Gordon's WebLog

Week number

Contestants eliminated

12

The Final

Matt Di Angelo & Flavia Cacace

11

Semi final

Gethin Jones & Camilla Dallerup

10

Letitia Dean & Darren Bennett

9

Kenny Logan & Ola Jordan

9

Kelly Brook & Brendan Cole withdrew from the competition
following the sudden death of Kelly's father.

8

John Barnes & Nicole Cutler

7

Kate Garraway & Anton Du Beke

6

Penny Lancaster-Stewart & Ian Waite

5

Dominic Littlewood & Lilia Kopylova

4

Gabby Logan & James Jordan

3

Willie Thorne & Erin Boag

2

Stephanie Beacham & Vincent Simone

1

Brian Capron & Karen Hardy

Alesha Dixon

Alesha is best known as one third of the late-nineties R & B girl band, Mis-Teeq, who topped the charts with numerous singles including Scandalous and One Night Stand. Alesha is now a popular TV personality, guest hosting shows such as CD:UK, and this year presented ITV2's coverage of the Brit Awards. She has also appeared as a guest judge on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy and Channel 4's reality TV show Musicool. Alesha will begin filming for her first film, Milestones, in March next year alongside Alex Kingston (ER) and Brian Cox (X-Men). Matthew Cutler Matthew is a Latin American dance specialist and has claimed the title of UK Closed Professional Latin Champion in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005. He was married to, and danced with, Nicole Cutler (Strictly series two) before they split in 2003. But in July 2006, Nicole and Matthew returned to the floor as dance partners.

1

Brian Capron Brian's acting career has spanned over 35 years, but he is best known for his role as serial killer Richard Hillman in ITV1'sCoronation Street. He has also appeared as Ozias Harding in Where the Heart Is and starred in the West End as the narrator in the musical The Rocky Horror Show. In 2003 Brian won 'Best Actor', 'Best Exit' and 'Villain of the Year' at the British Soap Awards. The same year he was also nominated for the 'Most Popular Actor' at the National Television Awards. Karen Hardy Karen is the current reigning champion of Strictly Come Dancing after dancing into first place with her partner Mark Ramprakash in series four. She is one of the most highly regarded women in dancing today. Before her retirement from the competitive world of dance in March 1999, Karen's successful partnership with Bryan Watson saw them as undefeated United Kingdom, International, British National, World Masters, Open Italian, Yankie Classic, London Open and Osaka World Trophy Champions of Latin American dance.

5

Dominic Littlewood Dominic worked in the new and used car business in Essex until his cheeky and charismatic personality caught the eyes of TV producers who gave him his first TV appearance on Channel 4's Faking It, teaching a vicar how to be a car salesman. He has presented To Buy or Not to Buy (BBC One), How I Made My Property Fortune (BBC Two) and Beat the Burglar (BBC One). More recently he helped members of the public to get good deals from salespeople in BBC One's Don't Get Done, Get Dom. He can currently be seen weekdays at 7pm as a reporter on BBC One's The One Show.

Lilia Kopylova Lilia is gentle and softly spoken, but below the surface lies a cheeky Russian minx. Her speciality is Latin American and together with her partner and husband Darren Bennett, also appearing in Strictly, they are ranked the number one Latin American couple in Britain. Lilia won the third series of Strictly with Darren Gough and was runner-up partnering Matt Dawson last year.

4

Gabby Logan Gabby lives and breathes sport. A one-time international gymnast, Gabby is now a BBC Sports presenter on TV and radio. The daughter of former Wales international football player and manager Terry Yorath, she is married to former Scotland international rugby player and fellow Strictly contestant Kenny Logan. Gabby and Kenny are very competitive, so this should be interesting! Gabby presents BBC One's Inside Sport, and the Gabby Logan show on BBC Radio 5 Live. She also writes regularly for The Times newspaper. James Jordan James is a Latin American specialist. He is married to and dances professionally with Ola. They both joined the Strictly team in series four. They have been dancing together for six years and turned professional in 2003. Since then they have been Closed British finalists in 2005, UK Open Rising Star finalists and British Open Rising Star Professional Latin runners-up in 2006.

Semi final

Gethin Jones Gethin is a presenter on Blue Peter. Some of his varied highlights include flying with the Red Arrows, being attacked by an alligator in Louisiana and fighting as a Samurai Warrior in Japan. Before joining Blue Peter, he started his presenting career on children's programmes for Welsh television channel S4C. Camilla Dallerup Camilla is a blonde, Danish beauty with huge charisma who specialises in Latin American dancing. She is Asian Pacific Latin American Champion and New Zealand Latin American Champion. Her professional dance partner is Ian Waite, who also appears in Strictly. Camilla reunited with former partner and fellow Strictly dancer Brendan Cole this year to represent the UK in the first Eurovision Dance Contest.

8

John Barnes Footballing legend John Barnes earned 79 England caps during the late 80s and early 90s. John has racked up an impressive 752 appearances for four clubs scoring 562 goals, he later went on to be Head Coach for Celtic. John is now highly in demand as a TV football match analyst and studio guest. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the game. Nicole Cutler Fun-loving South African Nicole is a Latin American specialist. After splitting up with dance partner and ex-husband, Matthew Cutler, in 2003, Nicole partnered Robin Sewell from June 2005 to June 2006, when they were runners up in the closed British Championships and ranked second in England. Nicole joined the Strictly team in series four when she danced with Nicholas Owen.

7

Kate Garraway Kate is a presenter on GMTV, joining the team in September 2000. Her career started in BBC Radio as a reporter. She later moved to work as a production journalist and reporter with Central Television News, Meridian, BBC News 24 and Sky. Kate has made numerous TV appearances, including BBC Two's Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News for You? This year Kate became a quiz master grilling contestants for the BBC quiz show The People's Quiz. Anton Du Beke Anton is a typical English gentleman, but is well known for his naughty sense of humour! Anton specialises in ballroom dancing and dances professionally with Erin Boag. Together, Anton and Erin won the IDTA Classic in England in 2003. Anton has appeared in Strictly since series one when he came third with Lesley Garrett.

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9

Kelly Brook Kelly is a model, actress and TV presenter. She first hit our screens in 1999 when she was chosen to present The Big Breakfast alongside Johnny Vaughan. She later co-hosted reality TV show Celebrity Love Island. Kelly spends a lot of time in the USA, where she has acted in many TV shows and feature films, from playing Victoria Hardwick in Smallville to lead roles in House of 9 with Dennis Hopper, Absolon with Christopher Lambert, Three with Billy Zane and Fishtales where she plays a mermaid. She has also starred in a Miss Marple drama for ITV and this year she was a guest star in BBC Television drama Hotel Babylon. Brendan Cole Brendan Cole returns for his fifth Strictly Come Dancing competition. Brendan moved to London from his native new Zealand when he was 18 to seek a career in dance, financing himself with a number of jobs including being a warehouseman and a builder. Brendan specialises in Latin American dancing, is Asian Pacific Latin America Champion and New Zealand Latin American Champion. He won the first series of Strictly with partner Natasha Kaplinsky.

9

Kenny Logan Kenny is a Rugby Union footballer who played wing for Scotland and London Scottish. Kenny gained his first cap for Scotland against Australia in 1992 aged 20. Having won 70 caps over 13 years, he retired from international rugby union after the 2003 World Cup. Kenny is married to sports presenter and fellow Strictly contestant Gabby Logan. They have two children. Ola Jordan Polish born, Aleksandra (Ola) is a Latin American specialist and, with her husband James, is taking part in Strictly for the second time. Ola and James have been dancing together for seven years, professionally for the last four years. James is dancing with Kenny's wife Gabby, which means for the first time ever on Strictly, we have two married couples competing against each other.

10

Letitia Dean Letitia is best known as Sharon Watts in the popular BBC soap EastEnders. One of the original cast members, Letitia was only 17 years old when the show began in 1985, and left for the final time in 2006. Letitia was presented with the coveted award for outstanding achievement at the 2005 Inside Soap Awards, as homage to her work in EastEnders. Letitia has also starred in numerous theatre and television productions including The Hello Girls, Casualty and Doctors; police drama The Bill, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married, Channel 4 sitcom Drop The Dead Donkey and the 1995 film England, My England. Darren Bennett Darren is a down to earth, cheeky guy who loves his Northern roots. Darren and his partner and wife Lilia Kopylova, also appearing in Strictly, are currently ranked the number one British Latin American couple. Darren won series two of the show with Jill Halfpenny, but went out in the fourth week of series three with partner Gloria Hunniford. Last year, dancing with Emma Bunton, he made it to third place.

The

FInal

Matt Di Angelo Matt is best known as Deano Wicks in EastEnders. He was a student at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and started his career with modelling and TV commercial roles. Matt's other TV appearances include roles in I Dream, Sunday morning kids TV show Smile, Harbour Lights and Telling Lies where he played Derek. In 2006 Matt was nominated for the 'Sexiest Male' at the British Soap Awards. Flavia Cacace Italian-born Flavia first joined Strictly in series four, when she danced with Jimmy Tarbuck, who sadly had to drop out of the contest for health reasons. Flavia and her professional partner Vincent Simone have appeared as Argentine Tango specialists on Strictly Dance Fever and Strictly Come Dancing.

6

Penny Lancaster-Stewart Penny is a freelance photographer, model and actress. After finding success as a model Penny trained to be a photographer, undertaking numerous fashion and beauty assignments for newspapers and magazines. During 2005 Penny made her highly successful West End debut in Tonight's The Night. This was followed by a television role playing opposite Neil Morrissey in Elixir Man. Penny is married to rock star Rod Stewart and they have a son, Alistair. Ian Waite Ian's speciality is Latin American and he made it to the European Professional Latin Championships finals in 2003. This will be Ian's fourth series of Strictly, after grabbing second place with Denise Lewis in series two, third place with Zoe Ball in series three and being knocked out in the second week of series four with his partner Mica Paris. Ian dances professionally with fellow Strictly dancer, Camilla Dallerup.

2

Stephanie Beacham Stephanie Beacham trained at RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) before beginning a prolific career in acting in television, film and theatre. She has starred alongside Ava Gardner and Marlon Brando. She played the iconic Sable Colby in the popular 80s soaps Dynasty and The Colbys. She more recently starred in popular ITV prison drama Bad Girls and played the part of 'Felicity Wentworth' in the feature film Love and Other Disasters alongside Brittany Murphy, Gwyneth Paltrow and Orlando Bloom. Vincent Simone Italian Vincent Simone comes from a dancing family; both his parents are professional Ballroom and Latin teachers. He joined Strictly in series four, dancing with Louisa Lytton. Vincent and his partner Flavia, who is also appearing in Strictly, have been dancing together for 11 years. They have won numerous championships including UK Professional Ten Dance, UK Professional Showdance, UK Argentine and World Argentine Tango Show.

3

Willie Thorne Willie Thorne is a former professional snooker player, commentator and the current World Seniors Snooker Champion. He has had a very successful career, gaining a total of 14 tournament victories worldwide. Willie is famously the World Record holder for the highest number of 147 breaks in the history of snooker (a staggering 190) earning him the nickname "Mr Maximum". Erin Boag Erin is a strong, vivacious Kiwi, who specialises in ballroom dancing. Her professional dance partner is fellow Strictly dancer Anton Du Beke. She has made it to the final of the show in previous series, with partners Julian Clary and Colin Jackson, last year she danced with Peter Schmeichel. Erin was The 2003 IDTA Classic Champion.