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Strictly Come Dancing viewing figures set to fall
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John Sergeant leaves Strictly Come Dancing
Unless you've been under a rock, you'll have heard the news that political correspondent John Sergeant has bowed out of the BBC's uber-popular Strictly Come Dancing. Sergeant, who danced everything from the waltz to the paso like the father of the bride leading his daughter around the dance-floor, made the decision because, he said, "there is now a real danger that I might win the competition. Even for me that would be a joke too far." Tensions started to rise on the prime-time show when Sergeant and his professional dance partner, Kristina Rihanoff, were thrice saved by the public vote despite being voted bottom of the leader-board by the show's four professional judges. Amid pleas from judges and dancers alike to vote for the best dancer rather than the most entertaining celebrity, tempers started to fray. The weekend before Sergeant's exit, the professional partner of knocked-out Cherie Lunghi said, "this is supposed to be a dance contest," before begging the viewers to "please, please...vote for the dancing." Because of the structure of the show, with both viewer telephone votes and judges' scores counting towards the weekly result, it was entirely possible that Sergeant could have won. He says that this was behind his decision to withdraw, but some feel his elbow was nudged by the behaviour of the judges towards him and the backstage opinion. What do you think? Is Strictly Come Dancing a dance show or reality TV? Is it about performance or entertainment? Has the whole debacle made you switch off? Whatever your opinion, it's clear that the BBC have made an volte-face partway through the run and should refund the cost of any telephone votes made for Sergeant during the series. As Sergeant himself said, "I would like to thank...all those viewers who have been rooting for me through the series." "I think they will lose viewers, cross that John has been bullied and pushed off the show by the egos of the judges... or should we say celebrity judges... who's show is it? Is it the people's show, since they fund the BBC, or is it the judges? If it is them, they need to become dancing’s answer to Simon Cowell and put their money where their mouths’ are." Jon Davey, Editor of BinB, much more of an X Factor fan anyway.
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