Romance/showmance

It seems that every reality TV show is dying to get on the bandwagon with hints of romance in the air. From X-Factor to Big Brother, I'm a Celebrity to Strictly, love is in the air. Or is a cunningly devised ploy to up the ratings figures.

Why do TV audiences seem to lap it all though? Is it because in the "pile on the humiliation" nature of most reality shows, we look for a little heart warming storyline to temper the cruelty? Are we so raised on a diet of Hollywood films and homegrown soaps that we need a fairy tale at the heart of everything that we view? Or do we take the more pragmatic view that as so many people meet their partners at work in the "real world", so reality TV contestants have just as much chance as meeting their significant other during a stint on the box. Is the famous Katie Price/Peter Andre/Jordan love triangle less of a PR stunt run of steam, and more of an office romance that has run its natural course? And at the end of the day, why do we care?

What of the relationships, real or imagined on Strictly? Ballroom and latin dance does conjure up an intimacy that is immediately so much more intense than other situations. From the exceedingly close embrace of the ballroom hold, to simulating flirtatious, cheeky behaviour in the cha cha, and simmering passion in the rumba, Strictly poses some tough problems in re-defining personal boundaries. Add to this the long hours in the training room (alone, apart from the seemingly ubiquitous camera crews) and the endless pressure from what the couples are trying to achieve, then it is perhaps surprising that there have been so few casualties of the romance/showmance trend.

The very nature of the programme means that two people are thrown together, in an ultra competitive field, with the glare of the tabloid media, scrutinising their every move. This must engender a sort of "us against the world" mentality. I rather think that the reality is that much of the strain falls on the pro. Of course the celeb has to learn from scratch a completely different skill, and perform live on a Saturday night to an audience of millions. But the pro has to teach the celeb how to dance. Coach them in performance, build up their confidence ahead of the programme, pick up the pieces after a mauling from the judges, get them back into a fighting spirit for the next week. The pro suddenly becomes teacher, choreographer, mentor, life coach, team mate, best friend, with the very real possibility that as a result the more fragile celeb could put the pro on a pedestal as their "saviour". You have physical intimacy, endless hours spent together, possible emotional dependency, an imbalance in the relationship between teacher and protege, all in a highly pressured environment - sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Series 1 unfolded against the backdrop of a rumoured romance, and it is arguable that as a viewing public, our love for the programme grew out of the "fairy tale" being played out in front of our eyes. "It is Natasha and Brendan or Fred and Ginger?" the judges cried, and our minds instinctively took a wander back in time to those old "boy meets girl, they dance, boy gets the girl" movies. The rumours have been strenuously denied by all involved, and even the tabloids have never dug up any definitive proof. It is true, we did tune in and see Natasha fall in love. But was she falling in love with Brendan or was she falling in love with dancing? Brendan, too, was falling in love. But was it with Natasha, or the chance to share his passion for dance with millions rather than thousands? Either way, we lapped it all up, and romance became associated with watching people learn to ballroom dance. But the one thing that we forget when carried away with the whole "fairy tale" aspect of the first Strictly, is that "happily ever after" is not an all-inclusive term. The success of SCD1 was built on the back of somebody's very real heartbreak. Camilla lost her dance partner, her business partner and her fiance in one fell swoop. And I am really quite glad that she made the decision to leave the series after her win last Christmas, perhaps feeling that SCD had come full circle for her.

Considering the unfortunate circumstances of SCD1 it is perhaps surprising that Camilla became embroiled in a showmance in SCD3. But maybe the producers felt that romance was still what the public wanted (despite the fact that we had been perfectly happy to see good dancing and platonic friendships abound in series 2), and the pickings were slim in a show where so many of the pros were married to each other, or most definitely otherwise occupied. There were few candidates among the celebs either for the office romance, so it seemed that the wronged partner from the year before and the TV chef were the unlikely fodder for the public appetite. And at first sections of the audience bought into it. Bruce dragged out some cringeworthy jokes about James Martin cooking dinner for Camilla, then staying to cook breakfast; Camilla wrought some minor miracles in the teaching department with James' ballroom; the judges were scathing; the public phoned their votes in, week after week. James and Camilla reached the quarter finals, doing better than ever expected, but were then knocked out. If memory serves me right, it was the week when they came clean to just playing along with the media stories to keep people happy. No fairy tale ending there then.

Series 4 rolled into town, and what we were served up this time was the prospect of passion. Sod the romance, lets go straight for the jugular, Clare King and Brendan Cole will bring you fireworks! Sadly the only fireworks on offer were those between Brendan and Craig in their almost weekly stand-offs, and the whole partnership failed to set the dance floor alight.

Of course having failed in Series 4, the producers tried the same trick with the same pro for Series 5, dangling Kelly Brooke as the bait. But Brendan and Kelly soon established themselves as less "the will they won't they" couple as the "just how irritating can one couple be" duo. Attention turned elsewhere.

It was unfortunate that towards the end of the series run, rumours turned to the on-screen chemistry between Matt and Flavia. Tactless Tess just could not steer away from this one, and repeatedly goaded the couple, often with Flavia's dance partner, and real life boyfriend, standing inches away. For me the most poignant dance of 2007, and the non-verbal confirmation of all those rumours, came with Vincent and Flavia's heart-breaking waltz to the theme from Romeo and Juliet. They seemed to be saying goodbye to each other there and then, their emotions raw for us all to see. Because of course, we, the voyeurs, were watching, as we had been watching from the start. A timely reminder that, as in series 1, happy ever after can leave somebody in the cold.

But the real fairy tale of Series 5 wasn't a romance at all. Of course there were many who speculated how wonderful Matthew and Alesha would be together, but it really was never going to be. What we did get was surely so much better than some souped up showmance, or love triangle gone horribly wrong. It was a real and genuine friendship, likely to last much longer than a romance anyway. And I think what made it so much more compelling to watch was that it was a relationship between equals. Instead of Matt acting as teacher and mentor to Alesha, we saw Alesha giving something back. Matthew seemed to increase in confidence before the cameras, his sense of humour and personality came out so much more clearly. He made her a lady; she made him a girl's best friend. It can surely be no coincidence that just as Alesha won on a huge groundswell of public popularity, so Matthew became arguably the most popular male pro in the wake of their victory.

So SCD7 is now only two and a half weeks old, and the first rumours of romance are doing the rounds. He says yes, and she is still denying it, mindful perhaps of her future place in the show. A cynic like me would say that a) this news has come at a convenient time to knock the Alesha story out of the papers and b) Joe and Kristina may have given up all hope of being kept in the competition by their dancing skills, so they may as well play their last card. Either way, I hope that this year's romance/showmance does not have a price to pay, for either of the two protagonists, or for any of the other couples whose attempts to dance well may yet be overshadowed by the Welsh Dragon and his Siberian lovely.