Strictly Nuts For John Sergeant

Au revoir ma Cherie (Lunghi)! I shall miss your elegance, your naturally glamorous look and your fantastic legs. But, thanks to a political heavyweight (fnarr, fnarr!), Strictly Come Dancing 2008 isn't strictly about talent…

When cuddly former journalist John Sergeant was unveiled as a Strictly contestant, his dancing partner Kristina Rihanoff probably thought she'd be shopping for Christmas presents in September. Fancied by some for the boot in the very first week, he did the only thing he could do: wearing a beatific smile, he put his best foot forward and melted the hearts of the viewing public. Week after week, this unlikely love affair has saved the avuncular underdog from his last waltz. Forget Luke Skywalker - the Force is strong with a noticeably slimmer John Sergeant. But as more skilled celebs fall by the wayside, Strictly Come Dancing has descended into Strictly Bitchier (Arlene Phillips slammed him as, "a non-dancing Mickey Rooney") and Strictly Whinging (Cherie Lunghi's partner James Jordan griped: "This is supposed to be a dance contest. Please, please, people at home vote for the dancing").

Check your small print acerbic judges, sniffy professional dancers and all you moaners who've complained about poor John! Last time I looked, the public has a say in who goes and who wins. Lest the nay-sayers forget, Bruce Forsyth doesn't invite votes for the best dancer - he urges the audience to phone in for their favourite. Ergo, thanks to the format of this light entertainment show, historically in aid of Children In Need, John Sergeant has just as much right to be in the final as Austin Healey. It may be a bitter pill detractors, but People Power dictates that you swallow it.

One senses the judges (Arlene Phillips, Craig Revel-Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman) are rapidly running out of toys to hurl from their prams. Not a week goes by without a childish chastisement to the 64-year-old's fans. However, said voters are clearly enjoying: a) his performances (he consistently gets the loudest cheers) and b) winding up the increasingly apoplectic panel. Portly, middle-aged and initially intended for the comic relief role, who knew the ex ITN man would defy the odds to become the story of this year's series? The media are all over this row now as peevish demands for his departure only fuels online determination to keep him in. There's even a campaign on social networking site Facebook and some bookies are slashing odds on a John Sergeant win. Could he go all the way?

Well, contenders Austin Healey, Tom Chambers, Lisa Snowdon and Rachel Stevens are unquestionably better dancers - but they are not better entertainers and in these miserable credit-crunch times, 15p from a BT landline is a small price to pay for a good chuckle. I present the sixth week of Strictly Come Dancing as exhibit A, m'lud: millions cried with laughter at the sight of John pulling Kristina across the floor during their hilarious paso doble. Brucie was, for once, lost for words: "Oh, John!" he said, "What could I say…that you would believe?" Judge Bruno Tonioli nailed it on the head calling it: "Dad's Army does the paso." It was TV gold and I'd happily see him crowned winner for that alone.  

In our gallery below, we chart the progress of Strictly fave John Sergeant over these past weeks. 

• Rumours abound that a rule change is in the offing to prevent another John Sergeant situation. Our Strictly Come Dancing blogger posts this latest news and more here