Strictly Come Dancing 2011 – All the News & Gossip Series 9 Contestants - All you need to know about Strictly Come Dancing UK 2011
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Reactions to The Day The Earth Stood Still (read previous post if you don’t get the reference!)

 Bruce on John’s departure:

“It was a bit of a shock. He ruined my opening joke this week – I was going to say ‘Ladies, gentlemen and children, welcome to The John Sergeant Show. Now I’ve got to get a different joke. I feel sorry for John because he was put in the most awkward position. He looked at all the other dancers and knew they were better than him. Over the last few weeks he must have felt guilty in a way.

But the way the show is, as he’s been saying, is that the public have half the vote, the judges have the other half. He’s got a point there. But I’m a Pisces, I go both ways – I can feel sorry for John, I can feel sorry for the dancers, I feel sorry for the judges. They’re there to give their professional opinion of the dancing.

It’s all ended up a bit sad in a way. John is such a lovely guy and the whole team adore him. But then I felt sorry for poor Cheri [Lunghi] who worked so hard. They don’t realise how hard the contestants work learning the dances for up to seven hours a day. When John did his dances it was like going back 30 years and bringing back The Generation Game – but without me doing a demonstration before he did it. It was pure Generation Game, bless his heart. It’s what the public love to see.

There are four couples who could win, and win it handsomely. This year it’s very hard to pick the winner.

CHRISTOPHER PARKER – FINALIST, SERIES ONE

I’m gutted. I’m going along on Saturday with the sole intention of supporting him, and this is a bit of a shock to be honest.

I’m really upset about it because he really is an inspiration to people who can’t dance. I got to the final and I can’t dance, I admit that readily.

I just think it’s nice to have someone in the show who is kind of triumphing for all those people who love watching the show but aren’t great dancers.

‘He really is an inspiration’

If you want to watch a pro dance contest, you’ll go and watch a pro dance contest. People watch Strictly because it’s a fair representation of the public – you’ve got some people who can dance, some who can’t, some who are improving, some people who aren’t.

I didn’t know who John Sergeant was the first week I went to watch the show. I thought he was entertaining, I liked his relationship with his partner.

He’s older than me and yet he’s going out there in front of millions of viewers every week and trying.

Last week I thought was definitely the best week for him so far, and I thought he was improving, and I’d had loved for him to be in the final.

I’m definitely very disappointed with Arlene and the judges, she’s publicly gone out and attacked him – I think that’s the wrong thing to do.

Those judges have a job, and that job is to criticise on the show, it’s not to go out and influence the public vote. They have enough power as it is.

I think the judges should be ashamed of themselves and I think the show will suffer as a result.

ARLENE PHILLIPS – STRICTLY COME DANCING JUDGE

I’m always sad if a contestant leaves out of choice because you always expect them to let the public vote them in or out.

‘John Sergeant isn’t anything new’ But obviously John is his own person and has his own reasons for doing this.

We’ve always had competitors who’ve been on the show, can’t dance and have had public support. John Sergeant isn’t anything new. There was all of this debate with Christopher Parker.

There can be massive public support for someone who can’t dance and the judges don’t believe they can dance.

There were funny, funny moments when he was dragging Christina along the floor, and last week’s performance was an improved one. I don’t think there was a judge who didn’t say that.

  • Penny Shock

    This is TERRIBLE news I was so looking forward to his rumba this saturday now I won’t bother watching …shame on you Judges!!!

  • Mrs. G. Bailey

    John Sargeant is a Gentleman, maybe we could invite him to be the next PM. seriously, he has done the right thing,But I will miss the entertainment,

  • Lisa

    Craig and especially Len, you have bullied John into leaving the show!!!
    I loved John and Christina; I felt I was watching a Grandfather and his Granddaughter dance together. They were so sweet to watch. I loved them!!!

    Len and Craig have ruined this series. They should be ashamed of themselves!!!!

  • helen marshall

    well i don’t think len and craig pushed john out after just watching itt john decided it was time to leave before he got voted out, he got scared and didn’t want the humiliation of being voted off in the dance off i feel sorry for kristina she is a excellent dancer so did he really think of her feeling’s I DON’T THINK SO she has gone along with his decision because she is a caring person so think of her not him.

  • Charlie

    I hope the judges and other contestants who have made John feel so awful, he was forced to quit, publicly and unreservedly apologise to John, Kristina and the public for their atrocious treatment of him. Between them they have totally spoiled Strictly and it no longer matters who wins. Well Done. I hope you are all well and truly satisfied.

  • Twinkle Toes

    JS did the correct, honourable and decent thing to quit. He said himself he wanted to have fun and his early work as a comedy performer stood him in good stead in this respect. His experience as a political journalist also came to the fore when it came to milking empathy and support with his well crafted spin. This is not a criticism but a salute to having played a most a cunning and clever game. But even he realised, eventually, that he’d created a torrent that was in danger of bursting the damn!

    As for the venom currently being spat at the judges, who after all were only doing their job…….. of judging, it was his fans who forced John to drop out. He realised that they were keeping him in for all the wrong reasons and took action against it, viz. childish spitefulness against the judges, a misguided desire to cock a snook at the other celebrities and/or confusing the word “entertaining” with “funny.” Personally, I expect to be entertained by skill and potential rather than deliberate comedy antics on what is, after all, a talent show. The way he dragged Kristina like a sack of potatoes in the Paso was obviously put on and cynically playing to the gallery.

    John’s a good guy who’s had his taste of “celebrity fame” and can now rest on his well deserved laurels. He is, after all, an established and most competent political commentator although I’m sure that life in the corridors of Westminster will never quite seem the same again for him. Let’s ALL move on!

  • Sharron Phillips

    Thank goodness! At last the farce is over.
    You can’t have all the other contestants working so hard to get their steps/arms/feet correct, and have John voted in each week bcause people liked him.
    The point is, it’s a DANCE competition, and clearly he had two left feet.
    Bruce should stop telling the viewers to vote for their favorite and ask them to vote for the best dancer.
    I thought the judges were put in an extremely difficult position, and handled it well.
    Personally, I will now continue to watch without being intensely aggravated.
    He was right to leave, now let’s concentrate on the dancing.

  • gonzy215

    I too wish to be entertained by watching skilful performances in competitive situations. Football is entertainment but if Capello retains players who make recurrent mistakes the public would expect him to get rid of those players. The judges were right to expect John Sergeant to be eliminated; those who wish to retain him for whatever reason have been guilty of spoiling a genuine competition.

  • Maz

    From the beginning of this series the Judges have behaved as though they are GOD. Their comments have been spiteful and hurtful, not only to John Sergeant, but also to other contestants who are out of their comfort zone and doing their best. Constructive criticism is one thing but to be BITCHY is another. They are paid to judge each dancer and to offer helpful comments NOT to dismiss dancers,dances and choreographers as though they are rubbish! It has also become patently obvious that each Judge has a favourite and I believe that on this series the most improved and entertaining dancer will NOT win. John Sergeant has certainly lifted the show and Kristina has to be applauded for her excellent choreography. I hope that both Kristina and Brian appear again in the next series(if there is one!). Perhaps it is time for the producers of the show to make changes amongst the Judges as they have done with the professional dancers .

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