Joe Calzaghe with his Strictly Come Dancing partner Kristina Rihanoff
Joe Calzaghe, the former boxing champion and current Strictly Come Dancing favourite, has insisted that his relationship with dance partner Kristina Rihanoff is purely professional.
Rumours had spread that the pair had become an item since they were spotted holding hands during a break in rehearsals. However, Calzaghe, who recently broke up with his long-term partner Jo-Emma Larvin, says that there is no romance in the air.
The fighter, 37, said: "We spend a lot of time together and we get on as well, so that's really good, and we really enjoy the training, and that's about it really. That's it."
Calzaghe, who went 46 fights unbeaten at super-middleweight and light-heavyweight, is the 9-2 favourite to win the BBC show. Rihanoff said that his footwork, honed by years in the ring, had helped him pick up the steps easily.
She said: "His footwork is pretty good, and I think you will see that tonight.
"There's a lot of pressure on him, I think, but he's working hard and I hope it's going to be a really good night for us."
However, Calzaghe has a lot to unlearn from his fighting days. He says he has had to work hard on his posture to stop himself crouching as he would in the ring.
He has faced another problem with his dancing â if problem is the right word. The Metro reports that the showâs producers have asked him to wear two pairs of underpants during his routines, as he âhas a lot of movementâ when he dances.
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Joe Calzaghe, 37 â partner Kristina Rihanoff
Welshman Calzaghe, a retired boxer and undefeated world champion with 46 wins at super-middleweight and light-heavyweight, retired from the sport in February. He was voted BBC Sports Personality Of The Year in 2007.
His nimble footwork in the ring has encouraged bookmaker William Hill to make him and partner Rihanoff 9-2 favourite to win the show.
Already a favourite with female fans, Calzaghe may gain even more admirers after the Metro reported he had been asked to wear two pairs of briefs during his routines because he âhas a lot of movementâ while dancing.
Ricky Whittle, 27 â partner Natalie Lowe
A promising footballer as a youth â he was scouted by Arsenal and Celtic â Whittleâs ambitions were ended by injury, whereupon he turned to modelling.
Later he appeared in Sky Oneâs footballing drama Dream Team and moved to Hollyoaks in 2006. With Australian partner Lowe he is a promising 6-1 to win.
Phil Tufnell, 43 â partner Katya Virshilas
The former England and Middlesex spinner has made a TV career since his retirement on a number of shows, including They Think It's All Over and A Question Of Sport. He was also crowned King of the Jungle in 2003âs Iâm A CelebrityâĶ Get Me Out Of Here.
Tufnell, partnered by new Strictly dancer Katya Virshilas, is 8-1 to follow in the twinkle-toed footsteps of fellow England cricketers Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash and win the show.
Rav Wilding, 30 â partner Aliona Vilani
A former soldier and constable with the Metropolitan Police, Wilding has since become a TV presenter with BBCâs Crimewatch and The One Show.
Half Mauritian, his exotic looks have made him something of a pin-up. He and his girlfriend Lauren find his sex symbol status "a bit silly".
Wilding, who took on Strictly as a challenge, is 9-1 for the title.
Craig Kelly, 38 â partner Flavia Cacace
Kelly made his name in Russell T Daviesâ groundbreaking drama Queer As Folk, but had previously made an appearance in Titanic. Now starring in Coronation Street, he says the only dancing he has ever done is while tipsy at nightclubs. He even skipped the first dance at his wedding.
Bookmakers clearly feel his partner Cacace can teach him a few tricks, having made him a respectable 10-1 to win.
Ricky Groves, 41 â partner Erin Boag
EastEnders actor Groves â who plays Garry Hobbs in the BBC soap â has wanted to dance since he watched Saturday Night Fever and dreamed of being John Travolta. At 16-1 he is an outside chance.
Chris Hollins, 38 â partner Ola Jordan
BBC Breakfast sports presenter Hollins is â despite the presence of England cricketer Phil Tufnell on the show â the only one of this yearâs contestants to have scored a first-class century, having played for Oxford University.
He has taken part in dancing shows before, but his ice-skating routine on Children In Need did not impress the judges. He says he is hoping to improve in time for Strictly. Like Groves a 16-1 shot.
Richard Dunwoody, 45 â partner Lilia Kopylova
Former jockey Dunwoody, from Belfast, won the Grand National twice and was National Hunt Champion three times.
Forced to retire through injury in 1999 after nearly 1,900 race wins, he has since taken up adventuring, with expeditions including a 350-mile cross-country ski race to the North Pole.
With partner Kopylova he is a long-shot 20-1 for the title.
âĒ THE WOMEN
Jade Johnson, 29 â partner Ian White
A two-time Commonwealth Games and European Championships silver medallist, Johnson hopes to represent Great Britain in the long jump at the London 2012 Olympics.
Known for jumping while wearing coloured fishnet stockings, she is 6-1 joint second favourites to win the show.
Zoe Lucker, 42 â partner James Jordan
Lucker made her name as the scheming Tanya Turner on Footballersâ Wives. She is engaged to film editor Jim Herbert and gave birth to a daughter last September.
She is a respectable 8-1 for victory.
Laila Rouass, 34 â partner Anton du Beke
Another Footballersâ Wives alumnus, Rouass played Tanya Turnerâs sworn enemy Amber Gates. More recently she played an Egyptologist in time-travelling dinosaur drama Primeval. Bookmakers have priced her at 10-1.
Natalie Cassidy, 26 â partner Vincent Simone
Cassidy has grown up in public as Sonia Fowler in EastEnders, first appearing in 1993 and remaining until 2007.
She says she is a big fan of Strictly Come Dancing and wishes her late mother, who died of bowel cancer in 2002, could watch her dance. At 10-1 she is clearly in with a shot.
Martina Hingis, 28 â partner Matthew Cutler
Swiss tennis legend Hingis won Wimbledon at just 16 and went on to collect a total of five grand slam titles.
After retiring in 2002, she had a short-lived comeback in 2006 but was banned for two years after testing positive for cocaine. She has now said she will not play professionally again.
Hingis, 10-1 for the win, expects to cope well with dance training and said she was excited by the prospect of wearing pretty costumes.
Ali Bastian, 26 â partner Brian Fortuna
Best known for her role as Becca Dean in Hollyoaks, Bastian left the show in 2007 to join The Bill.
Having prepared for the show with dance and aerobic classes at her gym, she says she is looking forward to wearing the glamorous costumes. A 14-1 shot for the title.
Lynda Bellingham, 61 â partner Darren Bennett
Bellingham, whose career has spanned three decades, is currently best known for her roles in Shaun Of The Dead and Doctor Who, and for her forthright opinions on chat show Loose Women.
In the 80s and 90s, however, she made her name as the mother in a long-running series of Oxo commercials, and starred as James Herriotâs wife Helen in All Creatures Great And Small.
Bookmakers have made her a daunting 20-1 to win the show.
Jo Wood, 53 â partner Brendan Cole
A former model and estranged wife of Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. She is dancing with Brendan Cole, who won the first series of the show with Natasha Kaplinsky. However, bookmakers do not fancy Woodâs chances, making her a longest price of 25-1.
..... pation
, but i'll see later on in the footage that they show for the group Mambo which I think Arlene Philips choreographed the routine.
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..This years voting explained to determine how the dance off will be decided and what will happen from the quarter final to make sure there is no cock up like last years semi final and also Christmas special.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/strictlyc...g/about/voting.shtml
This paragraph is interesting:
From the quarter-final, there will be a main live show where the remaining celebrities and their partners will dance for the judges scores and the audience votes. The voting lines will open once all remaining couples have danced their routines. An announcement will be made to that effect during the live programme. Later that same night, there will be a live results show, where the audience voting results and the combined scores will be announced. The bottom two scoring couples will go into a dance-off as per the rules above.
, it's going to be brill.
:d.
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Tuffers and Rav on the One Show now pmsl
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| Strictly Come Dancing Winning Couple | Best Odds | Where | ||
| Joe Calzaghe and Kristina Rihanoff | 5/1 |  | ||
| Phil Tufnell and Katya Virshilas | 10/1 |  | ||
| Jade Johnson and Ian Waite | 7/1 |  | ||
| Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe | 6/1 |  | ||
| Rav Wilding and Aliona Vilani | 8/1 |  | ||
| Martina Hingis and Matthew Cutler | 10/1 |  |
, gather gather here.
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Hi All Hi Marg and everyone, Tess' dress looks weird pmsl.
, he waffles on too much grrrr.
which twonk decided to put it on a Friday as well 
Rav to win . Lovely dances they are so amazing and talented., can see her moving to the music at the desk.
