John Sergeant Quits Strictly

Former journalist John Sergeant has sensationally pulled out of Strictly Come Dancing. In a statement, 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." He had received strong support from the public, but the judges have been critical of his dancing. BBC One controller Jay Hunt said: "We are very sad to see him go." So thanks to a political heavyweight (fnarr, fnarr!), Strictly Come Dancing 2008 wasn'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 saved the avuncular underdog from his last waltz. Forget Luke Skywalker - the Force was strong with a noticeably slimmer John Sergeant. But as more skilled celebs fall by the wayside, Strictly Come Dancing 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"). One senses that the judges (Arlene Phillips, Craig Revel-Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman) were rapidly running out of toys to hurl from their prams. Not a week went by without a childish chastisement to the 64-year-old's fans.

Despite the fact that the public has a say in who goes and who wins, it didn't stop the acerbic judges, sniffy professional dancers and other moaners complaining about John Sergeant's continued presence in the show. They all seemed to forget that 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, he had just as much right to be in the final as Austin Healey or Lisa Snowdon. In my opinion, it's a crying shame that he's taken the decision to quit. 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? He may not have been the best dancer, but he was easily the best entertainer and that explains why peevish demands for his departure only fuelled online determination to keep him in. There was even a campaign on social networking site Facebook and some bookies had slashed odds on a John Sergeant win. In these miserable credit-crunch times, 15p from a BT landline was a small price to pay for a good chuckle.

So goodbye John and thank you very much for all your efforts, especially in the sixth week. The sight of you pulling Kristina across the floor during your hilarious paso doble will keep me warm on the freezing winter nights to come. Bruce Forsyth 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 would've happily seen you crowned winner for that alone. In our gallery below, we pay tribute to Strictly fave John Sergeant. 

• 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 reacts to this shocking departure here