will be fun.

Roll on Saturday

Oh well - lots of "who?"s from me this time! I can't say I am that excited this year. Hopefully that will change!

Excited about some & a little meh about others! Guess there isn't a Widdy,Grant or Nancy this year!!

Sax

Knew a few of them, but a lot of "who?" going on there. Really pleased to see the Hairy Biker there- hopefully he will try to bribe the judges with food. I think that Silver tongued Italian Stallion and The Love God that is Leonard The Lion Goodman could be quite susceptible there!

There's no obvious comedy candidate, is there? I wonder if it's sort of Vanessa, in which case they may be in for a shock. I have no idea if she'll be any good at dancing, but she always struck me as a very determined lady, so I think she'll be in it to win it.

Tina Sparkle wrote:

There's no obvious comedy candidate, is there?

Oh I'm not so sure.
I can just see Mark Benton filling that roll. Week one and two  everyone will be saying how good and light on his feet he is for a big chap.
Come week six if he is still there and  knocking "potential winners" out, he will suddenly need to be taken outside and shot by a firing squad.

Shot! by firing squad! Heaven forbid! Mark Benton has a dry humour & I too am hoping his a male Lisa Riley surprise!!

Sax

Shot by a firing squad!!!   Gingercodgers I laughed out loud at your post and read it out to my husband.............excellent!

Hello everyone - I hope you are all well.  Like all of us, I can't wait for the launch show this week and thought I would have a little 'lurk' on here before the main event.

I think that the celebs are an interesting bunch this year - very diverse - it remains to be seen what the standard will be like - it would be very difficult to top last year or even the  year before, but I think we will have some real characters this year.

I don't know whether anyone saw D arcey on the 'One Show'?  Talk about stereotypical comments! ('Patrick will be good and have a good sense of rhythm because he is Jamaican') Although I think it was a bit much to ask the poor girl to rate everyone at such an early stage!   She didn't ever explain why she had put Susannah Reid at the bottom of her list - I seem to remember that when Susannah did 'Children in Need' a few years ago she was rather good?

I have been watching the 'Strictly Red Carpet' on the red button - yes, there are the usual stereotypes - a smattering of glamour girls, the obligatory sports stars and ex soap stars.  For Felicity Kendal read Fiona Fullerton for Fern Britton read Vanessa Felz - I think the 'Countdown' girl looks uncannily like Ali Bastian - but there's a good mix in there too - I can't wait to see how Deborah Meaden deals with the fabu-u-lus darling one!  Dave Myers is one of my favourite people on TV and I really like Mark Benton too - it will be irrelevant as to whether any of these three are any good on the first few weeks, it just depends who catches the viewers fancy and it will be interesting to see if there is another Lisa Riley phenomenon this year.    Bring on Saturday!

 Hello everyone, is it really a year since we were discussing (with great anticipation) the likes of Jerry Hall and Victoria Pendleton, and some of us questioning who Dani Harmer was. Doesn't time fly!

My first impressions of this year - overall good.  Bit more interested in the men than the women, and looking forward to Mark, Patrick and Dave especially. I think Julien might provide the marmite this year, though I reckon he'll also be a very good dancer (Darcey mentioned his training). I liked him on ITT, but can understand why a lot of people found him irritating.

Agree with you about Susannah, mauveangel. Not sure why Darcey placed her last, she was good on Children in Need.

Getting excited about the launch now - time to meet the new pro dancers too. It'll be a bit strange without Vincent and Flavia though...

Patrick Robinson: Don't know anything about him as I've never seen Casualty in my life, but he looks like he could be one for either Aliona (she's now the tallest female pro  ) or Iveta. He looks like he could be an underdog, probably not a winner but could go far if he gets the right pro.

Mark Benton: Another one I've never heard of, but he looks like a comedy one to be honest. Could be one for Karen as she's the female pro who got the furthest.

Ben Cohen: He could be a winner. He's quite popular with the ladies, as well as being a gay icon. Give him to Iveta, Anya or even put a vest on you strumpet. Maybe Kristina.

Ashley Taylor Dawson: Never heard of him, so he can go with anyone. Just not Karen. He also seems quite tall so not the petite Janette.

Tony Jacklin: I can see him with Kristina, which would be a shame, as she has had 1 good person since joining the show in 2008
Put him with anyone else, just not poor Kristina.

Julien McDonald: *sigh* He's gonna be so irritating, can barely stand him on ITT. Put him with Aliona or Karen.

Dave Myers: Give him to any of the new one's or Karen. He won't get very far at all.

Abbey Clancy: I feel like she could be a marmite-like person. She seems like a poser at the moment, hope I can warm to her, as she'll probably get quite far. Can see her with Brendan or Aljaz.

Vanessa Feltz: Please, please, PLEASE put her with James!! I can only imagine the laughs I'll have on a Saturday night watching those two at war  

Sophie Ellis Bextor: She seems like she could do well, hope she does, anyway. I'd like to see her with Artem, Aljaz or maybe Brendan. Could even go with Robin, but he'll probably be saved for a slightly older one.

Fiona Fullerton: She reminds me of Denise, she could be another underdog, like Pamela. Put her with Pasha or A.nton. Either will do

Natalie Gumede: I really hope she does well, really like her already. They can put her with any of the pros too, as she's medium height. Looks like one for Robin.

Deborah Meaden: Never watched Dragons' Den so never seen her before. She looks like she'll be pretty naff though, put her with James, Pasha or Robin. Or Housewives choice.

Rachel Riley: YAY!!!!! So happy she's on it - love her on 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown! Put her with Artem/Kevin/Aljaz/Robin and be done with this

Susannah Reid: Could be good, she won the charity one a few years back. Could be another one for Robin.

One couple is assured - Vanessa Feltz and A.nton. For some reason A.nton always gets lumbered with no-hopers and celebs likely to be ridiculed. Why?

Could A.nton win it if he had a great partner?His lation is a little safe & sometimes he doesn't push boundaries with his routines!I feel Deborah Meaden could possibly be his partner

Sax

I also sense that A nton might be being lined up for Deborah - I feel they might give Vanessa to one of the new boys - just a thought:?: 

His Latin isn't great. Even when he's doing it seriously it isn't great. That's not to say he's bad at Latin, but he's a Ballroom specialist and he's never competed in Latin (or at least not since he was very young).

A nton's ballroom routines are a thing of beauty. If he doesn't push boundaries there I think it's because over the last few years he's had partners who aren't up to pushing boundaries.

I wonder will Erin still be available for a pro dance with A.nton - likewise, will Vincent and Flavia at least be invited back for a guest slot? The other pro-dances are usually very slick, but imo rarely match up to those two partnerships.

Really hope A.nton doesn't get, or create, a comedy act this year...

I think I read somewhere that V incent and F lavia would be coming back to do a guest appearance and that they hoped to do the Xmas Show,but that was ages ago it may have changed now but I hope not........

I agree that when A nton is doing ballroom 'properly' the standard is right up there - I went to see A nton and E rin's show in the winter - dancing and music fab - all the big Hollywood stuff - they are both brilliant all round entertainers when you see them in another context than 'Strictly'.