David Dickinson :0

Even when she was on that dog show on Living FLL?

http://www.livingtv.co.uk/shows/underdog/gallery.php?ssid=6

He was**ging Katherine Jenkins.

"Very technical"

;)

These two act like they're at a funeral

is anybody else getting the feeling that Chris has had his 'journey' but at the end getting to the final will have been good enough for him, and that ultimately Ricky is gonna win now, i can hear Chris saying 'we've had an amazing time, and finishing runner up to Ricky is fantastic'

is anybody getting a gut feeling that its gonna be Ricky now tho?

squares?

no Glasgow

the SCD viewers in the Shires will get their way.

you just don't get it imo.

Agree with that Johnny, obvoiusly there will be a panic in the betting if we get another big judges ramp and a standing O for Ricky on Saturday, but hopefully Hollins has enough in the bag.

As some of you might know, im probably quite a lot younger than most on here, and I can say say that almost none of my friends watch strictly, let alone vote (every man and his dog watched X Factor) I would suspect if they did watch they would all be Ricky fans, and the few that have watched it all want Ricky to win.

But this is a show for middle England and Chris has a huge core vote, lets hope that will be enough to see the challenge off.

Possibly TM, but it also might encourage another 200k viewers to vote for Ricky

:)

Still reckon Chris will win.

The thing that annoys me a bit is that people seem to forget about the professional dancers. Natalie lucked out bigtime by getting a partner she could do dazzling routines with from the get-go. Ola probably had to put a bit more thought into it to come up with routines that would not be beyond Chris, but would also lift his game, as well as entertain the audience. So Ola's achievement, much like Lilia's with Gough and Karen's with Mark is more impressive than Erin's was with Jackon or Darren's was with Bunton.

This could go to 1.5 Ricky before the fightback begins in earnest I think.

Whittle desperately canvassing for Scottish vote now:

Strictly Come Dancing star Ricky Whittle: I'll do a Highland jig if Scotland will vote for me in final

Dec 15 2009 By Steve Hendry

RICKY WHITTLE has hinted at doing a Highland jig in Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing if he gets the Scottish vote.

The straping Hollyoaks hunk, who has played dodgy policeman Calvin Valentine in the soap since 2006, danced his way into the final at the weekend with a sexy tango and an emtional waltz.

And he's promised to do his best to win over Scots fans this Saturday.

Ricky, 29, and dance partner Natalie Lowe are up against BBC sports presenter Chris Hollins and Ola Jordan in the final, after seeing off Bill actress Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna in last week's semi-final.

And Ricky, a regular visitor north of the Border on personal appearances, is hoping to get the backing of his own tartan army.

"He said: "If I get the Scotland vote, I'll put a Highland maybe do fling on - you never know, I'll maybe do the final in a kilt.

"I have a lot of good friends from Scotland and my godfather is from Aberdeen so if I can put in a shout to Scotland, I will do.

"There's always room for a cheeky little gimmick and if it happens to be a little jig, we'll throw i it in there."

Ricky and Natalie have been favourites to reach the final from the very beginning of the show, when they wowed judges Len Goodman, Craig Revel-Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Aleesha Dixon with a stunning waltz.

They have remained the judges' favourites and seen off the likes of former Footballers' Wives stars Zoe Lucker and Laila Rouass, Coronation Street star Craig Kelly and ex-EastEnders Natalie Cassidy and Ricky Groves as well as boxer Joe Calzaghe.

Former tennis ace Martina Hingis, athlete Jade Johnson, cricketer Phil Tufnell and horse racing legend Richard Dunwoody also failed to make the grade.

Despite his charge to the final, Ricky, a talented sportsman who played football, rugby and American Football before he turned to modelling and acting, says it has been hard work all the way.

He's also suffered for his art, not least preparing for the tango on Saturday.

He joked: "I'm registering the tango as a lethal weapon. I've never been so attacked or injured in all my months on Strictly.

"There have been heels flying left, right and centre. I've got cuts and scars everywhere but it's all part of the training.

"It's been incredible. I'm a jeans and trainers bloke, very casual, very slouched and not a natural ballrooom dancer at all.

"My posture has had to improve, my physical structure, my hold. It's completely alien and it has had to be ingrained in the last couple of months.

"Everyone has their own journey and just because I started off well, it doesn't mean I haven't had anywhere to go. It doesn't mean you can't improve.

"I can only take it is a compliment that Natalie gave me a professional routine on Saturday, a professional waltz which is competition standard. She would never have given me that in week one."

He said: "Joe Calzaghe was supposed to be the favourite and then I was supposed to be the favourite and nobody had seen me dance. It's nothing I can affect. The pressure was on me early on but only because I didn't want to go out early. "

Ricky isn't coy about admitting how badly he wants to win. He said: "I enter a competition to win and I wanted to get all the way to the end.

"I really wanted to put everything into it. I'm proud to have got this far.

"It's a show I've watched for many years. Even when I was younger, I used to watch Come Dancing with my gran. It's something I really wanted to be on.

"There's been a lot of good couples, so to even get to the final is fantastic.

"You only get to do this once and you really have to embrace it and enjoy every moment and that's what I've tried to do.

"It's important to me to have left the competition having done it in my own way and with my head held high.

"At the beginning, they wanted me to dance around with no shirt on and it's not something I wanted to do.

"I've been recognised as a good dancer, someone who came in every week and gave it everything. I've been consistently in the top three which I consider a great honour given the talent around."

Win or lose, Ricky, who has been nominated for sexiest male at the British Soap Awards for three years running, will at least be able to mix it with his soap co-stars.

He joked: "The Hollyoaks cast are just so annoyingly talented that I had to learn something new because I was just lagging behind. All I can do is play sports and act - and even the acting is a struggle sometimes.

"Everyone else on Hollyoaks can sing, dance and act. They are a fantastic bunch and a great crew.

"I didn't come from this world. I was soccer, rugby, American football. Acting came by fluke. I was studying law at university, doing some modelling to support myself, then my agent put me up for dream team and it kind of happened from there. So I haven't had that stage school background.

"This is completely new to me so it's nice to feel part of that as well."

The end of Strictly won't spell the end of his dancing days, though.

Ricky said: "I think I'm going to be very bored after Strictly. It has been very intense and has put fire in my belly about dancing.

"It's always something I've enjoyed - going to clubs, having a drink and boogie.

"I've been boogying up in Scotland many times - Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife.

"I'm like a rash, all over the place. You'll always see me on the dancefloor but I never thought I'd enjoy this type of dancing so much. I really want to continue it. I've never been so fit.

"It's a completely different level of fitness. I've lost over a stone and three inches off my waist.

"It's amazing, you get this great new talent, meet great people and can eat what you want. I love it.

"Don't go to the gym - just dance, that's my advice."

Strictly Come Dancing - The Final is on BBC1 on Saturday at 6.35pm and 8.40pm.

Someone remind me... Did we not have all this talk when Gough was obviously going to win over Jackson and Ball?

i think yr all suffering from SCD disorder - its a bit like OCD!! u all need to go for a walk and forget about a poofy dance show

jls as well iirc.