Lead-footed Strictly Come Dancing competitor John Sergeant this afternoon announced he was resigning from the Saturday night smash hit in the wake of a row over voting: the judges wanted him voted out; the public kept voting him in, and the row was undermining the show. Here Carl Jones looks at the implications of the former political journalist’s decision to waltz away.
Ever wondered why Strictly Come Dancing is on prime-time Saturday night television, and not buried on some obscure mid-afternoon ballroom channel?
Because despite the protestations of an increasingly irate band of expert judges, it’s first and foremost an entertainment show, and not just a dancing competition.
John Sergeant’s departure from the cult BBC show this afternoon is a severe bodyblow - not just for the millions of viewers who picked up the phone to vote for him, but for the show’s heart and integrity.
Britain loves a loser. An underdog. A trier. And the veteran political journalist has been all of those things while winning the hearts of the nation over the past two months.
He’s also been smart enough to play up his pantomime-style role right from the start.
In his typically tongue-in-cheek manner, Sergeant’s parting shot this afternoon was to say: “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.”
What a sad indictment on British society. Are we saying it’s better to be a laughing stock of a loser, than to triumph against all odds and make a heap of people happy in the process?
Should we leave it to the record-buying public to decide what the Christmas number one should be? Or let know-all film critics tell us the type of movies we should be paying to watch at the cinemas?
Of course not. If the public are entertained by John Sergeant, that’s surely a good thing, isn’t it?
Cherie Lunghi, the latest to fall victim of the Sergeant surge last weekend, said the other contestants viewed the public support as “very strange”.
“There are almost two shows going on: there’s the show that’s all about dancing and people working hard to compete - and John is dancing and competing - and then there’s this sort of soap opera, where people are feeling sympathy for the character and the partnership of Kristina and John.”
She’s right with the first part of her argument, but terribly wrong with the second. John, too, was working hard - he lost nearly two stone, for goodness’ sake - and connected with Mr and Mrs Everyman in the street with his humour in the face of biting criticism. We could relate to him.
The reason these reality programmes work is because they feature celebrities who push themselves out of their comfort zone.
It’s why the nation can’t get enough of shows like I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here, and why John Sergeant stood for everything that’s so great about Strictly Come Dancing. Great dancers are not great entertainers, but great entertainers come in all forms.
Acid-tongued judge Arlene Phillips said earlier today:”I personally would like to see John off the show. I would be desolate if he won.”
Well, she’s got her wish. If these so-called “experts” want to dictate the results of these competitions, let them cut the public out of it and have their way from the start.
Then, let them watch ratings start to plummet almost as rapidly as their pay cheques.
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If Arlene doesn’t want to judge a competition with the public involved, then she should quit.
Will the people who voted for John get their money back? Is this another phone vote fiasco that the BBC are so good at?
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thankfully john sergeant is bigger than any reallity tv show and he towered over maggie thatcher. well done john you made the right decision. perhaps you could host the program next year, er nice to see you to see you nice
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I admit that I do not watch this program very often, but have heard a lot about it on the radio and on the television.
Someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but I think something similar happened last year, I remember it being said that if the viewers wanted a good dance competition at Christmas they had to think carefully about the way they were voting. That was manipulation. If the people are phoning in to vote for the person they want to see win, then no-one should stop them. The judges have no right to try and influence the voting. Obviously a large amount of the public wanted to see Mr Sergeant win.
From what I have heard and seen, it seems as if he is working hard and to have lost two stone in the process is physical proof of his efforts.
I do hope the viewers realise they are being manipulated and stop voting.
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I think having John Sergeant in Strictly Come Dancing in the first place was the same as having those wanabee singers in the first few programmes of the X factor. He was there as it was obvious that he would never make dancer as those wanabee singers would never make singers. The fact is that the winners of the show would be the BEST dancers and not the best clowns. It is the job of the judges to provide expert analysis of a competitors performance and clearly from day one John Sergeants performnce was lacking all credibility. Only the general publics view of him as a ‘nice guy’ kept him in the show until today. The fact that he would never make a dancer never entered the heads of those who voted for him and by doing this deprived those genuine competitors a chance of progressing further in the competition. If the show is to retain any credibility it should stop the public voting and leave the judging to the experts who know what they are talking about.A number of competitors from previous Strictly Come Dancing shows have gone on to take part in West End productions. Would anyone pay to see John Sergeant in a West End show if would have won? I think not!
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I think it is wrong the way the judges have bullied John Sergeant. This is a show where the BBC take money from the public in voting for the one you one to stop in the show. The public at large have vote with there money to keep John in the show for pure entertainment value. The BBC is a public own company and I believe the four judges should now go. I agree with the EDNA in that all the public should now stop voting for anyone and maybe not even watch the show.
Can the star be the voice of the public - lets see the views of your readers on the front page - Dave
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Reality TV, to borrow from Marx, is the “opium of the masses”. I NEVER watch or concern myself with the Strictly Celebrity Jungle Dancing Brotherly X-Rated garbage!
But I almost got interested in this one. To have aseen a total non-entity like Arlene Philips “desolate” because the “wrong” participant won a Saturday night “entertainment” show would have been gut bustingly funny.
There are many things wrong in the world to get worked up and make a stand about and the best she can think of to pontificate about when she has a platform more powerful than most of us could ever imagine having is to get upset that an elderly ex-political reporter might win a dancing competition!
Oh well at least I can stop thinking about it now.
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i hope it is children in need who make money from the program
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Why is it major story that a news reader has left a reality tv show??
He seems like a nice chap but i’m sure there are more news worthy stories out there..
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Never mind all this …..
Who cares about how good (or bad)the dancing is?
This is a TV show, for entertainment.
When I was in my late teens, my girlfriend and I, at the time, got very keen on Ballroom and latin American Dancing. We got to 2nd gold Bar.
Now….
If I wanted to vote for participants in a TV program about “best dancers” , maybe the program should be about ordinary people learning to dance, and dance properly, not a program that is clearly structured to be “entertainment”
And While we are on the subject, ……
WHEN are we going to get RID of the licence fee - it is nothing more than a cover up job to keep a data base of all post codes in the UK. (Why ELSE is TV licensing so aggressive about collecting it?)
When the licence fee is scrapped, as it should be, then the BBC can do what it likes. Stricly come dancing or no.
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john sergeant is a retired bbc and itv political editor who is very popular with the public. the theory now is did he go of his own volition or was he pushed. either way he is making one last appearance on this saturday nights program where i suggest there will be strictly record viewing figures
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