Radio Times

John Sergeant's languid ballroom performances on Strictly Come Dancing have made him a favourite in living rooms across the country. But after a judges-defying run to the later stages of the competition, the former political journalist has decided to pull out of the show.

Sergeant's lack of technical skill on the dance floor, and his trademark laid-back style, angered Strictly's judges, who are determined the competitors should be rated on their dancing ability. But 64-year-old Sergeant's personal charm won him the viewers' vote, keeping him in the competition week after week.

Sergeant has always maintained that it's the view of the audience that matters, but in a statement today he said, "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."

BBC1 controller Jay Hunt said, "We are very sad to see him go," and reports suggest the people's favourite may still get to perform a farewell dance this Saturday.

In the meantime, relive some of John's finest dance-floor moments with our photo gallery, find out why one blogger enjoyed his performance so much and let us know what you think about his shock decision.

Was John right to pull put of the competition? Or do you feel the judges bullied him into making the decision? Should Strictly be all about dancing talent? Or is there an argument for personality over passa doble?

Bloody Discrase. all the viewers who voted for him liked him its not always about the best dancer its who the voters like. the voters liked him ( personally i don't ) but they did! End of, he's not gonna be popular anymore is he?

No, he shouldn't have gone. His leaving has made no difference to if he'd been in the final with 2 other couples. Now he has made it so we have a less interesting final with only 2 couples. The judges comments were no worse than they often give, and in some cases a comment which was probably just meant to be a pun or an honest observation has been blown out of all proportion by fans, but I believe also mischeviously by press and rival internet organisations/groups.

Tonight's viewing will not be the same without John. I have always admired him right from his early days as a political correspondent. He has gone up even more in my estimations with his wit and dignity; the judges with their double speak have gone down.

I think JS should have left some time ago. I agree with the judges. It is so unfair that really good dancers lose their place while a poor one stays on. It is a dance competion and for me the entertainment is in seeing the fantastic improvement some people make over the weeks. The judges were no harder on JS than they had been on some of the others with low marks. Also JS is quite capable holding his own against the judges. His remarks he made about them were not exactly polite.

John was wonderful to see! I gree with bloggers above...if the show is entertainment, and I certainly was entertained,he should have stayed. In fact, he was the only reason that I watched the show! Other contestants were the "same old, same 'old' " dancers looking for their big chance to move ahead in showbiz. As for these judges, what a bunch of self-important, cruel, pompous twits!(Is 'twitess' a word ?)Let us see how well they do tango-ing their way across the floor with the world watching ! Nah! Would only feed their overstuffed egos.

the prog is to show non dancers that its possible to dance!! NOT have the Judges get TOO BIG for their boots, comments for the show should remain ON the show, not in paid interviews to newspaperes. Change the judges for the next series and lets encourage MORE to dance!!!

John Sergeant has shown many mature non dancers on the floor. left up the those judges, they would prefer them to read the newspapers!!!!!

The judges bullied him out of the show! they are paid to do their jobs which is give the dancers a mark out of 10 and nothing more! someone should tell them that! We the public have 50 percent of the votes which means we have half the say on who goes through. We have as much right as the judges those are the rules of the competition. Shame on the BBC for not dealing with this sooner!

Producers and judges should have resigned; john encouraged more people to enquire about learning to dance than any of the others. Earlier people wanted rid of Bruce on the grounds of age yet he danced beautifully last week. Ageism should be treated as harshly as racism.

John would have had his time to go, the British public like the underdog, but to a point. If a dance contest has to be one where fantastic dancers are what's needed, why not conduct it like shows such as the x factor, with judge only votes through several weeks of heats before the TV show starts?

Who are all these people that have taken John Sergeant to heart? I actually find him unfunny, a little smug and of course a terrible dancer. I'll miss seeing the lovely, heavily made up, Kristina, and it seems a shame that the stylish Cheri Lunghi had to go at the expense of Mr Sergeant.

Wow! Those judges are so rude. If my grandfather had suffered those comments over the past few weeks, he would have removed his teeth and gurned at them. If the producers of the program wanted a serious dance competition they maybe should have held auditions to decide who will reach the final lineup. Personally I think John Sergeant has acted like the gentleman he is, pity the judges have no manners!

I agree. The judges have their say with the points they give and that's the end of their input. The public are bound to be more emotionally influenced and after all, doesn't phone voting profit go to charity?! The show shoud trust the public to make the right choice. Perhaps John has stayed in longer than foreseen but we've had similar situations before and the 'better' dancer has ultimately won. I'm sure the public would come good in the end. But if anything, the judges' venom was inflammatory and probably inspired more votes for John than would otherwise have happened. I have always fully supported the BBC - it's a world class standard in broadcasting. But what with this and the fuss over Jonathan Ross I must say BBC management seems to be a bit stuck in the mud

Looking forward to the show finishing, the quicker the better, so maybe more people can leave? I hate celebrities with their self-important-collective-fake-support for each other for self promotion. Owww aren't you great, no you were great, hey we are all great, no you all GRATE....

Perhaps the BBC will tell us next week what were the viewing figures for last week and this coming week, along with the total number of votes cast in both weeks. Then we will see if the public were watching because of John and continue to do so now that the judges have had their way.

I think John was giving his best in this competition but was limited by his age and physique. Nevertheless the public enjoyed his performances and voted accordingly. In future competitions are we going to see an age bar, because this is the consequence of the judges reaction to older contestants. Personally I think is ageism and will no longer watch the program!

I enjoyed watching JS make an effort. Noone his age has match his charm and entertainment value. You faced MaggieT and won JS, and you had the backing of the nation too. Thank you anyway, we enjoyed it!

Im wondering what will happen next year. Will this presumed bullying of older/less dance-able contestants put off more interesting celebs from participating. Will we be left with the typical young things who are able to strut their stuff with ease? I do hope not, it is a much risher more enjoyable programme with a mix of abilities and ages. It is meant to be an "entertainment" show not a dancingcompetition after all.

I thought John was great and loved watching him, wish he hadn't left but can understand why he did. I feel he was being bullied and why would anyone want to be in that kind of horrible atmosphere. The judges got to personal with their comments, they need to remember its only an entertainment show!!! they didn't make such a fuss when Kate was in the competttion last year, why not?

I am absolutely staggered over the media coverage this pathetic story has had. It even made 'Breaking News' on BBC News 24. How utterly facile. It's a television entertainment programme for goodness sakes.

Now, if a man decides to stop dancing, that seems like a perfectly normal thing to do to me.

The reason John Sergeant stayed in so long is because of the voting rules. We vote for who we want to stay in, not for who we want to leave. It could well be that more people have been irritated by John and want him to leave than want him to stay, but those who want him to stay can simply vote for him while those who want him to leave would have to vote for every one of the other celebrities in order register their view. I gave up watching last week because I did not want to see a more deserving celebrity thrown out (and I am very glad I did - the result was appalling, as John himself presumably recognised). Now that John has left I may start watching again.

I agree with everything Tony says and I certainly will not be wasting any more money registering my vote. The judges are pompous "Jobsworths" and are making something that should be entertaining boring and not worth watching. Shame on them and the BBC for conning the viewers. Well done John Sergeant.

What a shame he has left the show...I enjoyed watching him and he enjoyed himself too. He shouldn't have felt the need to jack it in. Well done, John-you made this series !

Shame on the judges. Let's hope the public switch off in their droves. Most people are only watching to see John.

I'm sorry John has seen fit to resign from Strictly Come dancing,it just shows what a really nice man he is not wanting to rock the boat and be voted in by the public who don't like bullies.lets hope the cry babies who didn't get voted for now still don't get the publics' vote out of sympathy as usual the BBC lacked the backbone to get behind its' underdog

If the Strickly Come Dancing judges are angered by the public voting for John's entertaining performances then perhaps we should vote that the judges are removed.

Watching John's performances are the only reason to watch the program and spend money voting.

Clearly his lack of dancing ability was a key factor in his selection by the BBC in the first place ie The Entertainment Factor. Now that he does not meet the approval of the judges he has sadly decided to leave the show and I for one will be sad to see him go.

The judges concocted this silly drama by trying to bully John Sergeant and browbeat the public. They need to understand that, if the public are given a vote, they will vote on a range of criteria, including charm and personality, rather than just dancing skill. That's the price they pay for having an interactive and popular show. They also need to learn to draw the line between vigorous criticism and abuse.

Whatever Strictly Come Dancing should or shouldn't be should have been decided by the BBC a long time ago - the fact is that rules are rules and when people have paid money to register their votes, the rules must not be changed mid-series because things are not turning out as expected. Whilst John has "resigned" I'm sure that he has been made to feel very uncomfortable by the comments emanating from the judges - I'm sure they receive nice fat cheques to judge the dances and there it should end - who is kept in by the public is no concern of theirs and if they do not like it they should themselves resign. This show is now tainted and the remainder of the series ruined by this unpleasant behaviour - and whoever wins will never know if they won fair and square according to "the rules" - shame on you BBC for not supporting one of your own