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You’re right, Debbie was great, but she might not appreciate you adding a whole decade to her age ;-)

Wellington has no reason at all to hide his relationship with Simone. I’ve no idea yet whether Dante is part of the conspiracy. I haven’t watched the latest episode , and others may be better informed ;-), but as of ep6, it’s only so far clear that Simone is involved. She might be a sleeper of four year’s standing, or she may have been bought off recently. (I suspect her stoicism after being beaten up suggests a bit of “background”, though!). Dante finding the background on Simone could simply be routine FBI stuff that any agent with access to personal records could dig up. I guess that’s why I disagree with Saul’s suggestion that Dante gave Simone to Carrie. If, as I think we all agree, it didn’t have to be Carrie that decided to look into Wellington’s associates, then we have to extend the same logic to Dante. It didn’t have to be him checking her out. Yes. She could. And although it would still be damaging, my first thought would be, “Is this real or a set up?”.

In order to know who is part of the conspiracy, it matters how Simone came to Carrie’s attention in the first instance. If you were wanting to frame Wellington via Simone (having had her lay the money trail and ensure there’s evidence placing her car in the vicinity), you need to put Simone in front of someone you know will investigate. Without Carrie’s surveillance on Wellington’s house, she wouldn’t have had a picture of Simone to ask Dante (or the internet) about! If the conspirators knew about the cameras, and Carrie’s spying, then they just had to make sure Simone kept visiting the house. Eventually Carrie would cotton on. If they didn’t know about the cameras, how were they planning to put Simone under scrutiny and make sure she was caught out?

Carrie tells Saul that it was Dante who brought Simone to her attention. In fact it was the other way around. Carrie’s illegal and secret (from Dante) surveillance of Wellington’s home threw up an unidentified woman. She sent a screenshot for Dante to identify and he then ‘ran’ the picture and turned up Simone (and her parking ticket). If Carrie has been set up to find Simone, who knew about the surveillance other than Carrie....and Max?! Or was all that a happy accident and Simone would have been found by someone/anyone at some point?

Gosh, no! If you find somewhere that makes good ones, you should eat them at every opportunity! I have one bakery near me who have perfected the pastry (crispy, caramelised shards) but use too much cornflour in the custard and another with decent enough pastry but the most perfect wobbly custard. I have to keep buying them to decide which is the winner! I didn’t think Paul’s looked that great to be honest. Pale pastry and tops, stiff custard. I’ve bought the little tins to try making them myself one day, so loved the visit to the factory making them by the thousand every day and seeing the pastry technique. One day I’ll make a pilgrimage! Appreciated the lesson from Sandi on how to pronounce pastéis.

The only show so far was the launch show in which they did the tribute to Bruce. The first of the live shows is this Saturday, 23rd September. This is the group dance from the launch show. Hope you can view it...

Nah...I imagine Derek and Mark consider themselves bigger fish, plus, Strictly doesn't pay enough. Surely they'd just return to DWTS if they wanted back in? Also I really doubt the Strictly audience would accept her ability to be unbiased if they were on the show. I wouldn't be surprised if they appeared on the results show at some point though. A great appointment I think. She's the one I would have chosen had it been up to me.

Thanks for posting - a nice interview. Glad lovely Martha is doing well!

I don't think Artem and CAI were ever engaged, though they were together for a couple of years.

Sorry, Redfiat - I hadn't read back to the first page. I love their VW too.

Yes, there was a tiny wobble on a backwards step and she got points docked for her feet coming off the floor in a spin! Gah! She did become a really lovely dancer, but they never got a perfect score. It still rankles with me today! They tried to keep the relationship secret for a while on the show, but precisely no-one was surprised when they spent that Christmas together! They were already falling in love when they did the rumba and I think it shows.

I'm not a huge fan of the paso, though Artem seems to love it. I often think it looks a bit silly, so I'm with those of you keeping my fingers crossed we get to see an Artem rumba for Nancy. He's a Rumba Meister, imo. This is his rumba in the semi-final of SCD with Kara Tointon (maybe my favourite dance ever, so hope it isn't geoblocked). A treat for fans of his arms and hands, too ?

I loved the two Christmas episodes and wept at the montage. Going to miss this show so much.

Completely agree about Ed! Brendan also had something to say about the judging this week: http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/strictly-come-dancing/feature/a816581/brendan-cole-strictly-come-dancing-column-judges-scoring-beggars-belief/

I don't mind the dance off. The problem is when the numbers are down to four (usually 5) in the semi-final, it's too easy for the judges to manipulate. They should never be more powerful than the voting public (and remember, beyond 3 free online votes, we pay for the privilege). There is no way Ore should have topped the leader board. It was clear they were keeping him out of the DO and Claudia was dead woman dancing. Claudia would have been a credit to the final - more so than Louise or Ore, imo - and I feel cheated out of seeing her showdance. I have to disagree about the ability of the public to get the right dancers into the final. There was no dance off in Anne Widdecombe's year, series 8, and we saw the best three in the finale; likewise series 9. The public usually supports the entertaining duffers to a point, but gets shot of them when it comes to the crunch. It happened to Ed this year and he was hugely popular. (He's actually the first duffer I would have liked to see in the final. He and Katya brought a joy that's missing for me now). The only times a comedy duffer reached the final was in the first year Strictly was broadcast (S1 and 2). The public became more savvy after that. The weakest dancers to win were Darren Gough in S3 (no dance off) and Chris Hollins (with dance off). I'm afraid I also have to disagree that the show is a dance competition first and entertainment show second. It's the other way around, but it just happens that good dancing is entertaining ;-)

Claudia's quickstep was fabulous. Given the tens they were throwing around, I just can't see how she didn't score 40. Well, I can see why, but it isn't pretty. Very annoyed with the judges last night. Their ranking of the contestants bore no relationship to what we saw danced on the night. Danny and Claudia should have been top two (Claudia top for me, but either way) and Ore probably ahead of Louise in the bottom two, but again, either way. It's ridiculous having a dance off with four contestants - the judges have waaaay too much power. Spitting tacks on Claudia's behalf!

Well, Anastacia danced really well. Light on her feet and lovely and frothy (though gappy and not great posture), so maybe she can avoid the bottom 2 after all. I liked her with the lovely Gorka, too. Lesley was disappointing and Greg was poor, so perhaps they'll be in the DO. Ed's was a dance of two halves and the judges were harsh with their scores, so I guess he must be in danger. Judge Rinder, too, I suppose, though I hope not. Daisy is lovely, but I do think the judges overmark her. Louise is always good, but never great. I wish she could let loose. Danny's rumba was decent, but he had floppy, flappy arms and I thought the routine much too staccato. Ore's waltz was nice, but overrated, I think. Claudia's samba didn't really come off, but she makes me smile.

Yes, I guess she would survive against Ed. However, I think he's too popular to end up there for the moment. I'm less sure Anastasia would survive against Lesley in a DO. I think Lesley's been a better dancer and performer thus far. Laura has withdrawn from tonight's show owing to an ankle injury and receives a bye for this week. I could have imagined her in the DO this week (just because she doesn't seem to be capturing viewers' imaginations), but her absence leaves the door open, so I may be wrong about Ed after all! Half the pro dancers have lurgy. This series seems to be unlucky...

It's confirmed that Brendan will sit things out this evening and Gorka will dance B's choreo with Anastacia. I wish Brendan a speedy recovery, but am looking forward to a little more Gorka and the chance to see a different dynamic. Unfortunately, I think this week could be the end of the road for her, even if she has a good night. It's difficult to see who else would go before her if they land in the dance off.

Mary Berry has confirmed she will not be moving with the show to Channel 4 out of loyalty to the BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37437907?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central

Ha, ha! This is the year of shooting ourselves in the foot. <weeps quietly> Regarding the celeb version, this isn't new for Bake Off. They have done Comic Relief/Sport Relief versions for the past few years. Potential presenter thought: Josh Widdecombe

Good for Mel and Sue. Bad for the show. Sad for the viewers. I wonder if they'll put Jo Brand on the main show.

I'm so disappointed that Love Productions put cash over loyalty, though no surprise now I learn Sky own a majority stake. This show is the "most BBC" show on the box. Gah! I'd take Channel 4 over the other options, but the commercial breaks are bound to change it for the worse. We'll lose 10% or more of the running time to ads and more to the inevitable "coming up after the break..." and then recapping what we saw before the break. I need to bake something to cheer myself up.

No idea about the rules of the challenge, but a British biscuit is invariably snappy or crunchy. If it's thick and chewy, it's called a cookie. Just to confuse things, though, 'biscuit' is used as an umbrella term for everything from a cracker through to a cookie - but doesn't include the thing that is known as a biscuit in North America, which is closer to our scone. (The Jaffa Cakes featured on the show give lie to all I've just said, as they are are neither snappy nor especially chewy. More 'dry-cakey' ... but then the clue is probably in the name!!). Quite where gingerbread falls, I'm unsure. A ginger biscuit is definitely snappy, but gingerbread isn't quite a biscuit, in my book - more of a cake. Or a construction material for TV baking comps ;-)

Well, I never! Cheers!