John Sergeant quits Strictly Come Dancing

POLITICAL journalist John Sergeant has quit the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing after mounting outrage from the judges about his popularity with the public.

Sergeant and his partner Kristina Rihanoff had scored consistently poorly throughout the series, but his huge popularity with the voting public kept him safe.

After Saturday night's dance-off saw model Lisa Snowdon pitted against Cherie Lunghi, the judges blasted the public for voting against talent.

Lunghi, who lost the dance-off, had earlier scored 32 points for her Cha Cha against Sergeant's 25 for his American Smooth.

Head judge Len Goodman has said Sergeant's success "made a nonsense of the show", while Arlene Phillips said she would be "desolate" if he were to win.

Sergeant said in a statement: "I am sorry to say I have decided to leave Strictly Come Dancing. It was always my intention to have fun on the show and I was hoping to stay in as long as possible.

"The trouble is that there is now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far. I would like to thank Kristina and all those viewers who have been rooting for me through the series."

Despite criticism the judges, presenter Tess Daly said Sergeant's bubbly personality had kept him on the dance floor. She said: "He may not be the best dancer but people genuinely love him and are entertained by his dancing. That's their prerogative."

BBC1 controller Jay Hunt added: "We are very sad to see him go."

A survey showed that 4 in 10 people who voted for Sergeant did it simply to annoy the judges.

Comments

[PG]

such shame. I won't be watching this series any longer. its a TV entertainment programme not a dance competition! thats why we like it!
come back John, please.

[Gary]

About time! John can't dance and he was only getting sympathy votes anyway, leave it to those who have ability!

[John Smith]

This show is a complete Joke!!!

[Sarah]

I was so shocked to hear he quit. Why bother starting something if you're not going to finish it? What about the fans who invested time, what about John's partner and what about he charity that sadly now misses out on a windfall if he did happen to win.

[Sam]

I'm gutted John has quit. He might not have been the best dancer but when it came to entertainment value he was a winner. Shame he felt he had to go...