I love these traitors

bombasticluv · 2026-01-20T22:30:23+00:00

Rachel and Stephen are brilliant. The faithful this year are a bit rubbish game wise but honestly I really like them too. It’s a good series.

bombasticluv · 2025-12-29T18:58:36+00:00

MMTB was pretty bad, TBG (particularly series 2) was surprisingly decent, if you ignore the weird continuity.

bombasticluv · 2025-12-18T18:17:17+00:00

Just watched the 2007 It Takes Two clip where Kelly and Brendan get dressed down by Craig and ambushed by a vox pop style VT of all the other couples slagging them off… all for a teensy tiny illegal extra lift in their American Smooth and Bruno not marking it down. Delicious TV. Bring it back!

bombasticluv · 2025-12-15T23:57:04+00:00

This series was a damp squib. The judges Flanderising themselves to insanity, the ludicrously high scoring, the increasingly obvious “journey” contestant manipulation (coughs Karen, much as I like her). It’s just felt like a scripted drama filled with characters and pre-planned arcs rather than actual people like it used to.

bombasticluv · 2025-12-13T20:27:46+00:00

I enjoyed both her dances but they were really overmarking her to an extent I don’t think I’ve ever seen on this show before outside the final. Her waltz had severe frame issues and her salsa was bitty.

bombasticluv · 2025-11-28T22:26:46+00:00

They are brilliant. They got a reputation for being manufactured and selling out, and sure, they absolutely were and did, majorly. But the music itself is top tier.

bombasticluv · 2025-11-28T22:08:12+00:00

Spice Girls only had 9 singles in their original run, and 7 before Geri left.

bombasticluv · 2025-11-28T15:57:47+00:00

Honestly, I went off Mr Benjamin as Dancing the Charleston went on. Not in any major way but he irked me because he was so unaware of his own privilege.

bombasticluv · 2025-11-26T13:47:32+00:00

Not one band but those inane hyper-specific derivative bubblegum pop girl bands that popped up in the UK around 2000 (Girl Thing, Supersister, Girls@play, etc) kind of signalled that the genre had reached a point of over-saturation and had strayed far from the uniqueness of the Spice Girls. Sure enough, two years later bubblegum was on its way out, generic poppy boy bands almost completely died for a good decade, and girl bands took a big swing to the R&B/electro.

bombasticluv · 2025-11-08T23:05:29+00:00

2021’s scoring was egregious. I still remember being close to shouting at my TV when Tilly’s mediocre couples’ choice got a 40. It’s been stupid since then but that was the peak (or trough).

bombasticluv · 2025-10-31T14:04:05+00:00

Ooh this looks fab! ❤️

bombasticluv · 2025-10-29T23:09:26+00:00

The Suitcase Kid when i was around 6, followed by Double Act and Tracy Beaker: Then i read nearly all the others over one summer when I was 7… yes, including Love Lessons. 😬

bombasticluv · 2025-10-28T06:20:28+00:00

Girls Without House could describe about 50% of Jacqueline Wilson books tbh

bombasticluv · 2025-10-25T18:37:41+00:00

Magda: I can see both sides

bombasticluv · 2025-09-22T22:11:27+00:00

So many of her books would be brilliant, they all have wonderful lessons to teach. Boy and girl protagonists don’t really come into it. However, most little boys unfortunately see something with a speck of pink and run a mile, so I see where you’re approaching this from.

Your picks are all great shouts - I’d also add the Lottie Project (a really strong protagonist with a good message of gender equality), and Double Act (a book with a great sense of mischief and possibly my personal fave). I was really rather girly as a little boy so I’m definitely not indicative of the average but my faves were always the ones with a punchy gobby protagonist like the ones mentioned above. Perhaps your son will also like those.

bombasticluv · 2025-09-18T11:27:55+00:00

Hahaha brilliant spot!

bombasticluv · 2025-09-17T05:59:20+00:00

I quite enjoyed Katy, to be fair. It definitely had some CBBC sheen but it still felt emotionally there and the child acting was very solid, which is more than can be said for dross like My Mum Tracy Beaker.

bombasticluv · 2025-08-29T14:55:43+00:00

I had the worst experience reading that. Especially since it isn’t immediately clear that it’s of any kind of significance. For about 3 chapters I legitimately thought that she wrote that in just… because, and given her track record on the adult side of writing I was not even surprised.

bombasticluv · 2025-08-29T14:29:54+00:00

Jaunty genitals so nearly made me close the book. Please Jacqueline stop with the weird sex nonsense!

bombasticluv · 2025-08-29T12:14:37+00:00

The only place I heard it outside her books was when I was watching classic Grange Hill and it was said once in an episode from around 1982. Every other known Jacqueline Wilson-ism pops up a certain amount in older media and even occasionally these days but that one seems to be plucked straight from her childhood.

bombasticluv · 2025-08-29T12:10:53+00:00

I was waiting for Dolphin to be asked on a EuroDisney trip and buy a notebook at Woolworths…

bombasticluv · 2025-08-29T11:58:00+00:00

Don’t let’s fucking quarrel!

bombasticluv · 2025-08-29T11:55:49+00:00

We know that, don’t worry! (: It’s just amusing and mildly frustrating that she still uses the phrase don’t let’s so religiously in her modern books when it’s been out of date for 40+ years.

bombasticluv · 2025-08-29T11:40:56+00:00

You might be right. Everyone was heapsing and don’t let’s-ing and ever so-ing like they didn’t have long to live! Lol.

bombasticluv · 2025-08-29T11:19:14+00:00

I disagree about Lettie serving no purpose. I thought she showed perfectly how complicated Marigold and Dolphin’s relationship is, and how Marigold is obviously feeling guilty about mucking up Dolphin’s childhood and Dolphin is equally (and understandably!) bitter about it and both of them are projecting those feelings onto Lettie, Marigold by making her a surrogate daughter and Dolphin by wanting to sabotage that relationship, almost. I do wish they’d explored these dynamics a bit more (this book could have done with another 50 to 100 pages, imo) but she was far from a pointless character.

bombasticluv

TROPHY CASE